by the commentator on 13 December 2013 17:54

If there was any part of any country in the Western world that was going to take the fiercest stand against politically correct efforts to stamp out the celebration of Christmas, you might have guessed it would be the U.S. state of Texas.

According to Christian Today, outlining the state's so-called "Merry Christmas Law":

"Texas has become the first state in the US to pass laws legally protecting the celebration of Christmas. Under the new law, schools, and other public institutions will be able to hold Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa parties, without fearing lawsuits inspired by political correctness."

It has been backed by "many conservative lawmakers and opinion shapers who fear political correctness has moved from an attempt to be sensitive to open aggression."

America is far from alone in the fightback against militant, absolutist atheists who have sought to intimidate parents and even children for celebrating religious festivals, even when they derive more from cultural practice rather than deeply held religious conviction.

Over in Edmonton Canada a huge scandal blew up when officials sought to ban Christmas decorations in Canada Square until the move was quashed by the All federal Public Works Minister, who, after an outcry, put it all down to a misunderstanding.

As The Calgary Sun's Lorne Gunter put it in a commentary today: "Yeah, sure it was. Miscommunication is typically a dodge used by people who get caught trying to do something unpopular. More likely this was another attempt by the forces of political correctness to stamp out any public displays of Christmas."

Over in Europe, it's been taken to a whole new level. The so called "Black Pete" issue -- "Black Pete" is a traditional dark-skinned helper to the Dutch Santa -- has even been taken to the United Nations on racism grounds. This one sounds close to the bone but the vast majority of Dutch, regardless of ethnicity, just regard it as a bit of harmless fun.

It's hard to disagree with controversial Dutch politician Geerd Wilders that if anything has to be abolished it's the UN itself, not "Black Pete".

Britain has had its fair share of loons on the Left trying to blot out Christmas, although the attempt (long denied) by Birmingham council to partially re-name the Christmas and surrounding periods as "Winterval" invited such ridicule that few have dared to try again.

Still, there are politically correct European "educators" out there who seemingly won't give up.

Up in Norway, the pre-Christmas festival of St. Lucia's day, celebrated across the Nordic region, has just been banned by a Kindergarten, causing a storm of nationwide protest. The country's main English newspaper reported Rune Hoff Johannessen, the manager of Solvang kindergarten in Sandefjord, south of Oslo as saying:

"We do not want to involve children in celebrations when they don't have enough understanding to know what they are being part of... We have children from all kinds of backgrounds at our kindergarten... We thought that we should do celebrations which included everyone, and we realized that we didn't do that."

There are always those that will hold out to the last. But the tide, like the weather, is turning. Santa's on his way, and he can wish us "Merry Christmas" to his heart's content.