Banning Christmas at Southwesten Oklahoma State University

by Chris
(Flintstone, Georgia, U.S.A.)

Image from SWOSU.edu

Yep, they are at it again...The Christmas police, oops I should have said "holiday police" shouldn't I, have now influenced Southwesten Oklahoma State University to ban the very word "Christmas" on their campus.

According to an alert sent out by Liberty Counsel (www.LC.org) today, December 20, 2007, "Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford has issued a disturbing directive forbidding employees to say or write the word "Christmas." This directive was given by the University upon legal advice of the Oklahoma Attorney General, W.A. Drew Edmondson."

Apparently the University's Director of Human Resources had visited various departments and directed that the many decorations featuring the word "Christmas" on campus must be immediately removed.

He also instructed the employees not so say "Christmas" while on the job, so they cannot even wish other employees, students, or visitors a Merry Christmas.

Isn't it funny how in the name of tolerance, many seek to stifle and oppress the very expression of beliefs and constitutional free speech of others.

Anyway, here is a copy of the letter that I just sent to the President of the university, Mr. John M. Hays, trying to convince them of the ridiculously oppressiveness of the "Christmas" ban and imploring them to change their position and policy.

P.S. I encourage others to do the same...

"Dear President Hays,

Has Christmas become such a by-word that you would ban it’s use at your university?

Seriously sir, are you banning your staff from saying Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanza, etc? Also, I noticed that on your homepage, http://www.swosu.edu/, you have central image of your mascot surrounded by certain items that Americans have typically called (for all of it’s 200+ year history) “Christmas trees”.

I also noticed the traditional attire of “Frosty the Snowman” on your mascot as well. I don’t know if you have seen wither of the Frosty cartoon specials, but if you have or choose to, you’ll be quick to notice the strong emphasis on Christmas including Christmas trees, decorations, and even an appearance by Santa Claus, which came about as a result of the good works of a man you may have heard of named Saint Nicolas.

Also appearing on your “holiday image” are other traditional Christmas decorations including Holly and/or Mistletoe and red ribbon.

I appeal to your good sense and judgment to realize that Christmas should not be offensive to the masses in America, considering around 90% of Americans actually celebrate Christmas currently and many more have in times past.

I know that many are justifying this “sanitization” of Christmas from this time of year by stating that we are a more diverse nation now and that we should behave accordingly, but…

I submit to you that America was formed by and has always been a melting pot of immigrants and we’ve got along pretty well for over two hundred years with the words “Merry Christmas” being heralded publicly by private citizens, public servants, and institutions of public, private, and government ownership alike.

Just because we say Merry Christmas does not mean that we are disrespecting anyone else’s “holiday celebration”, but rather we recognize that Christmas is a long-standing American tradition that we should not be ashamed of.

I said all of that to say this…

Mr. Hays, I appeal to you and the authorities of Southwestern Oklahoma State University to reconsider your ban of Christmas from your campus.

Sincerely and Respectfully,

Chris"