Another Crusade

I received a call from a frantic woman not too long ago. She was extremely upset by some information that had been passed on to her from some internet source. She was all up in arms and ready to “raise Cain” (not Herman Cain) about the fact that the Obamas had decreed that there would be no religious ornaments on the White House “Holiday Tree” this year. She wanted to do something to let the White House know that we are still a Christian nation.

The above scenario is an all-too frequent occurrence. Someone gets a hold of a piece of “information” (that is an attempt to be nice about it), gets all fired up, and charges into battle. The Problem: the cause du jour is FALSE. This fact is easily confirmed by a number of sources (for example, http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/c/christmas-ornaments-white-house.htm or http://www.snopes.com/politics/christmas/ornaments.asp or http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/barackobama/a/white_house_christmas_ornaments.htm?r=facebook).

I never cease to be amazed at the Christians who are ready for a crusade—anxious to saddle up and joust with the windmill of the day. It doesn’t seem to matter that the majority of the causes are false or that some of those that are true are useless—“we’ve just got to do something about this!”

I can vividly remember the Proctor and Gamble flap. We were told to boycott the company because they supported the Church of Satan. Then there was the movies about Jesus as a homosexual which we needed to sign the petition to stop. Then, of course, who can forget the evil machinations of Madalyn Murray O'Hair as she tried to get religious programming outlawed. Amazingly, she carried on this campaign for quite some time after her decease.

My frustration with all of this stems from several things:

1. There is little or no effort made to verify the stories. If one receives it in an email, obviously it must be true! It makes Christians look gullible and naïve because anything that plays in to the “us-them” paranoia complex is readily accepted without the slightest bit of evidence.

2. Many hours and much money is expended on these crusades which could be used much more profitably on almost anything else.

3. In reality, what possible difference does it make whether the White House Christmas tree is called a holiday tree or if it is decorated with non-religious ornaments? Who really cares? There are much more important things for Christians to be concerned over than a tree (which by some accounts is only a pagan carryover anyway).

The idea of choosing our battles carefully has been eclipsed by the desire to mount a crusade. In these kinds of battles winning the battle will lead to losing the war. People will not be influenced for the good nor convinced of the reality of God by someone protesting and petitioning about a Christmas tree.

Oddly enough, as the Urban Legends article points out, there was some censorship of religious ornaments at the White House but it was under the Bush Administration. Nobody was fussing, petitioning or protesting back then. That sure makes it look politically motivated! Or is it OK for a Republican to do it but not OK if a Democrat does the same thing? The “good Christian” Bush not allowing religious ornaments does not fit into the conspiracy theory. It only works when the “Socialist, Islamic” Obama does it.

Those kinds of double standards and disingenuous dealings are unacceptable for Christians. One cannot promote the Truth by using a lie. One cannot encourage right by doing wrong.