First, They Came for Thanksgiving; Now They Are Coming for Christmas
By: Fay Voshell
Kate Brown, the Governor of Oregon, was rather ambivalent in her approach to violence during the time Portland was torched by radical mobs. In fact, she thanked “Oregonians for expressing their free speech rights largely through joyful celebrations…”
But Gov. Brown apparently did some soul searching since the election. She found a joyful celebration about to be held by unquestionable enemies of the people. It turns out actual domestic terrorists are Oregonians who wanted to celebrate Thanksgiving. It’s extremists who wished to dine on turkey and all the trimmings who are dangerous, as they are potential super-spreaders of disease and destruction. Therefore, it’s Thanksgiving celebrations that need to be tightly regulated. It’s Thanksgiving celebrants who need to be fined and sent to jail if they transgress the regulations the governor has established by executive order.
Among those regulations?
Private social events are to be limited to two households or six individuals in a closed group (including Thanksgiving); masks are to be worn in your own home on Thanksgiving, only removing them when eating; and you are not to leave your home during the two-week shutdown. Consequences include a fine of $1,250 and possible jail time. Neighbors should report non-compliance.
It is hard to avoid the suspicion the Governor wants the bulk of citizens locked within their domiciles while radicals once again roam free to wreak havoc.
The tight regulations during the holidays do make one think about the examples of the Soviet Union and the Peoples Republic of China.
We might recall that citizens of the Soviet Union were not permitted to celebrate Christmas until 1991, when the USSR collapsed. As Emily Tamkin noted in an essay published in Foreign Policy, czarist Russia, which was widely Christianized, celebrated Christmas. But the Russian Revolution ushered in the communists, who were anti-Christian secularists. She wrote:
“Initially, the Soviets tried to replace Christmas with a more appropriate komsomol (youth communist league) related holiday, but, shockingly, this did not take. And by 1928 they had banned Christmas entirely, and Dec. 25 was a normal working day.”
New Year’s Day was promoted as the masses’ favored holiday. It remains so even today, almost thirty years later. Such is the power of mental conditioning over decades.
Meanwhile, as Yuhan Zu noted in his 2018 article for NPR, in the Peoples Republic of China, some leaders of China’s cities have been cracking down on Christmas celebrations, including the city of Langfang, a city of some four million southeast of Beijing:
“According to a notice issued by local officials, government employees must report public Christmas displays and celebrations to their higher-ups. Vendors selling holiday-related items are to be ‘cleared out…’ Christmas was banned in the name of ‘maintaining stability’ and avoiding social unrest, which is of great importance to Chinese government. That could mean…extreme surveillance measures.”
If readers are finding a certain commonality among the former apparatchiks of the USSR, the communist overlords of CCP and the killers of Thanksgiving and Christmas cheer in America, perhaps it is because they see killjoys like Oregon’s and California’s governors just may be under the influence of similar socialist/communist ideologies. All variants of such ideologies specialize in suffocating joy.
However, holiday cheer is not the only thing in the sights of the leftists in America. Yes, the lockdowns advocated by Democrat state governors and mayors are designed to kill the great joy provided by two holidays beloved by nearly all Americans.
Perhaps less noted is the fact that Main Street, USA is jeopardized by the shutdowns during the holiday season. Main Street is already full of shuttered small businesses that have not survived because of the lockdowns that began in March. Total lockdowns followed by reduced capacities have either finished off mom and pop boutiques, hair salons, restaurants, pubs, fitness centers and other small entities; or they have nearly suffocated them to death.
Those businesses that have hung on rely on the Christmas season to see them through the year. Even in good times, most small businesses only turn a profit during the holiday season. Many would be completely finished off if there is a lockdown from Thanksgiving until after New Year’s. The initial push to squash the middle class by literally putting it out of business and starving it of funds did not quite succeed. New lockdowns certainly seem designed to snuff out the nascent resurrection of mom and pop operations — to finish off the kulak middle classes, most of whom voted overwhelmingly for Trump. Of course, big corporations will remain unaffected.
Also worthy of note: By and large, the church did not stand up to protect its right to celebrate Easter. We can charitably assume many clergy were operating under the illusion that the Covid-19 crisis would pass and that things would soon return to normal. The initial threat may have been seen as exceedingly ominous. It seemed understandable that services were temporarily suspended for a few weeks.
But now?
Surely now church leaders can see Covid-19 regulations and directives are a mask for dictatorial measures. If they don’t, they may be either willfully blind or allied with the Left. One thing is clear: Tyrannical governors and mayors are using the fear of the virus to make sure the bulk of the populace are paralyzed from gathering together in any way, including gathering to worship.
Unfortunately, the church has long been subject to secularist ideological infiltration. But now, literally muted by the orders of state and city governors bent on suppressing freedom of religion, it may be assumed that once again, there won’t be much opposition when and if Christmas is cancelled. Instead, might the State expect full cooperation with all its directives?
It appears it will remain for the Christian underground and other resistors to stand up and be counted. It will be the task of Christians to understand the Left is and always has been committed to the death of God and of joy. Certainly, those who believe the celebration of the incarnation of Christ should not be impeded by the State must stand up.
It also will be up to Christians to think of their fellow human beings, including those who do not share their belief in the coming of Jesus Christ. They must think of their neighbors — the butchers, the bakers and the candlestick makers who simply want to succeed and live quietly.
Resist the left’s attempt to condition Americans to accept a joyless life without holidays except those permitted by and celebrating the god of the State, who tells Christians and others who to worship. Resist those who issue orders about when and where to celebrate, how and when to hold our religious ceremonies, and even when, how and what to chew and swallow.
Believers in Christmas have reason to celebrate! So…celebrate!
Happy Thanksgiving and a very merry Christmas to all.
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About the Author: Fay Voshell received a M.Div. from Princeton theological Seminary, which awarded her the prize for excellence in systematic theology. Her thoughts have appeared in many online magazines, including American Thinker. She has contributed to AT for almost a decade. If you wish, she may be reached at [email protected]
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The above article (First, They Came for Thanksgiving; Now They Are Coming for Christmas) was created and published by American Thinker and is republished here under “Fair Use” (see disclaimer below) with attribution to the articles author Fay Voshell and americanthinker.com.
TLB recommends you visit American Thinker for more great articles and information.
Photto credit (Closed sign in featured image): Tony Webster CC BY-SA 2.0
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