That wasn't good enough for the firefighters who argued that the cross was a cherished tradition within the volunteer department. So over the past few years, firefighter Gregg Lewis said they've been conducting a sort of covert operation—erecting the cross and then taking it down once someone complained.
The firefighters said they are frustrated by the lack of respect for the cross and what it means to the volunteers. "A lot of history, a lot of tradition with the cross," said Lt. Mark Dellicker. "It's been handed down from generation to generation. We feel like we're letting all of the past firefighters down by letting it go. We're not trying to offend anybody, but it means a lot to us."
Scott Foster, the pastor of the town's First Baptist Church, said he's worried that the meaning behind the symbols of the season could get lost in political battles. "I never cease to be surprised at how much controversy comes up over displaying religious symbols," he said, noting it seems Christians are singled out "a little bit more" than other religions.
Christmas Cleansing
Florida Gulf Coast University is giving in to political correctness and banning Christmas decorations. No Santa Claus, no reindeer, and certainly no nativity scenes.
University President Wilson Bradshaw explained why he outlawed Christmas decorations in a memorandum to students and faculty. It reads in part: "Public institutions, including FGCU, often struggle with how best to observe the season in ways that honor and respect all traditions. This is a challenging issue each year at FGCU and 2008 is no exception. While it may appear at times that a vocal majority of opinion is the only view that is held, this is not always the case."
Dr. Bradshaw said his ban was not an attempt to suppress expression of the holiday spirit. On the contrary, it was a successful attempt to suppress expression of the holiday spirit. I suspect this doesn't have as much to do with Santa as it does the true meaning of Christmas.
Meanwhile, the lobbies of two libraries at the University of North Carolina are lacking a bit of holiday cheer. The two Christmas trees normally displayed there have been banished, and you can blame it on political correctness.
The Charlotte Observer is reporting librarians censored the display because employees complained. Sarah Michalak, the associate provost for university libraries, told the newspaper: "We strive in our collection to have a wide variety of ideas. It doesn't seem right to celebrate one particular set of customs."8
You might recall that UNC is a public university that once required its incoming freshmen to read a book about the Koran. (Ahem.)
Axe the Angel
Angels and stars no longer adorn Christmas trees in Sonoma County, California. And you can thank an aggressive atheist for that. Irv Sutley told his story to The New York Times. He was inside a government building when he saw a Christmas tree. "And then," he told the newspaper, "I noticed the angel."9 He went to another office building and discovered another tree—this one adorned with stars.
"For most people, a star atop a tree at this time of season represents the star of Bethlehem, which is a cult symbol, the cult being Christianity," he said.
Sutley complained, and Sonoma County decided to consult with their lawyers. In the end the county decided government should be neutral on religion, and this resulted in a religious cleansing of Sonoma County's Christmas trees.
Whacking Christmas Bells
The clock tower at Southern Illinois University has played Christmas carols for nearly fifteen years. But this year someone got their bells jingled, and university officials decided to silence the music until they could have a more diverse selection of holiday tunes.
"We got a complaint about not being inclusive in the music," university Chancellor Rita Cheng said. But the rumor around town was the Christmas carols were "religious" and "offensive to non-Christians."
"No one really complained about it being religious," she told FOX News Radio. "They asked that their religion also be reflected in the music."10
Cheng said they were specifically asked to include Jewish music, and they may also add some Kwanza tunes.
"That is part of the season," she said. "We have a large number of African-American students at Southern Illinois University, and we would want to be as inclusive as we can."
It's unclear who complained, but Cheng denied the silenced chimes were part of a war on Christmas. "Students who were on the campus from across the world raised the issue, and we're trying to be as responsive as possible and as inclusive," she said. "Christmas is a wonderful time of year, and we don't want to dampen the spirit and the goodwill people have."
But that's exactly what it's done among some students and the Carbondale community. "I miss the Christmas music," student John Piencak told KFVS-TV. "It was really cold, and [when I] walked out of my class to my car and I heard 'Jingle Bells,' it made me happy."11
Beth Freeburg works near the clock tower and told WSIL-TV she enjoyed the Christmas music. "I think it's just a wonderful, inspirational thing," she said.
Others, however, suggested the university should strictly play secular holiday tunes.
"If it was 'Jingle Bells' or 'White Christmas' or something like that, I think it would be a lot more respectful,"12 student Christine Stowell told WSIL-TV.
Another student, Leah Rosenblat, said the change was appropriate. "I think it's awesome. My respect for the university has gone up immensely with its decision to do this."
Chancellor Cheng said the university staff assured her they could add other religious songs to the chimes without taking away from the Christian element.
"On a college campus, I would expect some dialogue," she said. "We just wanted the full campus community to feel included."
Everyone, that is, except the Christians.
No war on Christmas? My friends, the battle has just begun.
