Up to now, I haven't paid much attention to the worries expressed by some fundamentalist Christians about alleged efforts by "secular humanists" to "de-Christianize" the United States. Frankly, these assertions seemed a little too far "out there" for me. However, following the rash of recent news reports about zealous actions to completely separate Christmas from anything funded with tax dollars, I'm beginning to wonder. (My favorite outrageous story was about the boy who was sent home from his school holiday party because he wore a Santa Claus costume, which, after all, derived from St. Nicholas).
I think the time has come for us to insist that the people who advocate these radically secular positions have the courage of their convictions, and follow them to their logical conclusion. Obviously, the first step in this direction should be the introduction of legislation eliminating Christmas as a federal holiday. While they're at it, they should also demand the elimination of Martin Luther King Day. After all, he was an ordained minister, and ended his "I Have A Dream" speech with the words "When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, 'Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!'"
Unfortunately, Presidents Day will also have to go. George Washington noted in his first inaugural address that "it would be peculiarly improper to omit in this first official act my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the universe, who presides in the councils of nations, and whose providential aids can supply every human defect, that His benediction may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the people of the United States a Government instituted by themselves for these essential purposes, and may enable every instrument employed in its administration to execute with success the functions allotted to his charge. In tendering this homage to the Great Author of every public and private good, I assure my self that it expresses your sentiments not less than my own, nor those of my fellow-citizens at large less than either." As for Abraham Lincoln, we can't overlook his words in the Emancipation Proclamation: "Upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution, upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind, and the gracious favor of Almighty God." Neither of these Presidents, great though they were, passes today's "
strictly secular" test of political correctness. That means Presidents Day is out.
Well what about Memorial Day, then? Hmm, all those war dead in cemeteries, marked solemnly by row after row of crosses and Stars of David. That simply won't do. This federal holiday will also have to go.
This brings us to Independence Day. What can you say about a holiday that celebrates a Declaration that includes the following politically incorrect language: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." Sorry, but this one doesn't pass muster either.
On to Labor Day. This one stays. As the Department of Labor notes on its website, "The form that the observance and celebration of Labor Day should take were outlined in the first proposal of the holiday - a street parade to exhibit to the public the strength and esprit de corps of the trade and labor organizations." What's not to like about a holiday with no religious connotations, and an underlying theme of class war?
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Next up on the list is Columbus Day. Though its religious connections are relatively weak, no self-respecting secular multiculturalist would object to getting rid of this one. Nor would Leif Erikson's fans. This is an easy call: Columbus Day is definitely out.
What about Veterans Day? To begin with, there is that awkward saying about there being no atheists in foxholes. But more important, the original 1926 law making it a federal holiday noted that "it is fitting that the recurring anniversary of [Armistice Day] should be commemorated with thanksgiving and prayer and exercises designed to perpetuate peace through good will and mutual understanding between nations." I'm afraid it also must go.
And what can you say about Thanksgiving? Celebrating a bunch of religious extremists thanking God for helping them to survive their first year in the New World? Are you kidding? This holiday is obviously too politically incorrect to pass muster under the new rules.
But, lest you get too depressed, New Year's Day also will remain a holiday, since it seems inoffensive according to every measure of political correctness I could find. In sum, if taken to its conclusion, the logic of radical secularism should leave us with just two federal holidays instead of the present ten. But that's a small price to pay for ridding our public life of all those awful references to faith and religion , isn't it?
Cali D. Garcia
UNM Alumni
512-698-5254
