Bill Donahue: no religious inclusion during Christmas

Wow. All of the wars against Christmas usually revolve around some fundie haranguing about Christianity and the baby Jesus being supplanted by "Happy Holidays."

Not Bill Donohue of The Catholic League. He's for bigotry during his holy season.

In Armonk, NY, the town's supervisors voted to display a menorah and a star and crescent at its Christmas tree lighting ceremony at the town's gazebo, opting for inclusion rather than battle over whether there should be a tree there.

"We've decided to go in the direction of being all-inclusive," Supervisor Reese Berman told Associated Press.

...According to the board's guidelines, any group interested in displaying a privately-funded symbol through the Christmas season must submit a formal application. The board makes no determination as to whether a symbol is secular or religious. The process is open to all religions.

"Arab-Americans and Muslim Americans are Americans and respect other religions," said Laila Al-Qatami, spokeswoman for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee in Washington. "They know that Christmas is a big holiday and they're glad to be included."

That's a sentiment that feels right to Catholic-raised Judy Wesley, director of the Armonk Chamber of Commerce.

"In my opinion there's nothing wrong with having a spirit of inclusion," she said. "Jesus Christ himself would have gathered everyone around him."

Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Civil and Religious Rights, disagrees, saying the town has chosen to display Jewish and Islamic religious symbols while leaving out the Christian religious symbol of the season, a Nativity scene. He does not believe the Christmas tree is a religious symbol.

Further, he says, the inclusive display "shows tremendous sympathy for Jews and Muslims at the expense of the majority Christians."

Note: Donohue will be on the Mike Signorile show on Friday to discuss that ridiculous anti-gay ad put out last week by The Becket Fund