MrRant 0 Report post Posted December 12, 2005 Cold in the night, no one in sight, winter winds whirl and bite, how I wish I were happy and warm, safe with my family out of the storm. Silent night Holy night All is calm all is bright 'Round yon virgin Mother and Child Holy infant so tender and mild Sleep in heavenly peace Sleep in heavenly peace Silent Night is the most recorded song in history. http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article....RTICLE_ID=47784 WND HOLIDAY BLUES 'Silent Night' secularized School changes beloved Christmas carol to 'Cold in the Night' with all new lyrics Posted: December 7, 2005 2:47 p.m. Eastern © 2005 WorldNetDaily.com For a performance in its "winter program," a Wisconsin elementary school has changed the beloved Christmas carol "Silent Night," calling the song "Cold in the Night" and secularizing the lyrics. According to Liberty Counsel, a religious-liberty law firm representing a student's parent, kids who attend Ridgeway Elementary School in Dodgeville, Wis., will sing the following lyrics to the tune of "Silent Night": Cold in the night, no one in sight, winter winds whirl and bite, how I wish I were happy and warm, safe with my family out of the storm. Liberty Counsel says this year's winter program included decorating classrooms with Santa Claus, Kwanzaa symbols, menorahs and Labafana, a mythical witch that's a part of traditional Christmas celebrations in Italy. A letter the law group sent to the school demands a change in the winter program. Liberty Counsel attorneys say they are prepared to file suit if the Dodgeville School District does not immediately remedy the situation. "For those who deny that there is a war on Christmas, the Wisconsin school district is exhibit A," Mathew Staver, Liberty Counsel president and general counsel, said in a statement. "The law is clear – Christmas is constitutional. When a public school intentionally mocks Christian Christmas songs by secularizing their content, they cross the line from a neutral position, which the Constitution requires, to a hostile position, which the Constitution forbids. Changing 'Silent Night' to 'Cold in the Night' – come on, let's stop this madness! Does the school not realize that Christmas is a national holiday?" Controversy over Christmas and its celebration in the public square has reached a fever pitch this year with battles raging over everything from what to call evergreen trees to whether or not retailers allow their employees to wish customers a "merry Christmas." "Silent Night" is the most recorded song in history. The carol was written by Franz Gruber and Joseph Mohr. Gruber led the singing of his new song for the first time during an 1818 Christmas Eve service in Oberndorf, Austria, accompanying the choir on guitar. Julie Piper, principal of Ridgeway Elementary, did not return a call by press time. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SuperJerk 0 Report post Posted December 12, 2005 "For those who deny that there is a war on Christmas, the Wisconsin school district is exhibit A," Mathew Staver, Liberty Counsel president and general counsel, said in a statement. I love this whole "There's a War on Christmas" mentality, as if changing the words to this song is part of some national conspiracy, other than the actions of a few misguided knuckleheads. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hektik 0 Report post Posted December 12, 2005 "For those who deny that there is a war on Christmas, the Wisconsin school district is exhibit A," Mathew Staver, Liberty Counsel president and general counsel, said in a statement. "The law is clear – Christmas is constitutional. When a public school intentionally mocks Christian Christmas songs by secularizing their content, they cross the line from a neutral position, which the Constitution requires, to a hostile position, which the Constitution forbids. Changing 'Silent Night' to 'Cold in the Night' – come on, let's stop this madness! Does the school not realize that Christmas is a national holiday?" Controversy over Christmas and its celebration in the public square has reached a fever pitch this year with battles raging over everything from what to call evergreen trees to whether or not retailers allow their employees to wish customers a "merry Christmas." It is quite sad to see grown men all over this country complain about a "war on christmas" and having their values and traditions taken away. Any adult male who cares that much about it should be slapped and have their masculinity questioned. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BX 0 Report post Posted December 12, 2005 The "War on Christmas" was lost decades ago, when it became more about buying, stupid useless bullshit. No one gives a shit about Jesus anymore. It isn't a liberal conspiracy, either. If you want to point fingers, point them at the advertisers. