Holiday tree" vs. "Christmas tree"

[Jonathan Lighter]

Each year, Fox News's front-line correspondents fan out across the world to report on the terrifying "War on Christmas," as "the PC crowd" tries to intimidate Christians into denying their God or Santa or something.  Today they reported the latest offender - Janet Napolitano, the elected governor of Arizona, who described the state's Christmas tree as "the Holiday Tree."

  To understand the social, political, and theological ramifications of the Democrat governor's stance, one must turn to radio ralk-show hosts Inga somebody and somebody Ryan, who debated the nuances at some length, Ryan saying that, as a Christian, he thinks people should call their own tree whatever they want and forget about the issue. "Holiday tree" is fine with him. (He must be closet PC). Inga, however, who is presumably even more of a Christian, argued that a Christmas tree is "definitely a secular symbol" because "I couldn't find any references to a Christmas tree in the Bible."  Therefore the secular governor should have stayed strictly secular by calling the tree a "Christmas tree."  Follow me so far?

  Inga then revealed that the governor was, in fact, illicitly mingling church and state by using the "PC" terminology "holiday tree."  Why?  So obvious! "Because 'holiday' _means_ 'holy day,' she stated. Thus the governor was  trying to sneak her own (unidentified but possibly "Secular Humanist") religious beliefs into the lighting ceremony by declaring Christmas a "Holy Day." Follow me so far?

  What distinguished this discussion from the usual level of political debate in America was Inga somebody's brilliant observation that "holiday" really means "holy day," an assertion  somebody Ryan could not refute, moot, or dispute. Like a deer in the headlights, he never dared to say, "No, Inga. That's what it meant many centuries ago, but it means that no longer.  Wise up, troll."

  I believe Inga's point was essentially to honor the Etymological Fallacy. Keep it holy.

  JL


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