December 20, 2007

Oklahoma Cancels Christmas (Update: No They Didn't)

UPDATE: I'm putting this at the top because early callers to the AG's office claims this isn't true, and they are wishing people a Merry Christmas when greeting callers. So I called there myself, and spoke with Emily Lang, spokesperson for the AG. Ms Lang confirms that they are greeting callers with "Merry Christmas" as a means of refuting this story. AG Edmundson did not issue this order, she insists; they are checking with assistant AGs to see if the advisory ever existed at all. At any rate, the AG does not believe state workers should refrain from Christmas greetings.

Ms. Lang wants people to know that they have a Christmas tree in the office, and hopes everyone has a Merry Christmas.

And yes, I consider this sloppy work on my part. My apologies to readers and the Oklahoma AG's office. Original post follows ....

UPDATE II: The sad denizens of Sadly, No! have decided that they can't take a retraction with any grace and have instead focused their keen political insight on my hair and my weight. How ... impressive. It's nice to see that the middle schools have let out early for Christmas.

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This decision comes from the same fine folks who had Paul Jacob arrested and who will prosecute him for assisting in a referendum. Now Oklahoma AG Drew Edmundson has decided to ban any mention of Christmas from the halls of Southwestern Oklahoma State University, by any state employee, in oral or written form. Mark Tapscott has the details:

Oklahoma attorney general Drew Edmondson drew national scorn earlier this year when he arrested Paul Jacob of the Sam Adams Alliance and two colleagues on trumped-up charges that they violated a discredited state law requiring all circulators of initiative petititons in Sooner Land to be residents.

Now the Okie Napoleon is banning Christmas!

I am not making this up (in part because I am from Oklahoma and this guy is an embarrassment).

The Liberty Counsel explained the scope of the order:

John Misak, the Director of Human Resources, recently visited various university departments and employee groups and informed everyone that any decorations featuring the word 'Christmas' in any work or public areas of the university must be immediately removed. He also instructed everyone to discontinue the use of the term 'Christmas' in their speech while on the job. This censorship specifically includes exchanging greetings of 'Merry Christmas' among employees or with non-employees, whether initiated by a non-university employee or not. Christmas remains a legal holiday for state employees, including those at SWOSU. The directive does not include any other legal holidays such as Thanksgiving or New Year’s.

Normally, I'm inclined to dismiss the idea of a "war on Christmas". I see the real war on Christmas more in the incessant commercialization of the holiday. It seems very strange to obsess over gift lists and run up credit-card debt to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, who came to free us of worldly concerns. I'd classify this more as a martinet run amuck, imposing a general sort of political correctness rather than an animus towards Christmas or Christians -- exactly what he did with the Paul Jacob case, too.

Mark has the phone number of Edmundson's office if you'd like to call and wish the AG a Merry Christmas. If you do so, please be polite. Remember the reason we celebrate the holiday rather than surrender to anger.

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Here we go again. The wingnuts will believe anything. It's sort of fun to watch, except that they have guns and power. See Redstate | Okie Attorney General Bans Christmas. Seriously. Except if you read the story they point to... [Read More]

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