эссе по новости CNN "War on Christmas"

файл включает в себя саму статью, описание основной идеи, позиции автора, личное отношение к проблеме. ...

эссе включает в себя саму статью, описание основной идеи, позиции автора, личное отношение к проблеме.

The main idea of the article «What`s really behind “war on Christmas”»
The author, Timothy Stanley, in his article brings up a very vital topic - the topic of religion and Christmas...

And that hardly seems fair.Unfortunately, Gaylor gets around almost as much as Santa Claus; now she's involved in an effort to take down a Jesus-shaped war memorial near a popular ski resort in Montana. There's a thin line between this sort of secularist activism and the politics of personal taste. In Portsmouth, New Hampshire, a jewelry shop manager called the cops on Salvation Army bell ringers because the noise was "raising her blood pressure and making her hate Christmas." In Colorado Springs, the Salvation Army was stopped from bell ringing because of a new ban on panhandling.What's really happening isn't just a targeted, political war on Christmas but a more general battle for control of what goes on in the public sphere, especially around the holidays. Undoubtedly, some of this ismotivated by anti-religious secularism. But it's also the product of living in a crowded multicultural environment where everyone risks getting on each other's nerves -- and we have to find better ways of getting along.One of the reasons why "Happy Holidays" has risen in use as an alternative seasonal greeting to "Merry Christmas" is simply that it helps avoid occasions of offense and confrontation. Religious conservatives complain that it's a surrender to militant atheism. But if that's the case then the surrender is widespread. George W. Bush's White House cards wished everyone a happy "holiday season" and even Fox News has its own Holiday Wish List.If there is a solution to this controversy then perhaps it's to try to treat it with a dash of humor and disdain. The Rev. Jonathan Morris was recently invited on "Fox and Friends" to unleash hell on the war on Christmas. Instead, he did the opposite. After pointing out that Christians have throughout the centuries taken much worse persecution (and, I might add, dished out a bit, too) he concluded, "If our Christmas is going to be all about getting upset at people trying to take away Christmas, isn't that silly, too?" Amen, Father.The main idea of the article «What`s really behind “war on Christmas”»The author, Timothy Stanley, in his article brings up a very vital topic - the topic of religion and Christmas. For each this topic is important in its own way. Religious people take faith to heart, die for their God. They are also ready to kill anyone who dares doubt their God.Agnostics and atheists are more skeptical about the faith. Many of them are neutral to religious holidays, some criticize them and call "human stupidity". Anyway, it's personal attitude toward religion.The worst thing is that politicians exploit the faith and religion in their own purposes. This article is an attempt to show us, how easy it is to manage a public opinion. Politicians can make laws, collect stadiums for mass religious (holidays) shows. On the screen politicians may believe so sincerely that would be desirable to rank them among the saints. Whatever it was, religion for the politics is just a way of controlling people. If we think broader there is one bad common thing that history has shown, it has to be the co-operation between - and supplementing of - religion and government, a joint operation to keep "the people" quiet and obedient to those in power.Even in the nation that was based on a strict separation between state and church the theists have - by years of twisting and turning - managed to get their foot between the door and the post once again.The author’s opinion «What`s really behind “war on Christmas”»In my mind the author`s position is quite clear. He writes about complex questions of religion and faith, in which it is difficult to be univocal. In this article the matter is about constant debates about the celebration of Christmas. In fact the question concerns the secularization of this holiday and religion in general. The author gives the example of the failure to reconcile different interests within a democratic society, when nobody involved was technically wrong, neither secularist campaigners, neither their Christian opponents, neither the council: «Take the decision of the Santa Monica City Council to end the tradition of erecting nativity scenes or other displays in Palisades Park. The right to display a scene was hitherto decided by lottery, and the previous winter season atheists won 11 out of 14 spaces, which they used to erect enormous critiques of Christianity. In response, locals lobbied the council to establish stricter guidelines about who could take part. The council decided that would be discriminatory, but it also didn't want to leave the system open to abuse by more offensive groups like neo-Nazis. So it decided the displays would have to stop altogether. That decision was upheld in November by a federal judge».