The American Association of Religious Bigots (AARB) has a new member: the Hollings Cancer Center of Charleston, South Carolina.
This hospital demonstrated its religious bigotry by dumping Jesus from any and all Christmas displays. No nativity scenes will be permitted in the hospital, even though Christmas is a national, congressionally-authorized holiday to celebrate, well, the Nativity.
Which raises the question: what about the word “CHRISTmas” does the Hollings Cancer Center not understand?
Bizarrely, the Center fired but then rehired Santa Claus, because he apparently satisfies the demands of Secular Sharia, which, just like Islamic Sharia, forbids any public display of Christian symbols.
But here the hospital shows not only its abysmal bigotry but its ignorance of history, for Santa Claus is based on the historic figure of Saint Nicolas, the 4th century bishop of Myra (in modern day Turkey), whose tradition of secret gift-giving inspired the guy in the red suit.
Saint Nicolas was known as “Nicolas the Wonderworker” because of the miracles the power of God in Christ did through him. So if the Hollings Cancer Center was trying to rid the facility of anything with a Christian connotation, this is big whoops. Hospital administrators are evidently too ignorant of history to realize it.
It’s worth repeating that secular fundamentalists have their own version of Sharia law, which differs little from the Sharia law of Islamic fundamentalists. Just as Muslims are determined to eradicate the presence of Christian symbols from the public square, so are secular fundamentalists.
It’s time to say a firm “No” to Sharia law, whether it’s the ACLU’s version or the Qur’an’s version. Shame on the Hollings Cancer Center for its shameful bigotry and its weak-kneed collaboration with those who want to trash the First Amendment and its guarantees of the free exercise of religion.
And so we present to a watchful public the latest, official, Focal Point-certified member of the American Association of Religious Bigots: The Hollings Cancer Center of Charleston, South Carolina.
(Unless otherwise noted, the opinions expressed are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Family Association or American Family Radio.)
Bryan Fischer is the Director of Issue Analysis for Government and Public Policy at the American Family Association, where he provides expertise on a range of public policy topics. He hosts the “Focal Point” radio program on AFR Talk,which airs live on weekdays from 1-3 p.m. Central on American Family Radio’s nationwide talk network of 145 stations.