We hope all our readers had a wonderful Christmas, and thought deeply about the meaning of the miracle of God coming to earth in human form, which is what Christmas is all about. There have been many efforts by non-believers to confuse the public lately and try to disguise or submerge Christmas, and many are confused.
The ACLU Is Losing: Christmas Lives
It wasn’t always that God was not allowed in the Public Square. Consider this message Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Christmas Eve 1944, just sixty years ago, to Americans at war:
It is not easy to say ‘Merry Christmas’ to you; my fellow Americans, in this time of destructive war. Nor can I say ‘Merry Christmas’ tonight to our armed forces at their battle stations all over the world. . . .
Here, at home, we will celebrate this Christmas Day in our traditional American way — because of its deep spiritual meaning to us; because the teachings of Christ are fundamental in our lives, and because we want our youngest generation to grow up knowing the significance of this tradition and the story of the coming of the immortal Prince of Peace. . . .
But perhaps in every home in the United States, sad and anxious thoughts will be continually with the millions of our loved ones who are suffering hardships and misery, and who are risking their very lives to reserve for us and for all mankind the fruits of His teachings, and the foundations of civilization itself. The Christmas spirit lives tonight. . . .
We pray that . . . God will protect our gallant men and women . . . that He will receive into His infinite grace those who make their supreme sacrifice in the cause of righteousness, in the cause of love of Him and His teachings.
We pray that with victory will come a new day of peace on earth in which all the Nations of the earth will join together for all time.
That is the spirit of Christmas, the holy day. May that spirit live and grow throughout the world in all the years to come.
The national prayer was not objected to in those pre-ACLU days. Many have fallen for the onslaught against God in the public square, many nativity sets have been removed, Christmas Pageants discontinued, and even “Merry Christmas” replaced with “Happy Holidays.”
Christmas is referred to as the “C” word. But it is backfiring on the anti-religious as more and more people turn back to the truth that Christmas is all about: Emmanuel, God with us.
Whenever I am greeted with “Happy Holidays” I answer “Merry Christmas,” and usually the greeter is quick to respond the same. The ACLU is losing.
Signs of Hope for Marriage
Dennis Byrne gives us reason for hope in his column in Monday’s Chicago Tribune entitled, “Marry me, marry me: Heterosexual unions making a comeback.”
It’s not all good news. America still has the highest divorce rate in the world and a third of all American children are born to unmarried mothers and don’t know their fathers.
But the good news is that divorce rates are down as are rates of unwed mothers. Teen pregnancy has declined dramatically, and the proportion of African-American children living with two married parents has risen four percent, which Byrne calls “significant.”
A coalition of 140 prominent family scholars, activists and counselors have started a growing marriage movement. Members say marriage is being promoted on many levels, from positive articles in local papers to pro-marriage curricula in public schools. The pro-marriage group sees itself as a maturing social movement comparable to the civil rights movement, but says much work remains to be done.
One of their main reasons for coming together, besides the vast benefits to married couples encouraged to remain married, is the benefits to children raised in a family headed by a married father and mother.
The group has seven broad goals including greater access to marriage education, funding for marriage education, classes in low-income communities, reforming divorce laws and developing marriage-friendly public policies and legislation.
The group has some major flaws, such as not addressing gay-marriage problem. But it’s a start.
