Remember the Santa Monica of Xmas Past? (school, law)

[majoun]

Militant atheists, who did not live in Santa Monica if my memory serves me correctly, were behind the removal of the Nativity display.

[disgruntled la native]

Originally Posted by Cinema Cat

I never said Jews were responsible for "everything." Nor did I even talk about the park display. Focus on what I say, and don't put words in my mouth.

Read the book. It's written by a Jewish academic, and published by a university press.

Christmas is secularized by atheists and agnostics (which I am proudly one), NOT Jews. Stop blaming the Jews when it's not true.

[CamaroGuy]

Originally Posted by disgruntled la native

Christmas is secularized by atheists and agnostics (which I am proudly one), NOT Jews. Stop blaming the Jews when it's not true.

Many Jews are atheist and agnostic.

[Visit a Library]

Originally Posted by Cinema Cat

That's dishonest of you, twisting the OP's complaint like that. The OP never said he minded "other religions."

Christians mind that one (and only one) of those "other religions" (i.e., Jews) are so insecure that Christians become uncomfortable with public expressions of Christmas, lest Jews feel offended. At the same time, businesses feel obligated to place a Menorah alongside every Christmas decoration (something that's not reciprocated -- Menorahs can stand alone.) So people feel pressured both to be silent about Christmas, while vocally supportive of Hanukkah.

Although Jews are only a few percent of Santa Monica (according to Home Facts:Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed ), there are more mentions of Hanukkah and Menorahs in the local media, and more public displays of Menorahs, than explicit mentions of Christmas, which is instead euphemistically called "the holidays" or "season greetings" or "Holiday Trees" or "winter holidays."

A Jewish academic has actually written a book, published by Rutgers University Press, about how Jews used their influence in media and culture to transform Christmas from a Christian holiday into a secular winter holiday, while simultaneously spreading the public celebration of Hanukkah. He doesn't deny it. He thinks it's a Good Thing. His book is called "A Kosher Christmas: Tis the Season to be Jewish: A Kosher Christmas: 'Tis the Season to be Jewish: Joshua Eli Plaut, Jonathan D. Sarna: 9780813553801: Amazon.com: Books

Thank you for the well-worded post. I am not familiar with the particular book you mentioned, though it does seem to dovetail nicely with quite a number of the hypotheses expressed in Dr. Kevin MacDonald's Culture of Critique, as well as other writings of his.

[Visit a Library]

Originally Posted by KerrTown

I'll have to agree. The OP swallowed up Bill O'Reilly's "War on Christmas" rhetoric wholesale. Notice that no Religious Right-winger complains about the desecration of Christmas by materialism and money. But they will resort to nasty language, such as "communist", when you point it out.

Retail displays desecrate Christmas' meaning into sales revenue, marketing gimmicks, and the proverbial Christmas shopping rush, instead of spending time with friends and family before the year ends and celebrating Christ's birth at church, the real and true meaning of Christmas.

I have actually been just as concerned with the commercialization of Christmas, as well as other holidays, as I have with the loss of Christmas displays on public property under the fallacious claim that it is unconstitutional to allow for them. And I'm no supporter of O'Reilly or his Mid East warhawking, which seems to always happen to fit PNAC's mission statement, so it's a bit disingenuous to imply I'm taking my cues from him.

I simply do not see why we cannot have Christmas decorations in SM as we once did. Were they really doing somebody damage, and if so, what sort of person would be damaged by them?

[StreetLegal]

Originally Posted by Visit a Library

Thank you for the well-worded post. I am not familiar with the particular book you mentioned, though it does seem to dovetail nicely with quite a number of the hypotheses expressed in Dr. Kevin MacDonald's Culture of Critique, as well as other writings of his.

Thanks for posting this utter garbage OP. Kevin MacDonald is a white nationalist and he is the neo-Nazi movements favorite academic.

Kevin MacDonald | Southern Poverty Law Center

Looks like your hopes of a "white" Christmas in LA have failed. Now go crawl back into your cave.

[Cinema Cat]

Originally Posted by disgruntled la native

Christmas is secularized by atheists and agnostics (which I am proudly one), NOT Jews. Stop blaming the Jews when it's not true.

Blame? Why say "blame" when you clearly think the secularization of Christmas is a good thing?

Likewise, the Jewish author of the book I cite gives credit (not blame) to Jews for secularizing Christmas. He regards his historical findings as being very pro-Jewish.

Again, read the book. It's published by a university press. It's not a paranoid delusion, but a serious history of American Jews' response to Christmas over the past 150 years, heavily footnoted with plenty of citations (as you'd expect from an academic author writing for an academic press).

[disgruntled la native]

Originally Posted by Cinema Cat

Blame? Why say "blame" when you clearly think the secularization of Christmas is a good thing?

Likewise, the Jewish author of the book I cite gives credit (not blame) to Jews for secularizing Christmas. He regards his historical findings as being very pro-Jewish.

Again, read the book. It's published by a university press. It's not a paranoid delusion, but a serious history of American Jews' response to Christmas over the past 150 years, heavily footnoted with plenty of citations (as you'd expect from an academic author writing for an academic press).

Please. Most Jews eat Chinese food on Christmas....or work an extra shift so their Christian coworkers can have day off. That's about it. Not this vast conspiracy to ruin Christianity like you claim.

[bpeeps]

Originally Posted by Visit a Library

I simply do not see why we cannot have Christmas decorations in SM as we once did. Were they really doing somebody damage, and if so, what sort of person would be damaged by them?

Because times change, get over it.

Christianity's hold on the nation ain't what it used to be. Enjoy the memories of what you had. Not everybody is you, not everybody likes the things you like, and out of respect for that, neutrality is introduced. It's that's simple. By the way you're talking, you'd need to see Christmas driving a car through a Jew's house and smashing their Menorah to pieces to understand the "damage" lack of diversifying brings nowadays.

[Exitus Acta Probat]

I too remember the beautiful Christmas decorations that would festoon Santa Monica, draped across the lamp posts on major streets. Lately, however, it looks so sterile this time of year; what was once a winter wonderland is now a wonderbland -- I wonder where Christmas went? And there's a perceptible ripple-carry effect onto private property -- the Brentwood Gardens shopping center on San Vicente Blvd. no longer displays Santa Claus atop their roof. However, a menorah at the very same shopping center is front and center, loud and proud for all to see.

And BTW, has anybody else noticed that these so-called "atheist" organizations never seem to have a problem with a menorah on the Whitehouse lawn? Hmmm....