Guest fountainhall Posted December 23, 2011 Posted December 23, 2011 I’m not going to attempt to paraphrase this. It’s part of a long article on the BBC’s website. As if the US Congress does not have more than enough on its indigestible plate - Dozens of US congressmen have pledged to protect Christmas from attempts to undermine it. So is the West's foremost public holiday really under attack? One of the most famous family scenes in history, the nativity, appears to be facing threats from all sides. A tug of war is going on over a nativity setting on a courthouse lawn in Texas, with the Freedom from Religion Foundation urging it be removed or an atheistic solstice banner put up nearby. In South Carolina, a state hospital has banned a nativity scene from its premises. It's part of a wider assault on the Christmas tradition, say some Christian groups, who also point to a rule barring congressmen from sending Christmas cards through the official congressional post. Then this - In wading into the debate, Congress joins a coalition of conservatives who say they are fighting to save Christmas from, say, shopkeepers who would offer discounts for the "holiday season" rather than for Christmas alone. And there’s more – Last week, Pastor Nathan Lorick of the First Baptist Church of Malakoff, Texas led a rally of about 5,000 Christians to defend the right of a courthouse to display the nativity scene while forbidding a banner celebrating solstice. "Each year, as you sit back and watch, the attacks on Christmas are becoming more and more prevalent," says Mr Lorick. "We found an opportunity here to stand up and address the issue that's going on nationwide, an ever-intensifying persecution of Christianity in America." http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16273917 Now I’d never heard of the First Baptist Church of Malakoff, and so I looked up its website. Curiously, it has a section titled, “GIRLFRIENDS FOREVER.” It goes on – Do you have a place where you can go to experience both whimsical fun and significant times with some girlfriends? Where you can get goofy, giggle out loud, and meet a generous and gracious God? We live in unstable and unpredictable times . . . Welcome to Girlfriends Forever Gulp! Clearly their "generous God" has no place for boyfriends' "whimsical fun and significant times." Quote
