Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

"However, as it happens, there is one occasion in American history where the celebration of Christmas was banned by law, with stern penalties imposed on any Christian believers who tried to carry on the practice secretly. And, wouldn't you know it, this assault on religious freedom happened in that most anti-God of states, the liberal hotbed of Massachusetts.

"Who were the perpetrators of this anti-Christian outrage? Liberal activist judges, no doubt? God-hating secular legislators? The ACLU?

"Well, no. Actually, it was the Puritans.

"In May of 1659, the explicitly theocratic Massachusetts Bay Colony passed the following law [...]

[click through to original site for text of law and more commentary]

"[...] here's a lesson here for the would-be theocrats who insist that secularists are on an anti-Christmas jihad. Despite the religious right's overheated rhetoric, the reality is that they have little to fear from atheists. No prominent atheist individual or organization is calling for the outlawing of religion or laws that deny believers the right to practice their own faith. Then, as now, that danger comes only from other believers who are hellbent on imposing their particular notion of God on all of society and using the machinery of government as an instrument of oppression. That is why theists, as well as atheists, should defend a robust separation of church and state. In the end, it benefits all of us."

-- Ebonmuse, "The Real Enemies of Christmas", 2007-12-19