Licensed Faith

Shawn Byrne's Statement of Faith

Monuments bearing the Ten Commandments and crosses have been barred by courts.  Christmas songs and the colors red and green are banned from schools, just like prayer.  If you think the anti-Christian element has already attacked anything worth attacking, guess again.

The separation of church and state issue recently slithered into a new nook.  This time the victimized Christian stood his ground,valiantly fought his way through the courts -  and won!

As reported by the Associated Press, Shawn Byrne of West Rutland, VT requested a vanity license plate reading "JN36TN," which was a slightly cryptic reference to John 3:16.  It's meaning was clear as a bell - and offensive - to the Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles, which rejected the application in 2004.

Byrne appealed the decision to a federal judge in Burlington who sided with the DMV.  He then went even further to the three judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Court of Appeals in New York City.  The court wrote Vermont's "law impermissibly restricts expression from a religious viewpoint and thus violates the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment."

Shawn can now display his faith on his automobile license plate.  Considering the legal expenses, he now possesses one of the most expensive license plates in history.

We're supposed to believe the state was acting in good faith on behalf of its aggrieved citizens  and that the funds spent by the Attorney General to fight the case in Burlington and Manhattan were justified.  After all, scatalogical (a $50 word for obscene) topics, racial slurs, and references to illegal drugs or genitalia are also banned from plates.  The state seems to think expressions of Christian faith are similar.

According to Annie Youderian of the Courthouse News Service, the state argued the purpose of the ban on religious license plates was to prevent the "distraction and disruption (that would) result from controversial speech and avoid giving the impression the state endorses such speech."   To most people John 3:16 offers hope, but apparently the state thinks that to Vermonters they're fighting words.  And the chances of anybody accusing the State of Vermont of endorsing Chrisitianity are remote.

You wonder what planet they're on when they come up with this stuff.

The state showed flexibility on occasion, allowing "GENESIS" to be used provided the driver said it didn't refer to the Bible but to Phil Collins's old rock band.  As long as Christians could finesse their plates with double meanings and lie to the DMV about the intent they could be approved.  One of the appeal judges observed that Byrne could have gotten the plate if he said his name was John, he's 36 and from Tennessee.

But he walked the walk, didn't lie and won a rare victory for his faith.

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Photo Credit:  Burlington.com

American Christmas



My wife, Lisa, and me at Stockbridge



In old Europe Christmas was a time of celebration when the constant threat of hunger was temporarily dashed by feasts.  Lords and ladies ate venison while the deer's "humbles" - heart, liver, tongue, ears, feet and brains - were given to the poor to make "humble pie."  Commoners would go door to door "wassailing" (essentially legitimized begging) asking the wealthy to give them food and drink.

Caroling, which included dancing, was popular and pantomime plays that often included comic cross-dressing were staged.  Holly was an iconic decoration because the sharp points on its leaves were reminiscent of the crown of thorns and because its white berries, which turned red, symbolized Christ's blood.

The Puritans objected to Christmas celebrations because they considered them to be unbiblical.  They felt the Catholic Church had superimposed the event onto the pagan winter solstice festival and adopted its customs.  Consequently, they believed celebrating the holiday jeopardized their own salvation.

Partly to escape this, the Puritans fled to America and brought their animus against Christmas celebrations with them.  This was serious business:  celebrating the birth of Jesus was actually banned in Boston.  Until the late 19th century most New Englanders were descended from the Puritans, inherited the beliefs and kept Christmas mundane.

In the 1800's America was rapidly industrializing and the family became a place of refuge from the outside world.  Christmas was seen as a way to bring families together and the exchange of presents among family members became common.  The holiday evolved to include festive meals, Christmas trees, decorations, gift giving and....fruitcake!  Christmas has been an official national holday since 1870 and is even celebrated in Boston.

Immigrants brought their old country traditions over and the changes continued.  The Christmas tree was introduced by Germans and became popularized  by Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert, who occupied the British throne  but were of German descent.  Other nationalities enriched the mix with their own practices.

Norman Rockwell painted America as we see it in our hearts.  One of  his pieces is "Main Street at Christmas" and it depicts downtown Stockbridge, MA.  My wife and I visited the town's annual re-creation of the scene.  Vintage cars lined the street, a Christmas tree was displayed in Rockwell's old studio, a 1955 Mercury Montclair with a newly cut tree on its roof sat in front of the stately Red Lion Inn.  A crowd packed tiny Saint Paul's Church to hear high schoolers perform and Santa Claus arrived on a firetruck.  The Londontown Carolers, dressed in 19th century garb, sang traditional songs.  Everyone was in good cheer.

But thinking back, I don't recall any reference to Jesus.  I love Christmas, even the secular traditions, because it all reminds me of Christ.  He is the reason for the season.  But if we magically transported a Puritan into today's Stockbridge, I can imagine him surveying the situation and saying, "See what I mean?"

Have a wonderful Christmas and remember that we've already been given the greatest gift of all.

To see the painting "Main Street at Christmas" please click on http://www.stockbridgechamber.org/christmas.html

Christmas Cheer

The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree

Even though Christmas is under siege each year, many traditions are as popular as ever and are rarely criticized.  One of these is the giant Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree.

Construction workers erected the first tree just after clearing the ground for the center in 1931.  In Great Fortune: The History of Rockefeller Center, Daniel Okrent notes the 20-foot tree was decorated with "strings of cranberries, garlands of paper, and even a few tin cans."  Others say tin foil from blasting caps was used, too.

It's more involved now.  The tree is usually a Norway Spruce between 75 and 100 feet tall and it must be well proportioned.  Since trees growing in forests generally aren't proportional, the chosen tree has usually been planted for ornamentation and given the space to grow symetrically.  Rockefeller Center personnel have scouted for prospects  in the Northeast and Canada from helicopters for years.

The tree is donated - no compensation is offered - and loaded onto a telescoping trailer.  Then it's driven to the city and hauled through its concrete canyons.  Since the load is over double the length of a typical trailer, it's a nightmare cargo but it always makes it through.

The tree is usually around 50 years old, about halfway through its life expectancy.  But it goes out in style, with 30,000 lights on 5 miles of wire.  It's topped by the 9'6," 550 pound Swarovski Star and enjoys several weeks as the grand attraction in the Big Apple.

But it's just one element of a New York Christmas.  Radio City Music Hall does its spectacular annual Christmas Show.  Although heavy with toy soldiers, Santa Claus and Rockettes routines, it also features a living nativity.

Macy's toy department at Christmas is a hoot because they hire out of work actors to hawk gifts.  One year they sold Little Red Riding Hood cloth dolls.  At first, the doll is Red in a long-skirted dress.  But invert the doll, pull the skirt down over Red's head and grandmother appears!  Then - and this is the climax of the show - flip grandma's bonnet over her face to reveal the back of her head and...it's the Big Bad Wolf!!  The guy pitching it had us in stitches.

These are largely secular expressions of Christmas.  Even so, it's good to see that these traditions seem safe from conflict.  Despite the commercialization, they're still based on a celebration of Christianity and you'd have to be monumentally obtuse not to see it.

Christmas is all around us.  My hometown still puts up a creche on public property, the town I live in decorates a tree on the common and wherever I go, when I say "Merry Christmas" it's happily returned with a smile.  The ACLU, headquartered in NYC, can go broke trying to stamp out Christmas but many see them as misguided, intolerant, mean spirited grinches.  Try as they might, they can't eliminate the faith that's dyed into America's fabric.

Instead of focusing on the critics, let's appreciate that millions of us freely, openly and joyfully show love of Christ.

Merry Christmas!

Photo credit:  offbroadway.broadwayworld.com