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Friday, December 22, 2006
Floyd Brown :: Townhall.com Columnist
Ronald Reagan and the War on Christmas
by Floyd Brown
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Six years later on December 24, 1983 President Reagan spoke in a radio address from the Oval Office his thoughts on Christmas and our wonderful country to the nation. His inspiring, and encouraging words still ring true as we celebrate this Christmas season. Names and some places have changed since Reagan delivered these words more than twenty years ago, yet Americans today are still fighting for the cause of freedom in the world:

Like so many of your homes, the White House is brimming with greens, colorful decorations, and a tree trimmed and ready for Christmas day. And when Nancy and I look out from our upstairs windows, we can see the National Christmas Tree standing in majestic beauty. Its lights fill the air with a spirit of love, hope, and joy from the heart of America…

Christmas is a time for children, and rightly so. We celebrate the birthday of the Prince of Peace who came as a babe in a manger. Some celebrate Christmas as the birthday of a great teacher and philosopher. But to other millions of us, Jesus is much more. He is divine, living assurance that God so loved the world He gave us His only begotten Son so that by believing in Him and learning to love each other we could one day be together in paradise.

It's been said that all the kings who ever reigned, that all the parliaments that ever sat have not done as much to advance the cause of peace on Earth and good will to men as the man from Galilee, Jesus of Nazareth.

No leader could say it clearer than Ronald Reagan. He summarized this dramatic radio address with these words:

"And because faith for us is not an empty word, we invoke the power of prayer to spread the spirit of peace. We ask protection for our soldiers who are guarding peace tonight — from frigid outposts in Alaska and the Korean demilitarized zone to the shores of Lebanon."

"With patience and firmness we can help bring peace to that strife-torn region and make our own lives more secure. The Christmas spirit of peace, hope, and love is the spirit Americans carry with them all year round, everywhere we go. As long as we do, we need never be afraid, because trusting in God is the one sure answer to all the problems we face."

This Christmas wish is as true today as the day President Reagan spoke it.

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About The Author
Floyd Brown is the Reagan Ranch Presidential Scholar for Young America's Foundation.

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Reply # 1
Date: Dec 26, 2006 - 1:34 PM EST
Read the Constitution
Words mean something, and the only place in the Bill of Rights that has anything like "Congress shall make no law . . ." is in the First Amendment -- in this discussion, about religion. _Congress_ shall make no law, but it's fine whatever the States and municipalities do. In fact, many (most?) states had established religions at that time.

I get so frustrated when I hear the "separation of church and state" argument when a local issue comes up -- a nativity scene on the town square, for example. Frankly, there shouldn't be a federal issue at all.
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Reply # 2
Date: Dec 25, 2006 - 11:20 AM EST
FOOD FOR THOUGHT IN THE WAR ON CHRISTMAS
The war on Christmas is another battle in the war on the Judeo-Christian culture.

As I look at most of Europe today, I see a has-been society of hedonists with a deep, uncurable, and pathological dislike of anything associated with a Judeo-Christian culture. Throughout their history, too often churches, whether Catholic or Protestant, have been anti-Semitic and closely allied with despotic monarchs and political leaders. In addition, the Enlightenment and the revival of humanist thought became an addiction that has lasted for generations.

The Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches have been the official state churches of most European nations. Lutheranism has been the official state religion of Scandinavian nations. The Church of England, aka Anglican in England and Episcopal in America, was the official state religion of England. Thus, people were required to belong to those churches and pay taxes to support them.

The Pilgrims left England seeking religious freedom and relocated to Leyden, Holland, for a time before they set sail for the New World.

America's deeply religious founding fathers wanted to create a society in which there was no state-sponsored religion.

The First Amendment to the United States Constition states, "Congress shall make no low with respect to establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. Nowhere in the Constitution are there the words "Separation of church and state". Nowhere in the Constition is there any clause requiring church subordination to the state as is the case elsewhere, including Mexico.

The words "Separation of church and state" were first used in a letter that Thomas Jefferson wrote to the Danbury Baptists.

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