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The Bizarre War on Christmas Debate

From Web Exclusives

This year’s renewal of the usually pedantic “Keep Christ in Christmas” discourse had a few interesting twists. A historically early Chanukah allowed Bill O’Reilly to vilify all those who uttered “Happy Holidays!” between a long string of holiday-less December dates. O’Reilly’s latest point of contention—that Santa is verifiably “white”—added an amusing flavor to what has become an annual ritual; one which is played out primarily via bumper stickers, front lawn decorations, Church bulletin boards, and awkward exchanges with grocery cashiers. This year, I was a bit surprised to discover that the trite debate had invaded my football fandom… . Continue Reading »

Christmas and the Scandal of Particularity

From Web Exclusives

This past week I attended the “Zoolights” festival at the Smithsonian National Zoo. A friend’s niece was performing with her school choir, and this seemed a good opportunity to partake in one of those delightful but decidedly child-oriented activities without the awkward out-of-place feeling that accompanies a single person on this sort of outing… . Continue Reading »