“Trump Administration Emphasizes Religion in Official Christmas Messages,” a Christmas Day story by New York Times breaking news reporter Ashley Ahn, was an exquisite example of the paper’s blatant political double standards, portraying the Trump Administration’s religiously themed Christmas messages (imagine that) as a threat to the country’s vaunted “separation of church and state,” while ignoring former President Joe Biden’s similarly religiously themed messages.
The Trump administration celebrated Christmas on Thursday by posting a series of religious messages from official government accounts, using language that drew criticism from those who pointed to the country’s separation of church and state.
While many lawmakers in both parties posted universal messages of love, joy and peace on the holiday, a number of cabinet members and agencies made references to Jesus and the religious meaning of Christmas.
That alarmed the Times.
“Today we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote. “May His light bring peace, hope, and joy to you and your families.”
Posts by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the Homeland Security Department and the Labor Department followed in a similar vein.
“The joyous message of Christmas is the hope of Eternal Life through Christ,” Mr. Rubio said.
“Let Earth Receive Her King,” the Labor Department said.
Government officials have traditionally steered clear of such overtly religious language, as the Constitution bans an official state religion. The First Amendment’s establishment clause prohibits the government from establishing a religion or favoring one religion over another, while the free exercise clause protects the religious expression of all faiths.
Ahn dutifully rounded up some of the usual secular-left suspects to sound the alarm.
Rachel Laser, the president of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, condemned the message as “divisive and un-American” in a statement to The New York Times on Thursday.
“Our Constitution’s promise of church-state separation has allowed religious diversity — including different denominations of Christianity — to flourish in America,” she said, adding that Americans “should not have to sift through proselytizing messages to access government information.”
Anyone who approved of the theme was clearly a “far-right activist.”
Some conservative Christians and far-right activists celebrated the video. David Millard Haskell, a religion and culture professor at Wilfrid Laurier University in Canada, said, “The more Americans embrace this sentiment, the better they will be able to face any threat that comes against them.”...
About 62 percent of Americans identify as Christians, a decline of nine percentage points since 2014, according to the Pew Research Center.
In the last year, Mr. Trump has expanded the power and influence of conservative Christians across the government, advancing their political and ideological priorities with a promise to “bring back Christianity.”
Ira Stoll at The Editors (and formerly of SmarterTimes) made a good catch on Sunday. He didn’t have to travel far down the timeline to find a Democrat who also issued religious proclamations.
….during the Biden administration, President Biden regularly issued an Easter message. Here’s the one from March 31, 2024: “Easter reminds us of the power of hope and the promise of Christ’s Resurrection. As we gather with loved ones, we remember Jesus’ sacrifice.” Here’s the one from Biden for Orthodox Easter, May 5, 2024: “The Resurrection of Jesus Christ reminds us of God’s abundant love for us and the power of light over darkness.”
But the Times didn’t mind Biden’s religiously themed Easter messages -- because he was opposed by conservative Christians. In April 2024 reporter Maggie Astor defended Biden against “The Republican outrage machine,” after the Biden White House recognized both Easter and Transgender Visibility Day -- because you never hear about transgender people these days, do you?
Astor took the trouble to link to Biden’s four years of Easter messages in the Democrat's defense: “This year, for the second time since Transgender Day of Visibility was established 15 years ago, and the last time until 2086, the two happened to coincide. President Biden publicly honored both of them, as he has done every year since he took office in 2021.”
The Washington Post ran a similar story Friday by Azi Paybarah with the same alarmist tone: “Trump aides’ official religious messages for Christmas draw objections -- Overtly sectarian posts on official social media accounts contrast with a tradition of secular holiday messages.” That's simply false, as Biden's messages show.
Both the Times and the Post noted the Pew Research Center survey showing a decline in Americans identifying as Christians. Somehow the previous president, who was in office this time last year, went totally unmentioned in both of these stories.
