Merry Christmas From…Outer Space

Christmas

All this week we have been talking about Christmas and reminiscing about different Christmas memories from days gone by. Today I wanted to share about one of my most vivid Christmas memories: A Christmas greeting from space.

It wasn’t little green men in flying saucers who wished a Merry Christmas. It was American astronauts. Bill Anders, Jim Lovell, and Frank Borman—the three men onboard the Apollo 8 spacecraft—spent Christmas of 1968 orbiting the moon. On Christmas Eve, as their module made its way around the moon, the three men passed around a sheet of fireproof paper, taking turns reading the words printed on it—the first 10 verses from the Book of Genesis—all on international television.

Commander Borman ended the transmission by saying, “from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas – and God bless all of you, all of you on the good Earth.”

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Wishing You a “Duck Dynasty” Christmas

Christmas,

A few years ago, if someone had written the words, “Duck the Halls,” you would have assumed it was a typo. Today, however, there’s a Christmas album out by that title from none other than “Louisiana’s most unlikely millionaires,” the Robertson family of the hit TV show Duck Dynasty.

Some people find the show a little strange. Between long beards and camouflage, it definitely isn’t like most of the other stuff on television, but it’s one of the most popular shows on the air. I believe that’s because the show captures the things people cherish: Faith, family, and freedom—or, as Jase Robertson put it, “God, family, and ducks—in that order.”

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Atheists in Florida to Hang Banner Replacing Jesus with Bill of Rights

Christmas, ,

According to the Associated Press, the Freedom From Religion Foundation is hanging a banner in the Florida State Capitol depicting Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and the Statue of Liberty gathered around a manger containing the Bill of Rights. The banner will read, “Let us also honor the birth of our Bill of Rights, which reminds us there can be no freedom OF religion without having freedom FROM religion in government.”

The banner is part of an effort by the Freedom From Religion Foundation to “counter” nativity scenes on public property. The group has placed signs at state capitols in Illinois and Wisconsin stating there are no gods, no Heaven, and no Hell.

Of course, atheists in Arkansas have set up what many have dubbed a shrine to paganism next to the Nativity scene on the Capitol lawn the past few years.

Atheist groups claim these displays are part of the “public forums” state capitols are establishing, and a public forum means all forms of speech are welcome. Legally, however, there are different kinds of public forums — unlimited public forums and limited public forums.

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