Text 25491, 107 rader
Skriven 2006-11-29 20:01:00 av JIM HOLSONBACK (1:123/140)
Ärende: Nativity Movie Banned
=============================

Hello, ALL.

Is it just me, or what?  Is not the proposition that someone who goes to
a Christmas market "might be offended" if encountering a promo for an
upcoming movie about the Nativity downright ludicrous?

This is on the same lofty logic level as the recent rejection of the
donation of "talking Jesus dolls" by toys for tots or whomever it was
under the premise that the recipients "might be offended."  WTF?  Some
kid might be "offended" if he/she were to receive a Christmas present
which had something to do with Christ?  Gimme a freakin' break!

It would appear that the Christianity-hating branch of the "liberals" (a
misnomer - they are often quite illiberal (i.e. bigoted)) have
discovered a heretofore un-revealed constitutional right to not be
offended- - which trumps the free exercise clause and the freedom of
speech clause every time.

It must be another one o' them "emanations from penumbras" that liberal
judges are always inventing out of whole cloth - - another
"un-enumerated" right.  Call me a crotchety old codger if you like, but
I'm about worn out with folks being required to abandon harmless, valued
traditions just because someone (who?, we wonder) "might be offended."
Back this spring, I recall somewhere here, they even banned the "easter
bunny" (hardly a religious symbol, and not at all famous for winning
converts to anyone's creed that I know of) from an advertising display
for this reason.

Yes, Virginia, there is a war on Christmas.

TRIVIA:
The Christmas market (Christkindlesmarkt) in the Northern Bavaria city
of Nuremberg Germany dates from the mid-16th Century, and is one of the
oldest and most famous Christmas markets in the world.

http://www.christkindlesmarkt.de/english/index.php?

If you look there, please be sure to click under The "Beautiful
Fountain" and  see the panoramic view of last year's market.  There are
also a lot of other neat photos at the site.

Sally and I were there in Nuremberg in 1968, and went to the
Christkindlesmarkt.  Our son had been born in the US Army Hospital in
Nuremberg on Thanksgiving Day 38 years ago yesterday (11/28/68)- - we
were just visiting relatives for Thanksgiving, and our son was born
there ~6 weeks preemie.

- - -  JimH.

*****
'Nativity' Booted From Ill. Holiday Fair

-CHICAGO (AP) - A public Christmas festival is no place for the Christmas
-story, the city says. Officials have asked organizers of a downtown
-Christmas festival, the German Christkindlmarket, to reconsider using a
-movie studio as a sponsor because it is worried ads for its film "The
-Nativity Story" might offend non-Christians.

-New Line Cinema, which said it was dropped, had planned to play a loop of
-the new film on televisions at the event. The decision had both the
-studio and a prominent Christian group shaking their heads.

-"The last time I checked, the first six letters of Christmas still spell
-out Christ," said Paul Braoudakis, spokesman for the Barrington,
-Ill.-based Willow Creek Association, a group of more than 11,000
-churches of various denominations. "It's tantamount to celebrating
-Lincoln's birthday without talking about Abraham Lincoln."

-He also said that there is a nativity scene in Daley Plaza - and that some
-vendors at the festival sell items related to the nativity.

-The city does not want to appear to endorse one religion over another,
-said Cindy Gatziolis, a spokeswoman for the Mayor's Office of Special
-Events. She acknowledged there is a nativity scene, but also said there
-will be representations of other faiths, including a Jewish menorah,
-all put up by private groups. She stressed that the city did not order
-organizers to drop the studio as a sponsor.

-"Our guidance was that this very prominently placed advertisement would
-not only be insensitive to the many people of different faiths who come
-to enjoy the market for its food and unique gifts, but also it would be
-contrary to acceptable advertising standards suggested to the many
-festivals holding events on Daley Plaza," Jim Law, executive director
-of the office, said in a statement.

-Officials with the German American Chamber of Commerce of the Midwest,
-which has organized the event for several years, did not immediately
-return calls for comment. The festival started Thursday.

-An executive vice president with New Line Cinema, Christina Kounelias,
-said the studio's plan to spend $12,000 in Chicago was part of an
-advertising campaign around the country. Kounelias said that as far as
-she knew, the Chicago festival was the only instance where the studio
-was turned down. -Kounelias said she finds it hard to believe that
-non-Christians who attended something called Christkindlmarket would be
-surprised or offended by the presence of posters, brochures and other
-advertisements of the movie.

-"One would assume that if (people) were to go to Christkindlmarket,
-they'd know it is about Christmas," she said.
-Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved.


... "Bah! Humbug!" - - Ebenezer Scrooge
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