Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee has defied lawmakers and decided that the state would have a “holiday tree” instead of a “Christmas tree.” Does Gov. Chafee realize that the word “holiday” means “holy day”? Not everybody is happy with the governor’s politically correct actions:

“One state representative called the governor’s politically correct tree a farce. ‘I’m sick of being politically correct,’ Rep. Doreen Costa said. ‘Nobody’s been offended by calling a Christmas tree a Christmas tree. If we have a Menorah in the State House, what are we going to call it — a candle with sticks?’

So Costa has decided to erect her own Christmas tree — at the State House. And she plans on lighting it on Dec. 6 — the same day Chafee plans to host the official ‘holiday’ tree lighting event.

“‘We’re going to sing Christmas carols and drink hot chocolate,’ she said. ‘And I’m going to make a sign — Christmas tree lighting to the right and holiday tree to the left. We’ll see who gets the crowd.’”

I realize that some government officials are substituting Happy Holidays for Merry Christmas and putting up Holiday trees instead of Christmas trees, but the trend is semantic smoke and mirrors.

The academics who substitute BCE (Before Common Era) and CE (Common Era) for BC (Before Christ) and AD (anno domini, “In the Year of Our Lord”), think they’ve gotten rid of Jesus Christ. A sharp student might ask, “So why do the years in BCE get smaller as they move forward and the years in CE get larger? What’s the significance of the middle point between BCE and CE?”

Even in this politically correct dating structure of BCE/CE is still dependent on the birth of Jesus Christ, as is understanding the dating of the United States Constitution:

“DONE in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the States present the Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eighty seven and of the Independence of the United States of America the Twelfth.”

The use of “Lord” is a reference to Jesus Christ, and 1787 states how many years it was at that point in time from His birth.

Some enterprising lawyer should push this anti-Christmas movement with rigid consistency. Government employees should not be permitted to claim December 25th as a paid holiday because it would be an endorsement of the Christian religion. For this reason, public school children should have to attend school on December 25^th, even if it’s called a “Winter Holiday.” A holiday is a holy day. “The governor defended his decision by arguing that it is in keeping with the state’s founding in 1636 by religious dissident Roger Williams as a haven for tolerance — where government and religion were kept separate.”

If this is true, then take down the “Holy-Day Tree” and go to work on December 25^th.