Critics angry over state ‘holiday tree’
Gov. Steve Beshear
By ROGER ALFORD – Associated Press Writer
FRANKFORT — Gov. Steve Beshear has angered some Christians with his yuletide terminology.
A giant evergreen that will brighten the Capitol lawn this winter won’t be called a Christmas tree. Instead, the Beshear administration has dubbed it a “holiday tree.”
The Rev. Jeff Fugate, pastor of Clays Mill Baptist Church in Lexington, said Christians find the change troubling.
“If you call it a holiday tree,” Fugate asked, “which holiday are you talking about? We don’t put up a holiday tree for Easter or New Year’s or Thanksgiving. We put a tree up for Christmas.”
Beshear administration spokeswoman Cindy Lanham said the tree will be in celebration of a variety of winter holidays, including Christmas and Hanukkah.
“This is a special time of the year for many Kentuckians,” she said.
The spat in Kentucky is only the latest in an ongoing Christmas debate. Some retailers, including Wal-Mart, have returned to greeting customers with “Merry Christmas” after coming under attack for directing employees to say “Happy Holidays.”
In Kentucky, political foes are using the issue to bash the Democratic governor and his administration.
“Steve Beshear in his continued swing to the left shows that political correctness is more important than Kentucky values,” said Republican Senate President David Williams of Burkesville. “It is difficult to see how anyone could take offense at the cherished tradition of Christmas at the Kentucky Capitol.”
Beshear spokeswoman Jill Midkiff said the terminology is intended to be inclusive.
“Obviously, to Governor Beshear and the first lady, who are both Christians, it is certainly a Christmas tree,” Midkiff said. “What is important is to remember what this time of year is all about – family and caring for those less fortunate.”
Using the term “holiday tree” typically is intended to avoid offending people who are not Christian, said Paul Simmons, an ethics professor at the University of Louisville. And he said “holiday tree” is the more fitting description, considering the tradition started out among pagans and was later blended into the Christian celebration of Christmas.
“It really is a more generalizable symbol,” Simmons said.
The Beshear administration sent out a public call on Monday for Kentuckians who think they might have the perfect “holiday tree” to consider donating it to the state. The solicitation called for a pyramid-shaped tree between 35 and 50 feet tall.
Sounds like a Christmas tree to Martin Cothran, spokesman for the Family Foundation of Kentucky.
“It’s the administration that stole Christmas,” Cothran said. “I think their heart is two sizes too small,” he said, quoting a line from How The Grinch Stole Christmas.
Fugate said he believes the Beshear administration has caved to political pressure.
“What’s bothersome about this is that it’s not the majority opinion,” Fugate said. “There is a groundswell of Americans who are fed up.”
Filed Under: State Government • Steve Beshear
About the Author: John Stamper is the accountability editor for the Lexington Herald-Leader. A native of Monticello, Ky., he has been with the Herald-Leader in a variety of roles since graduating from Western Kentucky University in 2000. Reach him at jstamper@herald-leader.com
Sounds good to me. Now do away with the “Christmas” holiday and get all of those hard working state employees back to their desks on Dec 24 & 25.
please people wake up!! who cares!! we have serious problems here. i guess the down ecomomy hasn’t hit these people yet or they’d have other things to think about!!
This is for those of you who delight in bashing Pastor Fugate. FYI-Pastor Fugate was contacted by the writer of thisd article and asked his opinion of the governor’s decision to call it a holiday tree instead of a Christmas Tree. He gave hishonest opinion. I agree with him. Regarding the comment about his supposed denigration of blacks and Hispanics at the 2002 Freedom Rally. Did you actually hear him do that or is that what somewbody told you? Pastor Fugate respects everybody and I annot believe he would ever do what you claim. I would guess that more than 99% of people who bash him have never seen or heard him, except perhaps on TV, and have not the slightest notion who he really is. If he disliked Hispanics so much why would Clays Mill Road Baptist have a Hispanic church with over 150 members, why would he run buses in low income neighborhoods and bring 600 to 800 children, many minorities, to church every Sunday. Come and spend a Sunday with us and then bash him. My self, I’m proud to call him my Pastor.
Boy, who’d thought a freaking Christmas tree would cause so much B.S., and it is a Christmas tree because it’s put up at Christmas time…DUH! It’s even on the calendar…”Christmas Day”! It’s not called “Holiday Season Day”, it’s called “Christmas Day”, as well as the night before is call Christmas Eve. I don’t much care about your politically correct crap, or the religous sect, facts are facts, it’s been “Christmas Day” and will be next year too! I even bet money most calendars will have it on them again next year! There will also be all kinds of Christmas specials on TV for kids too! They will be called Christmas stories, especially Charels Dickens, which is about Scrooge at Christmas time. I even bet some people will go out and sing “Christmas Carols” too! So, in advance and in keeping with tradition, “Merry Christmas to all!” Geez, I wonder if it was a stunt to get attention as a politician on Beshear’s part, or if he just got a visit from the political correctness fairy?
