Heros

I've never been able to name any heros in my life. When asked "who is your hero?" I'd usually answer my father, or Mark McGwire if it seemed more appropriate. I've just never identified with anyone in that way. If you ask me people I respect - I could give you a list a mile long. People I admire - the same. Hero? That's difficult. Lately I find it easier to imagine men that I admire so much that I might call them heros. Here is a list of potential heros: (I left out men from Scripture - though men like Peter and David and Jeremiah and so many others are heroic and worthy of their own list)

1. George Washington (maybe the one man that I would call "hero" without reservation)
2. Thomas Sowell (his clarity of though combined with his background is admirable)
3. John Piper (blesses me with almost everything he says or writes)
4. John Calvin

Meanwhile, In Dongzhou, China

Intellectual Honesty and the Battle For Christmas

There had been a few salvos in the past couple of weeks in the Battle of Christmas. House Speaker Dennis Hastert restored the moniker "Capitol Christmas Tree" after a decade of being relegated the "Capitol Holiday Tree". President Bush came under fire for omitting the word "Christmas" from the White House Christmas Card. Groups have organized boycotts of retailers such at Target for having Holiday sales and celebrations sans any reference to Christ or Christmas.

There is a difference between acknowledging that more than one holiday occurs in December and pretending that Christmas is just one obscure date in a month chalk full of reasons to shop and decorate. The President's Christmas card was, I think, appropriately inclusive - of Americans that celebrate Christmas and Chanukah, even Ramadan and Kwanzaa. In fact, It was a decidedly Christian greeting to those groups. As for retailers, they may feel that that some inclusive approach is appropriate. Whether motivated by a sense of political correctness or not (I think yes), and whether the best business decision or not (I think probably not), capitalism and freedom go hand and hand.

The intellectual dishonesty shows itself, not in being inclusive, that is to all religions, but in being exclusive to all things Christian. "Christmas Trees" become "Holiday Trees" (I even heard an atheist on the radio explain that her family celebrates the Winter Solstice with a Solstice Tree). "Christmas Parties" become "Holiday Parties" and "Christmas Break" is almost universally now "Winter Break". To be sure, some offices want to have a party that is inclusive, but to then have Christmas (err...Holiday) decorations, a gift exchange, egg nog and red and green sweaters, mistletoe and a guy in a Santa suit, all while Nat King Cole croons in the background is a little disingenuous. Is it a coincidence that "Winter Break" always falls so accommodatingly to Christmas revelers? Of course it isn't - this country is overwhelmingly Christian (in the cultural sense) and overwhelmingly celebrates Christmas. So why the demands of exclusion - of the Nativity Scene on the City Hall lawn, of the Christmas Carol in the school production, even the banning of red and green sweaters? I'll tell you why...PC stupidity. What's wrong with this statement: "This is America - you can't put that nativity there". Sacrificing our freedoms for the sake of the most immature, self-righteous minority of our country is foolish.

You know, we've done such a job of sanitizing Christmas of Christ in America, it's ironic that for some, the presence of the name "Christ" alone is beyond acceptability. For the millions who do wish to honor the true Reason for the Season - we should fight for these things - they're important.


"The trouble about trying to make yourself stupider than you really are is that you very often succeed." - C.S. Lewis [The Magicians Nephew]

intellectual honesty and the border