OPINION: War on Christmas under way again

Every year we are bombarded by stories of people attacking other people over Christmas displays on courthouse lawns, children singing Christmas carols at school and anything else marking the season. I have followed these battles year after year, wondering why some people display such hatred for the holiday and those who celebrate it.

Now I think I have figured it out.

This is my own idea. I may be right, or I may be wrong. But in either case it is what I have come to believe.

For some reason, a small percentage of our citizens have decided that the rest of us are not capable of conducting our own affairs, and it is necessary for them to run our lives for us. These egotists are divided into two opposing groups. One side thinks they should use big religion to run our lives for us, and the other side chooses to use big government for the same purpose. Neither side will concede that we the people are fully capable of managing our own affairs without their control or supervision. This contest has developed into a full-fledged war between the two.

The big Church people use the season to brow beat us into accepting their image of God, declaring that any other approach will end up with us roasting in hell. In the effort to control we the people, they bury the government people in a massive pile of condemnation, accusing them of every kind of abuse and graft.

The big Government people attack the churches as being ignorant and manipulative. They argue that God does not exist and only stupid rednecks believe in this invisible being. They are so adamant in their anti-church campaign that they attempt to remove every symbol of God and his teachings from public view.

My question is: What does it matter? Suppose the atheists are right, that when we die, we simply cease to exist. If I die believing that I have a spiritual component that will continue to exist outside the body, that belief will die with me. What value my life may have had, if any, will not be extended past death. My belief will not change any part of the future. So, what does it matter what I believe about life after death? It would make no difference.

But again, what if the churches are right? What if we have a spiritual component that extends beyond the grave? The non-believers will have to deal with the consequences, not us.

If we are adamant in our belief, and they are equally adamant in their disbelief, the best way to get along is to go our own way and not harass each other. That way we will, at least, have a more peaceful life regardless of the outcome.

Frank Gillispie is founder of The Madison County Journal. His e-mail address is frank@frankgillispie.com. His website can be accessed at http://www.frankgillispie.com/gillispieonline.