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Huckabee and the "Persecuted" Christians
Via NY Transfer News Collective All the News that Doesn't Fit
Consortium News - Dec 21, 2007
http://www.consortiumnews.com/2007/122107a.html
Reprise with new introduction of December 10, 2005 article.
Introduction, Dec 21, 2007:
To understand Mike Huckabees surprising rise to the top of the
Republican presidential field, its worth looking back two years to
December 2005 when the right-wing media manufactured an alarming tale
about how secularists and non-Christians were waging a War on
Christmas.
Huckabee " in his unthreatening, easy-going style " has managed to tap
into that now widely perceived view among white Christian conservatives
that they are somehow facing persecution at the hands of Jews, Muslims
and atheists.
So, when Huckabee airs an ad in Iowa in which he wears a red sweater,
sits in front of a Christmas tree and what looks like a cross, and says
what really matters this time of year is not politics but the
celebration of the birth of Christ, he is subtly touching this
powerful sense of Christian victimhood.
Huckabee drove home the point during a rally in Marshalltown, Iowa, on
Dec. 20 by telling a crowd of 200, I know this is probably a very
controversial thing, but may I say to you, ~Merry Christmas!
As Huckabee emphasized the Christ in Christmas, the crowd rose to
its feet as if he had bravely uttered some phrase forbidden by a hated
dictator.
Similarly, Huckabee told a crowd in Dike, Iowa, Whats wrong with our
country, what is wrong with our culture, is that you cant say the name
Jesus Christ without people going completely berserk. His comment
brought that group to its feet, too. [NYT, Dec. 21, 2007]
In this sense, Huckabees rise can be viewed as another outgrowth of
the extraordinary power that the American Right has created through its
massive investment in media over the past three decades.
Through constant repetition over its thousands of media outlets, the
Right can make even the most ridiculous notion appear real to tens of
millions of Americans. Up can be down; the United States can be a place
that doesnt celebrate Christmas.
In December 2005, as the War on Christmas hysteria was reaching its
peak, Robert Parry wrote the following article entitled, The Meaning
of (the War Over) Christmas.]
Huckabee & the 'Persecuted' Christians
By Robert Parry
You have to hand it to political operatives who can turn the Christmas
celebration of Jesuss birth into a nasty wedge issue, transforming a
traditional message of love, peace and tolerance into one of anger,
conflict and resentment.
The success of the American Right in extracting a War on Christmas
out of a few well-meaning gestures to non-Christians, such as using the
greeting Happy Holidays, is a testament to the investment
conservatives have made in media over three decades.
With their vertically integrated media apparatus " from newspapers and
magazines, to TV and radio, to books and the Internet " the Right now
can take a few scattered anecdotes on almost any topic and heat them up
into a hot-button issue.
This perception management capability is now so powerful that even
the most absurd notions can be made convincing to millions of
Americans, such as the idea that despite the ubiquitous Christmas
displays throughout the United States " from before Thanksgiving to
after Dec. 25 " Christmas is under assault.
While an outsider arriving in the United States might see a nation
celebrating Christmas with an unrivaled intensity and extravagance, the
Rights media has created another world for its followers " where
Christians are persecuted for celebrating their faith, where they are
repressed by cruel non-Christians and evil secularists.
This perceived persecution exists even as Americas downtowns and
shopping malls are bedecked with the red-and-green Christmas colors and
Christmas symbols are everywhere, even in cities like New York with
large populations of Jews and Muslims.
Christmas Carols
Somehow, listeners to Fox News and right-wing talk radio are convinced
that Christmas is threatened despite the fact that Christmas carols are
pumped into nearly all public places, including elevators and grocery
stores where both Christians and non-Christians must go.
Some radio stations, like the one played in the Arlington, Virginia,
coffee shop where I often go to write, have been playing Christmas
carols since before Thanksgiving.
When I bought stamps the other day from a U.S. Postal Service vending
machine, I had expected to get the usual American flag stamps, but
instead ended up with Santa Claus stamps.
The USPS Web site also sells a Dear Santa CD, which includes Nat King
Coles The Christmas Song and Vonzell Solomons O Come All Ye
Faithful, with a cross-marketing deal for a Fox Dear Santa special.