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest clockworkraven Report post Posted December 12, 2005 Labafana? Good work on phrasing your traditions right. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Masked Man of Mystery 0 Report post Posted December 12, 2005 Seriously, the war on Christmas as it should be(and I fully admit I celebrate it the wrong way) was lost long ago enough that it was part of the Charlie Brown Christmas Special, for God's sake. What's happening today is people realizing that not everyone is a Christian and trying to adapt things so as to be slightly more welcoming to people who don't believe the Savior was born 2000 years ago in a barn(in case you're wondering/forgot, I'm a very liberal Catholic). That's my take on it, anyhow. It does indeed get silly, there's ways around things like this(like singing Frosty the Snowman), but the uber conservative Christians who act like we're a Christian Iran just can't lighten up and realize that people will see that it's silly if left alone, they just encourage this sort of nonsense and further "culture wars" despite America being primarily Christian Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Report post Posted December 12, 2005 I'm going to put it like this. If atheists decide to buy their kids presents on a day that is supposed to be about Jesus, whether that is what they believe or not, they can also call it something different too. They can secularize everything that they want to, but they can also give it a different name for themselves. Atheists celebrating on a day called Christmas, a day intended to be about Christ, is hypocrisy in the worst fashion. Anyone responds telling me different, I'll get back to you in the afternoon. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hogan Made Wrestling 0 Report post Posted December 12, 2005 Personally I don't see how they can be sued over this. Unless I'm reading it incorrectly, it's not as if the school is forbidding the singing of Silent Night at the school or something. They are simply going to sing a different song set to the same music as part of their "official" celebration; I don't see how that can be proven to be "intentional mocking". Are they going to sue Weird Al if he does a Christmas parody next? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest JMA Report post Posted December 12, 2005 The "War on Christmas" was lost decades ago, when it became more about buying, stupid useless bullshit. No one gives a shit about Jesus anymore. It isn't a liberal conspiracy, either. If you want to point fingers, point them at the advertisers. Agreed. Now the "War on Christmas" is just another buzz statement used by conservatives against liberals (and a particularly annoying one). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
2GOLD 0 Report post Posted December 12, 2005 Those new lyrics are more depressing than the original version. Cold in the night, no one in sight, winter winds whirl and bite, how I wish I were happy and warm, safe with my family out of the storm. Seriously, that's fucking depressing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hogan Made Wrestling 0 Report post Posted December 12, 2005 Those new lyrics are more depressing than the original version. Cold in the night, no one in sight, winter winds whirl and bite, how I wish I were happy and warm, safe with my family out of the storm. Seriously, that's fucking depressing. Maybe instead of singing it to "Silent Night", they can use the music for "No Quarter"... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
2GOLD 0 Report post Posted December 12, 2005 Those new lyrics are more depressing than the original version. Cold in the night, no one in sight, winter winds whirl and bite, how I wish I were happy and warm, safe with my family out of the storm. Seriously, that's fucking depressing. Maybe instead of singing it to "Silent Night", they can use the music for "No Quarter"... Put a shotgun in my mouuuuthhhh Bullet goes ripping through my skinnnn Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EricMM 0 Report post Posted December 12, 2005 Is anyone else reminded of the "Winter play" from Southpark, oh so many years ago? *crowd hears song* *stunned silence* What the hell was that!? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dubq 0 Report post Posted December 12, 2005 I'm going to put it like this. If atheists decide to buy their kids presents on a day that is supposed to be about Jesus, whether that is what they believe or not, they can also call it something different too. They can secularize everything that they want to, but they can also give it a different name for themselves. Atheists celebrating on a day called Christmas, a day intended to be about Christ, is hypocrisy in the worst fashion. Anyone responds telling me different, I'll get back to you in the afternoon. Thing is, it's all about consumerism now. It has nothing to do with Jesus or blizzblazz or himmhamm anymore to the all-seeing and all-buying masses. Which is why they've changed it to "X-Mas" and "Holiday Tree" (which is retarded in and of itself, beause a] Christmas isn't the only holiday, and b] what other holiday has a tree? CHRISTMAS). They're trying to get people of other (or none) religions to celebrate it so that more money is spent in the name of Santa. