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The Villages
Friday, March 29, 2024

‘Baby It’s Cold Outside’ now off-limits during holiday season

Jack E. Brush

’Tis the season to be …… jolly? Not if the radical liberals can prevent it! Of course, we have always had the bah humbug scrooges during the holiday season, but the radical liberals are really quite different. The only trait they share with Dickens’ scrooge is that they don’t seem to be very happy. In fact, I don’t think that I have ever met a radical liberal who was very happy. All of them seem to be in a permanent state of discontent, and they expend enormous amounts of energy telling the rest of us what we are doing wrong. Especially during the Christmas and Hanukkah Season, one has the impression that they are annoyed because so many people around them are happy or even jolly. So every year they gear up their campaign to spoil the season for everybody else. For them, “’Tis the season to be jolly” becomes “’Tis the season to harass everybody who enjoys the season.”

To this end, they repeat ad nauseam their worn-out arguments about the separation of church and state, and they remind us that the First Amendment addresses the issue very clearly. It states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” Given the fact that the Justices of the Supreme Court often do not agree about the meaning of any particular sentence in the Constitution, I would not presume to interpret the First Amendment. On the surface, I would think that the presence of a nativity scene in a public place is not quite the same thing as Congress passing a law. But perhaps I don’t understand the words “Congress” and “law.” In any case, a debate about the meaning of the First Amendment could be postponed until January if the fundamental issue were really a matter of constitutional interpretation. One has the impression, however, that the First Amendment is simply being used as a pretext for attacking the continuing influence of religion in our culture. In the minds of many liberals, a modern culture should be atheistic, and the presence of Christianity, Judaism or any other religion is viewed as a hindrance to the functioning of society (as the DNC chair recently expressed very clearly).

Needless to say, I do not agree with this ideology. Nevertheless, out of respect for the radical liberals, I was beginning to rethink my position on the nativity scene when I learned that candy canes could also be a problem. In her wisdom, the principal of an elementary school in Nebraska has brought to our attention that a red candy cane could easily be interpreted as a symbol for Jesus Christ. Well, normally I don’t look at candy canes upside down, but given sufficient imagination, I suppose that one could see her point. While still trying to process this new revelation, I heard that the song “Baby It’s Cold Outside” is now off-limits during the holiday season because the radical feminists find it offensive. Actually, my wife really likes this song. So we are not quite sure how to react to this bit of liberal wisdom. Clarifying the meaning of the lyrics will certainly not help. As far back as the 1970s, I learned that presenting rational arguments to the feminists is a futile endeavor.

Of course, all of this could be debated in January if the liberals are really interested in an open dialogue. For now, it would be refreshing if all of us could manifest a spirit of magnanimity in the closing days of the year. What could it harm if we expressed a noble generosity to each other once a year? Would the course of history be irreversibly changed for the worse? I don’t think so. Commenting on the holiday season last year, Alan Dershowitz expressed this sentiment: If you are Christian, feel free to say “Merry Christmas”; if you are Jewish, say “Happy Hanukkah”; if you are neither, just say “Happy Holidays”. I wholeheartedly agree with him. So I leave you with this greeting for the season: Merry Christmas.   

Jack E. Brush is a frequent contributor to Villages-News.com   

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