Inclusiveness Has Replaced Assimilation in America
January 1, 2008

by Joseph P. Tartaro
Executive Editor

On Nov. 27, WorldNetDaily.com published an article showing how “politically correct” inclusiveness movement is superseding the older, tried and true precept of assimilation.

The story was about Larimer, CO, County Commissioners investigating the appropriateness of their sheriff’s message on a county-owned website which endorsed symbols of Christianity in Christmas holiday displays.

Sheriff Jim Alderden had publicly expressed frustration with “politically correct” antagonism from secular America toward the religious foundations of Christmas and he is now under investigation for his thoughts, according to a county commissioner, WND reported.

Alderden’s opinions were expressed in his “Bulls-Eye” website column recently. He had been prompted to write after watching the ongoing dispute in the city of Fort Collins, where a task force recommended white lights, as well as neutral and non-religious decorations such as snowflakes, snowmen, snowballs, ice skates, skis, penguins and polar bears for this time of year.

Apparently, however, they were still calling the holiday “Christmas.”

‘Shades of ‘Batman’
“Penguins? This is dangerous territory. What about those of us who were traumatized by Danny DeVito’s performance as Oswald Cobblepot in ‘Batman Returns?’ Skis? What about the poor who can’t afford to go skiing? How elitist and insensitive!” Alderden wrote, according to WND.

“The fact that we are even engaged in a discourse of whether Christmas trees and Christian symbols of faith should be allowed on city property is absurd. When one is sliding down a slippery slope, there comes a time to dig in your heels, grab the nearest branch, and hold on for dear life. Our country, and sadly our own community, has reached that point where people of faith and good conscience can no longer stand silently while a belligerent minority usurps our heritage and dictates how and where we express our religious freedoms. It is time to make a statement—to grab that branch, in this case a pine bough,” he said.

So he said in recognition and celebration of Christmas, members of his department would display “a Christmas tree—not a holiday tree” on the department’s lawn Dec. 1. To make sure no tax dollars go to the “unauthorized” display, he said he would accept donations of lights and ornaments.

“Might I suggest that red ribbons, stars, angels and multi-colored lights would be in order? … Lights, decorations and donations can be dropped off at our headquarters and left in the lobby or vestibule at any time. (No frightening penguins.)” he said.

The sheriff, who is elected by the people, not by the county commissioners, told WND the response to his plans have been “overwhelmingly” positive. “That’s probably the correct word,” he said. Alderden said he’s gotten about 400 e-mails and telephone calls about the issue, and only a handful were negative.

“Locally the response has been very positive. We’ve gotten $1,200 in donations. People are dropping off lights and ornaments. We’ve had some people donate a tree, and a tree services company volunteered to dig it up, and plant it again.”

“In general the response has been that people are tired of political correctness,” he told WND. “I’ve even had agnostics, atheists and pagans come in and see me and support what we’re doing, just on the grounds that spirituality should be allowed,” he said.

He said officers in other departments across the country, where tolerance for the Christian meanings for Christmas are less tolerated, have called to commiserate. One major US city’s airport, he noted, was installing footbaths for Muslims, but refused to allow Christmas trees.

“Where have we gone?” Alderden asked.

Old Traditions
Where, indeed, I wondered and concluded that years ago people of different languages, cultures, nationalities, colors and religions strove to assimilate into a homogenous America, where they could freely associate with all fellow Americans while also retaining older traditions and practicing whatever religion they chose—or no religion at all.

Most of the grammar schools I attended managed to accommodate and welcome people of all religions, ethnic and racial backgrounds. The spirit of American goodwill prevailed and immigrants who had difficulty with English were assisted in learning the language especially so they could communicate with their fellow Americans—whether born here, naturalized or merely legal residents. Most of the children were descended from immigrants who had already become “Americanized.”

In military service, people of all colors and religions served together without worrying about offending anyone, even though there was a good deal of intercultural banter and humor. One Jewish friend in our training company used to help the Christian chaplain prepare the chapel for Sunday services so he could play Bach on the organ for his own amusement after the chores were done on Saturday night.

Christian friends would sometimes fill in to form a “minion” for Friday night Jewish services if there were less than 10 Jews going to a service.

Catholics and Jews ate meat on Fridays if it was on the Army’s menu, and people of color joined with whites of all nationalities to swap stories about their cultural heritage. Those exchanges drew us all closer together rather than separating us as do some of the “inclusiveness” edicts of modern times.

One Jewish friend in service, who also shared his mother’s traditional baked goods in packages from home with the rest of the company, told us how his family had resolved the problem of Christmas trees at Hanukah time by telling the children the tree they used was a Hanukah bush. I’m sure they decorated it in keeping with their religious heritage.

Above all, I can remember when a group of a dozen from our company found a German-owned restaurant in Tokyo that would prepare us a private Christmas goose dinner. We all attended and celebrated together—Christians, Jews, agnostics and one man of Arabic heritage who never told me whether or not he was a Muslim. It just never came up. (After our service days, he became famous and made millions in the entertainment industry.)

I don’t celebrate Hanukah at home these days, but I still buy Hanukah cards and send them to close friends I want to include in my holiday greetings of goodwill. Many of these Jews send me Christmas cards that actually say things like “Merry Christmas.” They know it’s my holiday just as I know Hanukah is theirs. We share the same goodwill toward fellow Americans who are friends—and even strangers. We have assimilated in an American commonality in a spirit of goodwill toward fellow Americans of all backgrounds.

Holiday Stamps
The Post Office apparently is still trying to help people of different cultures assimilate in America by giving people a choice in holiday stamps, including EID, Kwanza and Hanukah stamps as well as Christmas stamps with and without religious art. No one forces anyone to celebrate someone else’s holiday. My traditional holiday is still Christmas, which has its roots in Christ’s Mass.

The question of assimilation versus inclusiveness dogs us every day. We have at least one high school in Buffalo in which 34 different languages are spoken, and no one is pushed to learn English. If anyone fails a grade, they are promoted anyway for inclusiveness.

Sheriff Alderden’s column had reflected his irritation with political correctness run roughshod over traditional American common sense, a commodity that has become very scarce these days. That’s probably for the same reason young people can’t cash you out of a fast food joint unless there are pictures of the menu items on the cash register. Nobody wanted them to offend them by requiring they learn to read and speak English or perform simple arithmetic exercises.

Inclusiveness is ‘humbug.’ Assimilation and Christmas goodwill are not.

Happy Holidays to all our readers. We hope you enjoy the new look of Gun Week in 2008.
Return to Archive Index