Still, one of the complaints heard from conservative Christians is that
the post office didnt offer a new Madonna and Child stamp this
season (though you could still get the version produced in 2004). [In
2005, the Postal Service was trying to sell out the earlier stamps
because it was planning to raise postal rates.]
Another major beef from conservative Christians is that the federal
courts have restricted displays of the baby Jesus in the manger on
government property and that public schools have replaced Christmas
concerts with winter concerts and the Christmas vacation with a
winter vacation.
Nevertheless, schools are closed for about two weeks to accommodate
Americans wishing to celebrate Christmas. Despite the U.S. principle of
separation of church and state, Christmas remains an official federal
holiday, an exception to the rule that is afforded no other religious
observance. Jews, for instance, dont expect Christians to honor Yom
Kippur by taking the day off, nor do Muslims expect the government to
show undue deference to Ramadan.
~Liberal Plot
Our hypothetical outsider might see the American reality as one in
which all citizens, regardless of their religious beliefs, are expected
to join in the celebration of Christmas. But that is not the impression
one would get from watching Fox News, reading conservative blogs or
listening to right-wing talk radio.
Within the Rights media world, conservative Americans learn how the
liberals and the American Civil Liberties Union are anti-Christian
and out to deny American Christians their right to observe Christmas as
they see fit.
Fox News anchor John Gibson has made this case in his book, The War on
Christmas: How the Liberal Plot to Ban the Sacred Christian Holiday Is
Worse Than You Thought. The War on Christmas theme has become a
centerpiece of Bill OReillys rants on Fox, a message that has
resonated throughout the Rights echo chamber.
Led by the Rev. Jerry Falwell, some conservative Christians are
boycotting stores that offer their customers the non-sectarian greeting
of Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas. In some cases, Merry
Christmas is now spit out as fighting words, much as conservatives
emphasize the words under God during the Pledge of Allegiance.
Falwell has vowed to sue everybody who tries to inhibit the liberties
of our children and our families from worshipping and honoring the
Lord, as we in America are constitutionally allowed to do.
But there is a larger message in this war on the War on Christmas. It
is how the Rights powerful news media can shape American perceptions
to such a degree that a dominant group like American Christians can be
made to see themselves as powerless victims, even over trivial
grievances like saying Happy Holidays. [For details on the Rights
media power, see Robert Parrys Secrecy & Privilege or Lost History.]
~Victims
While conservative commentators often accuse African-Americans and
other minorities of wallowing in their victimhood, the Rights media
has learned the political power that comes from letting white men, for
instance, take on the mantle of victim.
In the 1990s, a powerful conservative theme was the complaint against
political correctness, which often came down to universities and
other institutions applying clumsy restrictions against young white men
shouting the n-word at African-Americans or using other offensive
language.
Though American white men are arguably the most privileged group on
earth, the political correctness theme allowed them to bathe in the
self-pity of their victimhood. It allowed them to get righteous and
angry against their supposed persecutors.
There is, of course, a danger whenever a powerful group begins to view
itself as the victim, because their real power allows these ersatz
oppressed to inflict far greater harm on their enemies than could a
group without power.
Historically, the world has seen this phenomenon many times, for
instance, when Christians in Europe convinced themselves that they were
at the mercy of cunning Jews. Many of the continents anti-Jewish
pogroms were conducted by Christians convinced that they were simply
defending their way of life, that they were the real victims.
Now, the United States is witnessing a similar exploitation of
Christian fears and the fanning of Christian anger. The War on
Christmas theme is one manifestation of this growing chip on the
shoulder.
The Right has learned well how it can deploy its powerful media to make
even the most ludicrous notion seem real " both frightening and
infuriating " to millions of Americans.
[Robert Parry broke many of the Iran-Contra stories in the 1980s for the
Associated Press and Newsweek. His latest book, Neck Deep: The
Disastrous Presidency of George W. Bush, was written with two of his
sons, Sam and Nat, and can be ordered at neckdeepbook.com.]
