Newt Gingrich writes this week about a note he was sent that reminded him once again of just... how much the American people disagree with the Washington elite -- and how differently we would run our country if and when we get the chance. The note told the story of Mrs. Arnold, an 85-year-old grandmother living in Florida. Every year, Mrs. Arnold looks forward to a Christmas visit to her apartment building by a local Sunday school class. They have a Christmas party and place an angel at the top of the building's Christmas tree.But this year, the management of her apartment complex issued a directive: Any and all "religious symbols or religious words associated with Christmas" are banned from the public areas of the building. Even the word "Christmas" was banned. The residents were told to use "holiday" instead (an irony not picked up by the elites since the word "holiday" is derived from "Holy Day").
The management company blamed federal regulations for its anti-religious directive. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) denies that this is their policy, but they say that religious bans like this are commonplace. Anti-religious zealots have put property owners and managers on the defensive. Rather than risk a lawsuit, they issue blanket prohibitions that amount to nothing less than anti-religious bigotry.
It's another example of the biases of the elites -- in this case, anti-religious bigotry -- being imposed on the American people.One of the main reasons I wrote Rediscovering God in America: Reflections on the Role of Faith in Our Nation's History and Future was to combat this anti-religious bigotry.
As I mentioned last week, Rediscovering God in America has now been made into a documentary movie, featuring Callista, me and a host of American historians and commentators. You can watch a preview of the movie and buy a copy of the DVD here.
The message of both the movie and the book is simple and direct: There is no attack on American culture more destructive and more historically dishonest than the anti-religious bigotry of much of the nation's legal and political elite. The anti-religious elites' attempts to drive God out of America's public square are serious and ongoing...
Of course, when it comes to official anti-religious bigotry, not all religions are equal.
Did you know that, while religious images are under assault across the nation, in nine Western states the courts have ruled it constitutional for public schools to require a three-week course on the Islamic faith -- a course in which all junior-high students are mandated to pretend they are Muslims and offer prayers to Allah?
This is the same court, mind you, that infamously ruled (in the case brought by atheist activist Michael Newdow) that it is unconstitutional for students to mention "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance.
The anti-religious biases of the legal and government elites are impossible to square with the values and opinions of the American people...
