Sarah Palin is coming out with a book this winter about the “War on Christmas” and she talked about it with Faith and Freedom Coalition head Ralph Reed:

… It’s going to be a great Christmas book. Lots of nice, festive, joyful things within the book, like recipes and traditions of our family that are probably pretty unique because we are from Alaska and live near the North Pole, so we have access to Santa Claus and all the good things that come with Christmas. But the heart of the book is the Truth about Christmas. It’s keeping Christ in Christmas and not allowing the politically correct people and the angry atheists, especially those who are armed with an attorney, tell us that Christ will not be a part of Christmas anymore, whether that has to do with the language that we use when we say “Merry Christmas” publicly and we have our nativity scenes out on our public property, or private property, for those who want to take that away from Americans who understand that the Truth behind the most wonderful holiday, Christmas, well, we tell then in this book how they can fight back and be empowered, again, to keep Christ in Christmas.

As with just about everything Sarah Palin says, there’s so much wrong in her statement, the least of which is that Wasilla, Alaska isn’t actually “close” to the North Pole.

It’s also surprising to hear her bring up Santa Claus, since he’s not what many Christians want as the primary association with Christmas.

But let’s get to the main issue: Palin seems to think atheists hate Christmas so much, they don’t want anyone else to celebrate it. Anyone who’s done even minimal research on the matter knows that’s not true… which is why Palin accepts it wholeheartedly. (Prediction: You won’t find a single footnote or citation in this book.)

The only thing “atheists with lawyers” have a problem with is government promotion of one religion over all other religions, or belief over non-belief. The government must stay neutral on those matters. Christians don’t own December any more than Muslims own July. The only time “angry atheists” sue is when politicians overstep their bounds and grant special privilege to Christians that they aren’t also extending to other people.

If Christians want to put up a Nativity Scene on their front lawns? Fine! No atheist group has ever sued about Christian displays on private property, so Palin’s little comment about that is completely ignorant.

If a government or public school puts up a Nativity Scene and allows displays from Jewish groups, atheist groups, and groups representing all other belief systems, also fine!

As Brian Tashman at Right Wing Watch says so succinctly, the War on Christmas “doesn’t actually exist but is an easy way for conservative activists to stoke fears and make money.”

That’s all this is: A way for Palin to take money from her base without doing any of the things she finds so cumbersome, like work or research or telling the truth.