=================================================================
NY Transfer News Collective A Service of Blythe Systems
Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us
Our main website: http://www.blythe.org
List Archives: http://blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/
Subscribe: http://blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr
=================================================================
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Hash: SHA1
Huckabee and the "Persecuted" Christians
Via NY Transfer News Collective All the News that Doesn't Fit
Consortium News - Dec 21, 2007
http://www.consortiumnews.com/2007/122107a.html
Reprise with new introduction of December 10, 2005 article.
Introduction, Dec 21, 2007:
To understand Mike Huckabees surprising rise to the top of the
Republican presidential field, its worth looking back two years to
December 2005 when the right-wing media manufactured an alarming tale
about how secularists and non-Christians were waging a War on
Christmas.
Huckabee " in his unthreatening, easy-going style " has managed to tap
into that now widely perceived view among white Christian conservatives
that they are somehow facing persecution at the hands of Jews, Muslims
and atheists.
So, when Huckabee airs an ad in Iowa in which he wears a red sweater,
sits in front of a Christmas tree and what looks like a cross, and says
what really matters this time of year is not politics but the
celebration of the birth of Christ, he is subtly touching this
powerful sense of Christian victimhood.
Huckabee drove home the point during a rally in Marshalltown, Iowa, on
Dec. 20 by telling a crowd of 200, I know this is probably a very
controversial thing, but may I say to you, ~Merry Christmas!
As Huckabee emphasized the Christ in Christmas, the crowd rose to
its feet as if he had bravely uttered some phrase forbidden by a hated
dictator.
Similarly, Huckabee told a crowd in Dike, Iowa, Whats wrong with our
country, what is wrong with our culture, is that you cant say the name
Jesus Christ without people going completely berserk. His comment
brought that group to its feet, too. [NYT, Dec. 21, 2007]
In this sense, Huckabees rise can be viewed as another outgrowth of
the extraordinary power that the American Right has created through its
massive investment in media over the past three decades.
Through constant repetition over its thousands of media outlets, the
Right can make even the most ridiculous notion appear real to tens of
millions of Americans. Up can be down; the United States can be a place
that doesnt celebrate Christmas.
In December 2005, as the War on Christmas hysteria was reaching its
peak, Robert Parry wrote the following article entitled, The Meaning
of (the War Over) Christmas.]
Huckabee & the 'Persecuted' Christians
By Robert Parry
You have to hand it to political operatives who can turn the Christmas
celebration of Jesuss birth into a nasty wedge issue, transforming a
traditional message of love, peace and tolerance into one of anger,
conflict and resentment.
The success of the American Right in extracting a War on Christmas
out of a few well-meaning gestures to non-Christians, such as using the
greeting Happy Holidays, is a testament to the investment
conservatives have made in media over three decades.
With their vertically integrated media apparatus " from newspapers and
magazines, to TV and radio, to books and the Internet " the Right now
can take a few scattered anecdotes on almost any topic and heat them up
into a hot-button issue.
This perception management capability is now so powerful that even
the most absurd notions can be made convincing to millions of
Americans, such as the idea that despite the ubiquitous Christmas
displays throughout the United States " from before Thanksgiving to
after Dec. 25 " Christmas is under assault.
While an outsider arriving in the United States might see a nation
celebrating Christmas with an unrivaled intensity and extravagance, the
Rights media has created another world for its followers " where
Christians are persecuted for celebrating their faith, where they are
repressed by cruel non-Christians and evil secularists.
This perceived persecution exists even as Americas downtowns and
shopping malls are bedecked with the red-and-green Christmas colors and
Christmas symbols are everywhere, even in cities like New York with
large populations of Jews and Muslims.
Christmas Carols
Somehow, listeners to Fox News and right-wing talk radio are convinced
that Christmas is threatened despite the fact that Christmas carols are
pumped into nearly all public places, including elevators and grocery
stores where both Christians and non-Christians must go.
Some radio stations, like the one played in the Arlington, Virginia,
coffee shop where I often go to write, have been playing Christmas
carols since before Thanksgiving.
When I bought stamps the other day from a U.S. Postal Service vending
machine, I had expected to get the usual American flag stamps, but
instead ended up with Santa Claus stamps.
The USPS Web site also sells a Dear Santa CD, which includes Nat King
Coles The Christmas Song and Vonzell Solomons O Come All Ye
Faithful, with a cross-marketing deal for a Fox Dear Santa special.
