The Grinch was Politically Correct!

This post is written in a more light-hearted spirit than many of the rants with which I indulge myself on this, my blog. The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights sent out an email today that sounds much like several they've sent in the past several years:

"Catholic League president Bill Donohue opines as follows:

· The menorah in Nashville’s Riverfront Park is okay by the ACLU, but the crèche in Clarksville, Tennessee is not. Why? The City of Clarksville paid $200 for the animals used in the nativity scene.
· A woman from Manchester, Massachusetts was told she cannot have a live nativity scene outside her First Parish Church. Why? The church sits on the town common.
· A life-sized crèche has adorned the Chambersburg public square in Pennsylvania for about a half-century, but there won’t be one this year: the decision to censor it was made after Carl Silverman decided he wanted to have a sign, “Celebrating Solstice—Honoring Atheist War Veterans” to accompany the manger.
· Leesburg, Virginia traditionally displays a crèche, menorah and Christmas tree, but this year they have been banned.
· Inside the Capitol in Olympia, Washington, all holiday displays have been nixed.
· A nativity scene has been on display on the grounds of the Manitowoc County Courthouse in Wisconsin since World War II, but this year there will be none.

My favorite so far hails from West Chester, Pennsylvania. Under new rules, four displays are allowed in front of the Court House for a limited period of time, providing they are “content-neutral” in terms of their message. But symbols—religious or secular—are by their very nature content-specific, thus making the request positively oxymoronic."

And, coincidentally, we watched "How the Grinch Who Stole Christmas!" on ABC this evening. This holiday cartoon was produced in 1966 and I remember watching it as a kid and, maybe, a few times as an adult. Okay, a LOT of times as an adult. But I was five years old when it first came out and I liked Dr. Seuss. Or more precisely, my mother liked Dr. Seuss and she taught children's literature courses at the local university, which means that I got a lot of good, age-appropriate, entertaining, and educational books to read when I was growing up.

And I admit this isn't an original observation on my part, but I smiled at the opening words of the Grinch cartoon:

"Every Who down in Who-Ville liked Christmas a lot... But the Grinch, who lived just north of Who-ville, did NOT! The Grinch hated Christmas! The whole Christmas season! Now, please don't ask why. No one quite knows the reason. It could be that his head wasn't screwed on quite right. It could be, perhaps, that his shoes were too tight. But I think that the most likely reason of all may have been that his heart was two sizes too small. But, whatever the reason, his heart or his shoes, he stood there on Christmas Eve, hating the Whos, staring down from his cave with a sour, grinchy frown at the warm lighted windows below in their town."