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Big Ol' Smitty 0 Report post Posted December 12, 2005 Atheists celebrating on a day called Christmas, a day intended to be about Christ, is hypocrisy in the worst fashion. Thing is, it's not really much about Jesus anymore. It's about the aforementioned consumerism, Santa Claus, pretty lights, and the pagan tree tradition. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Special K 0 Report post Posted December 12, 2005 Festivus! Or call it a solstice. It predates Christmas anyway. Which has always been sort of an amalgam of traditions. The tree comes from Geman Pagan tradition, I believe. Of course conservatives would never blame a company for deciding on its own to eliminate Jesus from ads, in order to reach more people. They have to blame some pissy individual, or powerless liberal group. Hey, those people who rail against Christmas bug me too, and have zero lives, but that's like 1% of liberals, and if a company kowtows to them, that's their own damn fault. Most likely, the company figures they'll increase sales slightly. All in all, I don't think anyone should care. No one's being prevented from celebrating exactly how they like with their families. The same people who don't want sex ed taught in school want schools to teach their children about the birth of Christ? Teach them about it yourself. It's a nice story. There's a billion fucking children's books depicting it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dobbs 3K 0 Report post Posted December 12, 2005 Yes, I agree that consumerism won out years ago (citing the aforementioned Charlie Brown reference). That said, calling a Christmas tree anything else is dumb, as is pretending that this is just a "holiday season" without acknowledging Christmas at all. The article in the original post noted that the school was displaying a menorah and kwanza symbols. So, am I to understand they are promoting Judaism and a fake black holiday made up in the 1960s, and not mentioning the actual reason for the holiday season in the United States at all? Come on...if there was no Christmas, there would be no holiday season in the United States. I don't think there is some vast liberal conspiracy to take Christ out of Christmas, but I think people need to grow spines again in this country, and not bow down to atheists and ACLU lawyers representing an extremist view. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Czech Republic 0 Report post Posted December 12, 2005 Those new lyrics are more depressing than the original version. Cold in the night, no one in sight, winter winds whirl and bite, how I wish I were happy and warm, safe with my family out of the storm. Seriously, that's fucking depressing. Maybe instead of singing it to "Silent Night", they can use the music for "No Quarter"... It can work, if you manipulate a few syllables here and there. THEY CHOOSE THE PATH WHERE NO ONE GOOOOOOOOOOOOOES Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Report post Posted December 12, 2005 Atheists celebrating on a day called Christmas, a day intended to be about Christ, is hypocrisy in the worst fashion. Thing is, it's not really much about Jesus anymore. It's about the aforementioned consumerism, Santa Claus, pretty lights, and the pagan tree tradition. That's kinda why I put intended as opposed to not putting intended. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Big Ol' Smitty 0 Report post Posted December 12, 2005 Atheists celebrating on a day called Christmas, a day intended to be about Christ, is hypocrisy in the worst fashion. Thing is, it's not really much about Jesus anymore. It's about the aforementioned consumerism, Santa Claus, pretty lights, and the pagan tree tradition. That's kinda why I put intended as opposed to not putting intended. Well, it's not really hypocritical for a non-Christian to celebrate a holiday that is almost entirely secularized, and can be celebrated as such. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Toshiaki Koala 0 Report post Posted December 12, 2005 The article in the original post noted that the school was displaying a menorah and kwanza symbols. So, am I to understand they are promoting Judaism and a fake black holiday made up in the 1960s, and not mentioning the actual reason for the holiday season in the United States at all? I'm not gonna touch this, but I just wanted to draw attention to it in case any of you guys are game. