A lesson on the First Amendment

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is, in my opinion, the most significant freedom we possess.  It is the very heart of what makes our free democratic society the very best country in which to live.  The single most important freedom of the freedoms contained in that wonderful little amendment is the right to free speech.

In case it's been a while since you've taken a high school government class, here's what the amendment actually says:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."

Yep, that's right, CONGRESS shall make no law.  Congress, not A&E.

To continue out civics lesson, the First Amendment is applied to the States through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.  This is called incorporation and it was first recognized as applying to freedom of speech by the United States Supreme Court in 1925 in a case called Gitlow v. New York.  However, there is no incorporation of any aspect of the bill of rights to private entities.  You have no right to free speech where your private, non-governmental employer is concerned.

Or to state it simply:  There is no protected right of free speech at A&E.

Personally, I am for marriage equality.  I have no issue with it nor do I share the same level of religious beliefs as Phil Robertson.

But I am also 100% behind Phil Robertson being able to shout his personal beliefs from the rooftops if he so chooses and if the Government tried to prevent him from doing so, I'd be right there with Mike Huckabee and all of Mr. Robertson's other supporters screaming First Amendment Freedom!

To Phil Robertson, I say good for you.  We need more people in America to not hide there beliefs.  We need to have the dialogue because only the dialogue can move us forward.

However, I cannot support a Free Speech Boycott of A&E as there is no Free Speech violation here.

A&E is a private corporation and just like any other private company they can fire you for what you say.  That's why people get fired for what they post on Facebook.

So America if you want to boycott A&E for there stance on Phil Robertson's comments be my guest but do it for the right reasons.  Do it because you believe in what Phil said.  Do it because you share Phil's beliefs.  Do it because the show won't be the same without him.  Just don't do it while waiving the First Amendment around and wrapping yourself up in self-righteous claims of free speech because your anger is misplaced.  Save your First Amendment fight for when it really matters.  Save it for when your Government censors your speech.

The Santa Controversy

A blogger named Aisha Harris has proposed that, in an effort to be racially neutral, Santa Claus should get a makeover.  Ms. Harris proposed that Dear Santa should now be Penguin Claus.  Yep, that's right, Penguin Claus!

Dear Ms. Harris, Santa is not a penguin.

Our modern depiction of Santa Claus originates from a Catholic Saint, Saint Nicholas, who was born in what is now modern day Turkey.  He was most certainly a white man.  That historical fact cannot be changed.  He is still celebrated with a feast day.  While you may find his depiction as a jolly old white man offensive to people of color every where, I am sure that Catholics would find his depiction as a penguin equally offensive.

Ms. Harris, you make the point that our modern day Santa is not real and is not Saint Nicholas.  That they are different and not interchangeable.  You could not be more incorrect.

Santa Claus, as we know him in the United States, came to us from the Dutch who referred to him as Sinter Klaas.  Sinter Klaas is a shortened form of Sint Nikolaas, the Dutch language name for the Saint. Our modern day image of Santa Claus begins with a poem written by an Episcopal Minister, Clement Clarke Moore, and embodied in a political cartoon drawn by Thomas Nast in 1881.  Santa Claus in all of these depictions is a white man.

Pundits, most notably on Fox news, have taken issue with your request and inartfully declared Santa is White.  As a result, your little blog has brought you some notoriety.

But your suggestion that we ditch Santa and embrace Penguin Claus is offensive not because it is racist but because it belittles hundreds of years of American religious and secular holiday traditions.  Santa simply is NOT a penguin.

The spirit of Santa can of course be any race.  In fact, the spirit of Santa or the embodiment of Santa at your local mall, can be played by anyone, of any color, of any faith, of any sexual orientation, even of both genders.  This is America after all.  The spirit of Santa Claus should reflect who we are as a populace.  On this I agree, but again we are NOT penguins.

Perhaps you've never read the New York Sun Times response to Virginia O'Hanlon written in 1897.  You should read it.  It is a wonderful piece on the spirit of Santa Clause.  I read it to my daughter when she was seven and asking if Santa was real.  I believe the answer to your ridiculous suggestion that Santa be depicted as a penguin is in the words of that famous letter:

 "Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy."

You see, Ms. Harris, Penguins do not embody the same spirit of love, generosity and devotion which   humans do.  Therefore, it is imperative in a culture that becomes less loving, generous, and devoted to one another on a daily basis that Santa remain real.  It is imperative that Santa's spirit of love remain exclusively human.