Beshear should be run out of town. His communications mouth piece, Jill Midkiff does not have a clue. I listened to her babble personaly and she does not have the intelligence or the education to speak on behalf of any government idea. If you notice, she is never out front on TV or Radio. She is scared to death of the media and wants to hide behind press releases.
Thank god I got out of Frankfort, if the people of the Commonwealth ever saw how things really work at the highest levels of State Government, they would riot in the streets.
Come on people, grow up. Most of the Christmas customs you know and love are pagan.
Christmas is seen as a minor holiday compared to Easter, which also has a lot of pagan elements. The Cross is the symbol of Christianity, not the Christmas tree.
If you want to drag a dead tree into your house, fine, you can call it what you want. The governor’s duty is for all, not just a few Christian zealots.
Mr Cahal, You ever heard of Jesus + nothing? It’s all about doing away with all man made laws and relying only on the Biblical laws as interpreted by the elite. This is what is guiding the Fundies. The rank and file may not know of this, but the leaders of their movement do.
The fundamentalist movement is not democratic, it is authoritarian. They talk of freedoms, but in the end, they want a theocratic state.
Read Jeff Sharlet’s “The Family.”
Americans have been using Christmas Trees since there was a United States. Christmas is the only holiday that uses a tree. This is ridiculous. One wonders what scares politicians so much about Christianity. What is next, changing Easter to “Bunny Day” since most people are celebrating Easter with the pagan fertility “egg” now? Isaiah 59:19 KJB – look it up!
Xstateworker: Especially with this administration.
I just wonder how many of these posters aren’t from Kentucky at all, but are ACLU-types from elsewhere who have seen this story linked on one of their blogs and have flocked here to comment? It always seems that anything having to do with religion draws the out-of-state crazies who would deny us our Kentucky customs to fit their world view.
I know many Christians who feel that a decorated tree in celebration of Christ’s birthday is inappropriate. I don’t recall a reference to a tree in the biblical depliction of the events leading up to the birth of Christ. Nor, do I recall the three Wise Men placing their gifts under a tree (Christmas or Holiday). We need to remember the true meaning of Christmas. When did we (Christians) decide that the appropriate celebration of our Saviour’s birth was to buy gifts for other people (most of whom don’t need anything else) versus giving to the Church or to the needy?
The contraversy surrounding the “naming” of the tree and the proper protocol for greetings is a perfect example of the Devil’s ability to seperate Christians and take away from the goodness of God and of all things Christian.
William Kunert, don\’t come here with that \”Can you prove he said that in 2002\” stuff. He admitted it repeatedly. I was in Applebee Park, and I heard every hate-filled sick word out of his mouth.
I refuse to even call him a reverend. He needs help, and I hope he gets it.
For those who think this is just semantics, keep in mind that for Christians it is a process of being marginalized. With the looming hate crimes legislation that now appear to include thought/intent as determining factors, semantics are a big deal to people of faith. Pastors face their calling with a larger target on their backs just for sharing their opinion if it “offends” anyone else. I agree that what offends us shouldn’t define us yet Fugate’s point is just as legitimate as the supposed offense of non-Christians that began the entire “Christmas” vs. “holiday” discussion.
First of all…I’m a Christian (and proud of it) an secondly, I’m a preacher (it’s my calling). Scripturally speaking (and that’s what Christians should care most about), a tree decorated in December has nothing to do with Christ’s birth. It is pagan in origin and yet we adorn our church buildings with them every year. Why not just put an Asherah pole or Baal altar up, it would be just as “christian” as a Christmas tree? Fellow Christians…grow up! Is arguing over what someone calls a tree that has nothing to do with our King and savior how you expect to win non-Christian’s to our message of grace and truth? How about serving them…and loving them…and sharing with them why you believe what you do?
I understand your point, but it’s not as though the recommendation is to voice displeasure over the Christmas tree at the expense of telling people about Jesus. What is a politically relevant and appropriate area for Christians to hold politicians accountable?
He obviously doesn’t have any interest in being re-elected.
This is just another nail in his coffin.
Whether he likes it or not this state is in the middle of the Bible Belt. Most citizen’s values are based on a christian faith.
Richie’s handlers are laughing all the way to the ballot box.
Xstateworker is correct in if the general public knew what went on in Frankfort, there would be rioting in the streets.
Beshear, you politically-correct sellout. How can we as people keep our soul and not worry about pleasing and appealing to a man-made thing such as politics. You mean to tell me that if Beshear is a Christian, that he is willing to abandon his beliefs just to appeal to the world? To be politically-correct?
That’s all fine and dandy and you are correct, but it is the purpose and point of why Beshear did this that matters. He is trying to avoid that insertion of Christianity into the public. It’s not him saying what you are saying.
A Christmas tree is not a religious symbol. It’s a secular symbol of a religious holiday. Of course the end result the liberals want to see is the elimination of Christmas as a government holiday. I am frankly still surprised that the state still observes the afternoon of Good Friday as a state holiday.
It’s a Christmas tree. If it doesn’t suit your needs, go eat a pork chop.
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