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest JMA Report post Posted December 12, 2005 Atheists celebrating on a day called Christmas, a day intended to be about Christ, is hypocrisy in the worst fashion. Thing is, it's not really much about Jesus anymore. It's about the aforementioned consumerism, Santa Claus, pretty lights, and the pagan tree tradition. That's kinda why I put intended as opposed to not putting intended. Well, it's not really hypocritical for a non-Christian to celebrate a holiday that is almost entirely secularized, and can be celebrated as such. Indeed. People give the holidays their meaning, so they can celebrate them however they see fit. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Big Ol' Smitty 0 Report post Posted December 13, 2005 http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0512/12/lol.03.html SEDER: Listen, as far as the war on Christmas goes, I feel like we should be waging a war on Christmas. I mean, I believe that Christmas, it's almost proven that Christmas has nuclear weapons, can be an imminent threat to this country, that they have operative ties with terrorists and I believe that we should sacrifice thousands of American lives in pursuit of this war on Christmas. And hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayer money. PHILLIPS: Is it a war on Christmas, a war Christians, a war on over-political correctness or just a lot of people with way too much time on their hands? SEDER: I would say probably, if I was to be serious about it, too much time on their hands, but I'd like to get back to the operational ties between Santa Claus and al Qaeda. PHILLIPS: I don't think that exists. Bob? Help me out here. SEDER: We have intelligence, we have intelligence. PHILLIPS: You have intel. Where exactly does your intel come from? SEDER: Well, we have tortured an elf... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Special K 0 Report post Posted December 13, 2005 I agree the best way to go about it is to just be accepting. When I went to Tulane, there was a big-ass menora and a big-ass tree. No one was upset. The black fraternity set up Kwanzaa decorations. fake black holiday made up in the 1960s. Christmas is a holiday set up in 350. When did it become a real holiday? It must be after 400 by your reasoning. When does a holiday become valid? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Slayer 0 Report post Posted December 13, 2005 Seventy times seven Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NoCalMike 0 Report post Posted December 13, 2005 The real war on christmas was lost to Corporate America years ago. It is funny to watch the Christian Right get on TV and whine because somebody is calling a tree by a different name, yet at the same time ignore the fact that they should be a lot more concerned that every year there are far less people in church, and more and more people in Wal-Mart. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Czech Republic 0 Report post Posted December 13, 2005 Everyone shut up about Wal-Mart already. Marshall Field's and Nordstrom help make up the nice part of commercialized Christmas. We all love those places Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hogan Made Wrestling 0 Report post Posted December 13, 2005 http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0512/12/lol.03.html SEDER: Listen, as far as the war on Christmas goes, I feel like we should be waging a war on Christmas. I mean, I believe that Christmas, it's almost proven that Christmas has nuclear weapons, can be an imminent threat to this country, that they have operative ties with terrorists and I believe that we should sacrifice thousands of American lives in pursuit of this war on Christmas. And hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayer money. PHILLIPS: Is it a war on Christmas, a war Christians, a war on over-political correctness or just a lot of people with way too much time on their hands? SEDER: I would say probably, if I was to be serious about it, too much time on their hands, but I'd like to get back to the operational ties between Santa Claus and al Qaeda. PHILLIPS: I don't think that exists. Bob? Help me out here. SEDER: We have intelligence, we have intelligence. PHILLIPS: You have intel. Where exactly does your intel come from? SEDER: Well, we have tortured an elf... Maybe it's a war against Christmas Island for hosting the Goatse website. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CanadianGuitarist 0 Report post Posted December 13, 2005 Maybe it's a war against Christmas Island for hosting the Goatse website. I laughed like hell at that. Anyone else know that Christmas was made illegal in old school England (170o-ish)? And just out of curiosity, is there any reason why an African-Canadian couldn't celebrate Christmas or Kwanzaa? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Big Ol' Smitty 0 Report post Posted December 13, 2005 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