16
A Few Moments with Sean Hannity
Sean Hannity is living the American dream. He is one of the most popular radio and television hosts in the nation. His books have been best sellers. And he's spoken in sold-out concert halls across the country.
But at his heart Sean is one of us. He's a man who believes in God, loves his family, and loves his country. He grew up in Long Island, New York, in a working-class neighborhood. He knows what it's like to endure hardship. He knows what it means to live from paycheck to paycheck. He understands what it's like to want a better life for his children.
I've met lots of famous folks in New York City, and sometimes what you see on television isn't reality. But Sean is different. He's the real deal. He doesn't walk around town in million-dollar suits. He doesn't have an entourage. And more often than not, you'll find him wearing blue jeans, kicking back with his family, or taking time to raise awareness and support for the fighting men and women of the U.S. Armed Services.
Simply put, Sean is a great American.
Todd: I want to take you back to the 2008 presidential campaign. Then Senator Obama was at an event in San Francisco. He talked about bitter Americans.
Hannity: Clinging to their guns and religion. It's condescending for liberals to think that the American people just don't get it. John Kerry said the country has entered a period of know-nothing-ism.
The attacks against the Tea Party Movement and American citizens have been almost unprecedented. There is a level of outright arrogance that liberals have toward the American people.
But in the 2010 mid-term elections, the American people got their say, and they spoke loudly. President Obama can say it was a communications problem all he wants, but when you look at the exit polls, people got it. They understand that nationalized health care was rammed down their throats, using backroom deals and the moral equivalency of bribery to get it passed. Remember the Cornhusker Kickback? The Louisiana Purchase? It was politics as usual. President Obama was supposed to be this huge transformative figure—and transparent on top of that. But
he did not deliver what he promised to the American people.
Todd: Is it just me, or does the White House seem to have a lack of respect for the traditions and institutions of the country?
Hannity: When President Obama was running for office with his teleprompter, he had a very disciplined and, frankly, very well-run campaign. The crowds got excited. He read his teleprompter with such confidence. I don't think a lot of people even realized he was reading a teleprompter. But now it's become a national joke. I wouldn't be surprised if he sleeps with it.
If you want to know Barack Obama, you've got to look into his background. And we spent a lot of time and took a lot of heat for going into his radical past, his radical associations.
We looked at his relationship with ACORN and folks like the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, his pastor for twenty years. Remember Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dorn? Obama said during the campaign he was just a guy in the neighborhood. But Obama started his political career in their home. He sat on boards with an unrepentant terrorist, gave speeches with the guy, and the media gave him a pass.
In one moment without a teleprompter, Obama talked about spreading the wealth around. Joe Biden said it was our patriotic duty. This is fundamentally what he thinks America should be, a European socialist state.
Predictably, that kind of state does not lead to opportunity. A socialist state did not create the wealth that is the envy of the world. I believe President Obama has failed in his job. He's failed to get the economy rolling. In spite of all his apology tours, he's failed to gain the respect of the international community, and that was so important to him.
Todd: Liberals say the culture war is over. The conservatives lost on issues like abortion and gay marriage.
Hannity: Why would they say that when every time gay marriage is put on the ballot, it gets rejected? How is that viewed as a loss?
Todd: So you think the nation is still engaged in a culture war?
Hannity: Well, you brought up gay marriage. I think most people do not want to change the definition of marriage, which is evidenced by a number of these referendums that have taken place around this country. Let me say this, since Barack Obama was elected president, I would argue that conservatives have won the arguments.
That's why we had the historic election in 2010. I think conservatives have won. We've won the debate of taxes, and we've won the debate on health care. Most people see President Obama as a socialist, and most people want to reverse course.
Most people want lower taxes; they want the Bush-era tax cuts extended. Most people want Washington to live within its means. They want to cut spending. Exit polls in the 2010 mid-term elections showed most Americans wanted to repeal Obamacare. Most people want to eliminate the death tax. And when they understand what the capital gains tax is, they want the same there.
Todd: Tell me about the phrase "great American."
Hannity: Bill Cunningham, a radio talk-show host from Cincinnati, used that line. He's a friend of mine. When I started my national radio show, every person who called from Cincinnati would say, just like Bill Cunningham did, "You, sir, are a great American! I want a full report."
I'd do it in his voice. Then all of a sudden people just started calling up and saying, "You're a great American, you're a great American, you're a great American." It sort of took on a life of its own. I had to get copyright privileges from Bill Cunningham to let it continue. But it just started out as an inside radio joke with a really good friend of mine.
Todd: But what does it mean to you? What does it mean to be a "great American?"
Hannity: On Election Day in 2010, I went on the air, and I did a long monologue. I spent a lot of time thinking about what I wanted to say. I figured out that what happened on Election Day wasn't about one person. You think of all the people, all the time, all the energy, all the resources that were contributed.