Still, one of the complaints heard from conservative Christians is that
the post office didnt offer a new Madonna and Child stamp this
season (though you could still get the version produced in 2004). [In
2005, the Postal Service was trying to sell out the earlier stamps
because it was planning to raise postal rates.]
Another major beef from conservative Christians is that the federal
courts have restricted displays of the baby Jesus in the manger on
government property and that public schools have replaced Christmas
concerts with winter concerts and the Christmas vacation with a
winter vacation.
Nevertheless, schools are closed for about two weeks to accommodate
Americans wishing to celebrate Christmas. Despite the U.S. principle of
separation of church and state, Christmas remains an official federal
holiday, an exception to the rule that is afforded no other religious
observance. Jews, for instance, dont expect Christians to honor Yom
Kippur by taking the day off, nor do Muslims expect the government to
show undue deference to Ramadan.
~Liberal Plot
Our hypothetical outsider might see the American reality as one in
which all citizens, regardless of their religious beliefs, are expected
to join in the celebration of Christmas. But that is not the impression
one would get from watching Fox News, reading conservative blogs or
listening to right-wing talk radio.
Within the Rights media world, conservative Americans learn how the
liberals and the American Civil Liberties Union are anti-Christian
and out to deny American Christians their right to observe Christmas as
they see fit.
Fox News anchor John Gibson has made this case in his book, The War on
Christmas: How the Liberal Plot to Ban the Sacred Christian Holiday Is
Worse Than You Thought. The War on Christmas theme has become a
centerpiece of Bill OReillys rants on Fox, a message that has
resonated throughout the Rights echo chamber.
Led by the Rev. Jerry Falwell, some conservative Christians are
boycotting stores that offer their customers the non-sectarian greeting
of Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas. In some cases, Merry
Christmas is now spit out as fighting words, much as conservatives
emphasize the words under God during the Pledge of Allegiance.
Falwell has vowed to sue everybody who tries to inhibit the liberties
of our children and our families from worshipping and honoring the
Lord, as we in America are constitutionally allowed to do.
But there is a larger message in this war on the War on Christmas. It
is how the Rights powerful news media can shape American perceptions
to such a degree that a dominant group like American Christians can be
made to see themselves as powerless victims, even over trivial
grievances like saying Happy Holidays. [For details on the Rights
media power, see Robert Parrys Secrecy & Privilege or Lost History.]
~Victims
While conservative commentators often accuse African-Americans and
other minorities of wallowing in their victimhood, the Rights media
has learned the political power that comes from letting white men, for
instance, take on the mantle of victim.
In the 1990s, a powerful conservative theme was the complaint against
political correctness, which often came down to universities and
other institutions applying clumsy restrictions against young white men
shouting the n-word at African-Americans or using other offensive
language.
Though American white men are arguably the most privileged group on
earth, the political correctness theme allowed them to bathe in the
self-pity of their victimhood. It allowed them to get righteous and
angry against their supposed persecutors.
There is, of course, a danger whenever a powerful group begins to view
itself as the victim, because their real power allows these ersatz
oppressed to inflict far greater harm on their enemies than could a
group without power.
Historically, the world has seen this phenomenon many times, for
instance, when Christians in Europe convinced themselves that they were
at the mercy of cunning Jews. Many of the continents anti-Jewish
pogroms were conducted by Christians convinced that they were simply
defending their way of life, that they were the real victims.
Now, the United States is witnessing a similar exploitation of
Christian fears and the fanning of Christian anger. The War on
Christmas theme is one manifestation of this growing chip on the
shoulder.
The Right has learned well how it can deploy its powerful media to make
even the most ludicrous notion seem real " both frightening and
infuriating " to millions of Americans.
[Robert Parry broke many of the Iran-Contra stories in the 1980s for the
Associated Press and Newsweek. His latest book, Neck Deep: The
Disastrous Presidency of George W. Bush, was written with two of his
sons, Sam and Nat, and can be ordered at neckdeepbook.com.]
=================================================================
NY Transfer News Collective A Service of Blythe Systems
Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us
Our main website: http://www.blythe.org
List Archives: http://blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/
Subscribe: http://blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr
=================================================================
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