Concerned Women for America (CWFA) spokesperson Robert Knight has compared those who say "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas” to the Nazis. DefCon Blog Knight said:
"You know, when the Nazis moved into Austria in 1936 they immediately removed Christmas from the schools, you can read about it in Maria Trapp’s… Maria Trapp wrote the story of the Trapp singers; it’s in The Sound of Music. And she said that she sent her kids to school every day after the Nazis took over and they came home and said ‘Mama, we can’t say the word Christmas anymore, it’s now winter holiday.’ I think that ought to disturb people that we’re moving towards that kind of attitude in this country.”
I sent an email to CWFA encouraging them to apologize. Here it is:
As a Baptist minister I was appalled to read Robert Knight’s comments comparing those who say “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas” with the Nazis.
First, such a comparison is completely inappropriate! The Holocaust that resulted in ethnic genocide that killed 10 million people, and World War II led to the deaths of over 50 million people. No matter how much you disagree with a nonviolent person, they have not done anything even remotely close to the atrocities committed by the Nazi regime. Such Hitler or Nazi rhetoric is completely out-of-line, inaccurate, and un-Christ-like. As Bruce H. DeBoskey of the Anti-Defamation League argued in the Denver Post of March 4, 2005: “More and more often, political debate in our country is colored by references to Nazis, to Hitler or to the Holocaust. Holocaust analogies are becoming so common that they have lost their meaning. It’s not simply that the references are offensive—although they are, indeed. It’s important to remember who the Nazis really were. …Out of respect for those who perished, and mindful of the importance of keeping Holocaust terms meaningful to accurately describe a painful history whose lessons remain pertinent today, let’s save those terms to describe the people who earned them—the real Nazis of the Third Reich—and let’s remember their true association with hatred, genocide and evil.”
Second, this whole debate is distracting us from the real meaning of the season. Why do you care what stores say? The message of Christ is not found at a store; you can't buy salvation or true joy. No matter what stores may say my faith is exactly the same because it is based on scripture and my personal relationship with Jesus and not on what people say.
In light of these concerns, I urge Mr. Knight and CWFA to publicly apologize for the remarks.
Merry Christmas!
Brian Kaylor
"You know, when the Nazis moved into Austria in 1936 they immediately removed Christmas from the schools, you can read about it in Maria Trapp’s… Maria Trapp wrote the story of the Trapp singers; it’s in The Sound of Music. And she said that she sent her kids to school every day after the Nazis took over and they came home and said ‘Mama, we can’t say the word Christmas anymore, it’s now winter holiday.’ I think that ought to disturb people that we’re moving towards that kind of attitude in this country.”
I sent an email to CWFA encouraging them to apologize. Here it is:
As a Baptist minister I was appalled to read Robert Knight’s comments comparing those who say “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas” with the Nazis.
First, such a comparison is completely inappropriate! The Holocaust that resulted in ethnic genocide that killed 10 million people, and World War II led to the deaths of over 50 million people. No matter how much you disagree with a nonviolent person, they have not done anything even remotely close to the atrocities committed by the Nazi regime. Such Hitler or Nazi rhetoric is completely out-of-line, inaccurate, and un-Christ-like. As Bruce H. DeBoskey of the Anti-Defamation League argued in the Denver Post of March 4, 2005: “More and more often, political debate in our country is colored by references to Nazis, to Hitler or to the Holocaust. Holocaust analogies are becoming so common that they have lost their meaning. It’s not simply that the references are offensive—although they are, indeed. It’s important to remember who the Nazis really were. …Out of respect for those who perished, and mindful of the importance of keeping Holocaust terms meaningful to accurately describe a painful history whose lessons remain pertinent today, let’s save those terms to describe the people who earned them—the real Nazis of the Third Reich—and let’s remember their true association with hatred, genocide and evil.”
Second, this whole debate is distracting us from the real meaning of the season. Why do you care what stores say? The message of Christ is not found at a store; you can't buy salvation or true joy. No matter what stores may say my faith is exactly the same because it is based on scripture and my personal relationship with Jesus and not on what people say.
In light of these concerns, I urge Mr. Knight and CWFA to publicly apologize for the remarks.
Merry Christmas!
Brian Kaylor
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