People who were never involved in the political process showed up at town hall meetings. The attended Tea Party events. They weren't seeking fame. They weren't seeking fortune. They just wanted their country to be on a better track. Those are the people who made 2010 happen.
And who are these people? They are the folks who get up every morning, shovel a little coffee down their throats, and then work really hard providing goods and services all day for other people.
They pay their taxes, they obey the laws, they play by the rules, and they make the country a better place. They finally got to a point where they saw the government as intrusive in their daily lives. They're the great Americans.
Todd: Why do you love America?
Hannity: I believe what President Ronald Reagan once said—about that shining city on a hill. I believe the United States of America is the greatest, single-best country God gave man.
I love freedom. I love the idea that you have choices, you take on an individual responsibility in your life. And I contend that you cannot fail in America if you want to succeed.
There is more opportunity for more people in this country than anybody ever dreamed of. We've been able to build up a country full of wealth. I've been to some of the poorest housing projects in America—the Rockaways in New York and the Bronx and Techwood Homes in Atlanta. It's certainly not, in many cases, the ideal place you want to live, but people do have plumbing and running water. They've got televisions and stereos. People have cars and a standard of living that is decent and respectable. But the housing projects give them a platform where they can work really hard and make a better life for themselves.
My father did that. He grew up really poor in Bed-Stuy, a neighborhood in Brooklyn. After he fought four years in the Pacific during World War II, he got a 50-x-100 lot on Long Island, and he created a better standard of living for his family. He was proud of what he accomplished.
My father was standing on the shoulders of his grandfather who came from Ireland. He worked really hard so his family would have a better life in America. And I stand on both their shoulders. The idea here is that if you really work hard in America, great things can happen.
I was eight years old when I started delivering papers. When I was twelve years old, I was scrubbing pots and pans. I was busing tables and waiting tables. By the time I was seventeen, I was tending bar. I did every job imaginable. I was a construction worker. I laid tile, hung wallpaper, painted houses, framed houses. I fell two-and-a-half stories while I was roofing a house.
When I left home and started out on my journey that would lead me into talk radio and eventually to FOX News Channel, I had a thousand dollars in my pocket. I lost $300 when the entire exhaust system fell out of my car.
Do you know that for a long time I never bought a car that cost more than three hundred dollars? I bought an old Providence Gas Company van for $200. It ran on propane. I spent $350 on a Ford Maverick with 168,000 miles on it. I'd fix up those cars. I'd paint them and change the brakes, give them a tune-up.
I was slowly making my way through life, slowly accumulating money. I even went to school—going in and out as I had the money to pay for it. I never expected anyone else to give me money or a scholarship.
And then I got behind a radio microphone, and that was it. It changed me. The minute I got behind that microphone, I knew that was what I wanted to do.
Todd: You've got it all. You've got a successful career, you've got money, but at the end of the day, what is the legacy, what is the one thing you want to leave your kids with, the one thing you want them to know about life?
Hannity: For me it always comes down to the basics—God, family, and your country. It's that simple. For anybody to be truly happy and successful, I think it's predicated on faith and a belief in God. You've got to appreciate the gifts you have and always take care of your family.
Living in America is a gift. Not everybody around the world has the ability to get up and look deep inside themselves, find out what their d
ream is, what their skill set is, and then set out with the odds being very high that they can succeed in creating a living for themselves while providing for other people. That is the American story.
I want to give my kids the skill set so they can find whatever gifts God gave them, and then they can share those gifts with other people. Every person on this earth was born with talent, natural talent by God, endowed by their Creator.
So if you believe every human soul is endowed by their Creator, then it's predicated on a belief that they've got talent. When you live in a free society, you can find it. When you find it, you're going to be helping humanity, advancing the human condition, while providing for yourself and your family. That means making a profit.
So that's the best you can expect in life. It doesn't get any better than that. It's like the Brooks and Dunn song, "That's What It's All About."1
17
Islamophobia Gone Wild
Islamic radicals are coming to town, and I don't believe they're interested in hosting a potluck dinner with the Presbyterians.
"We believe that one day the flag of Islam will fly over the White House," said Muslim cleric Anjem Choudary on ABC's This Week. "We do believe as Muslims the East and the West will be governed by Sharia."1
From my vantage point it's pretty understandable why Baptists in Alabama might be a bit unsettled with Muslims wanting to build a mosque on Capitol Hill. But liberals have been quick to pounce. They argue that anyone opposed to such things are uneducated, misinformed, and—wait for it—Islamophobic. That's the word they use to describe bitter Americans who have a fear of getting blown up.
But something strange is happening across the country. We're beginning to see bits and pieces of Sharia law incorporated into our national fabric. Some folks might call me an alarmist, but I'm not so sure.
Dispatches from Bitter America: A Gun Toting, Chicken Eating Son of a Baptist's Culture War Stories Page 8