"The Merry Christmas Amendment" (12/22/2004)
T
he Reverend Jerry Falwell
announced on Sunday a national campaign to amend the U.S. Constitution to read that "The December greeting shall be defined solely as the union of one word 'Merry' and one word 'Christmas.'" The "Merry Christmas" amendment has already been placed on the ballot in three states: Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia.
Falwell noted that the Merry Christmas amendment had been necessitated by activist judges in Massachusetts and elsewhere who had permitted such unnatural liaisons as "Happy Holidays" and "Season's Greetings" to be used as proper December greetings. "This is against more than 2,000 years of the tradition of people everywhere saying 'Merry Christmas'," Falwell said. "And," he continued, "as a Christian I note that such phrases are a violation of Biblical teaching to which I adhere. The Ten Commandments say that we shall have no other gods before God.
Exodus 20:3. Well, when you say 'Happy Holidays' or the like that includes Kwaanza, which is a celebration to false pagan gods."
These unnatural greetings, according to Falwell, are also another attack by liberals on the family. The increased divorce rates that have occurred since the phrase "Season's Greetings" has been permitted on Christmas cards, said Falwell, are no coincidence.
The Reverend Falwell responded to charges that making "Merry Christmas" the official greeting of December violated the civil rights of Jews and other non-Christians. "On the contrary," Falwell stated, "the liberals who want to allow "Happy Holidays," are merely trying to give special rights to Jews and Muslims. The amendment gives everyone the equal right to wish "Merry Christmas" to one another. And if some Jew or other non-Christian doesn't want to say or to hear Merry Christmas, then they are free to not say it and to stick their fingers in their ears and shout 'Nanny nanny boo boo!' at the top of their lungs every time they think someone might be about to say 'Merry Christmas.'"
