It’s not even Thanksgiving, but the War on Christmas 2013 has already begun.
According to a December 2012 Gallup Poll, Christians are still the overwhelming majority of Americans, at 77%; only 1.7% of Americans identify their religious preference as Jewish; Kwanzaa isn’t even considered by Gallup as a religion. Gallup concluded that “The United States remains a largely Christian nation; more than nine in 10 Americans who have a religious identity are affiliated with a Christian religion.”
And yet a U.S. Postal Service advertisement to sell “holiday stamps” omits a Christmas or Christian-themed message, yet includes portrayals of the Jewish holiday, Hanukkah, and the wholly made-up “African-American” holiday, Kwanzaa
In 1966, a black American named Ronald Everett, who later changed his name to Maulana Karenga, concocted Kwanzaa. Everett/Karenga founded a black power organization called US (meaning “Us black people”) which was committed to armed struggle and the establishment of a separate political structure for African-Americans. In 1971, Karenga was sentenced to one to ten years in prison on counts of felonious assault and false imprisonment. Despite all that, Everett/Karenga, now 72, is the Chair of the Africana Studies Department at California State University, Long Beach.
The USPS Christmas ad contains the text: “Don’t forget your holiday stamps. You’ll find them at your nearest post office or on eBay.” Below the text are pictures of three stamps:
- A candle holder with nine lighted candles, emblazoned with the word “Hanukkah.”
- A gingerbread house.
- A colorful symbol over an open book, above the block-type word “Kwanzaa.”
Reactions to the ad were swift and strident. A sample on Twitter:
- RennaW tweeted: “Don’t forget those three American holidays: Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and … gingerbread house”; “What happened to Christmas?”; “Oh yeah, because Christians celebrate the Holy Day of Gingerbread House, seriously? This is awful”; and “I’d like to take this opportunity to wish you and yours a very merry Gingerbread House.”
- Chris Barnhart tweeted: “Shhhhhhh! We can’t say the “C” word.”
- BossyMother tweeted: “oh yeah, because Christians celebrate the Holy Day of Gingerbread House, seriously? this is awful.”
A postal office worker jumped into the Twitter fray to explain: “The holiday stamp collection varies each year. We do have the Holy Family, Virgin & Child, Santa & Poinsettia stamps.”
Indeed, the USPS still offers Christmas-themed stamps with religious themes. Make sure you ask for those stamps at your local gingerbread post office.
Source: The Blaze
~Eowyn