Meanwhile, the employment law firm Peninsula says that 75 percent of
British companies have banned Christmas decorations for fear of being
sued by someone who finds the holiday offensive.

December that this anti-Christian animus rears its head. British
Airways triggered a furor when it ordered an employee to hide the tiny
cross she wears around her neck.

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2006/12/13/atheists_bleak_alternative/

Atheists' bleak alternative

By Jeff Jacoby, Globe Columnist | December 13, 2006

The atheist alternative is a world in which right and wrong are
ultimately matters of opinion, and in which we are finally accountable
to no one but ourselves. That is anything but a tiding of comfort and
joy.

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2006/12/13/atheists_bleak_alternative/

Atheists' bleak alternative

By Jeff Jacoby, Globe Columnist | December 13, 2006

FROM THE land that produced "A Christmas Carol" and Handel's "Messiah,"
more evidence that Christianity is fading in Western Europe: Nearly 99
percent of Christmas cards sold in Great Britain contain no religious
message or imagery.
Article Tools

"Traditional pictures such as angels blowing trumpets over a stable,
Jesus in his manger, the shepherds and three wise men following the
star to Bethlehem are dying out," the Daily Mail reports. A review of
some 5,500 Christmas cards turns up fewer than 70 that make any
reference to the birth of Jesus. "Hundreds . . . avoided any image
linked to Christmas at all" -- even those with no spiritual
significance, such as Christmas trees or Santa Claus.

Presumably the greeting-card industry is only supplying what the market
demands; if Christian belief and practice weren't vanishing from the
British scene, Christian-themed cards wouldn't be, either. But some
Britons, not all of them devout, are resisting the tide. Writing in the
Telegraph, editor-at-large Jeff Randall -- who describes himself as
"somewhere between an agnostic and a mild believer" -- announces that
any Christmas card he receives that doesn't at least mention the word
"Christmas" goes straight into the trash. "Jettisoning Christmas-less
cards is my tiny, almost certainly futile, gesture against the dark
forces of political correctness," he writes. "It's a swipe at those who
would prefer to abolish Christmas altogether, in case it offends
'minorities.' Someone should tell them that, with only one in 15
Britons going to church on Sundays, Christians are a minority."

Meanwhile, the employment law firm Peninsula says that 75 percent of
British companies have banned Christmas decorations for fear of being
sued by someone who finds the holiday offensive. And it isn't only in
December that this anti-Christian animus rears its head. British
Airways triggered a furor when it ordered an employee to hide the tiny
cross she wears around her neck. At the BBC, senior executives agreed
that they would not air a program showing a Koran being thrown in the
garbage -- but that the trashing of a Bible would be acceptable.

"It's extraordinary," remarks Randall. "In an increasingly godless age,
there is a rising tide of hatred against those who adhere to biblical
values." A "tyrannical minority" of intolerant secularists is openly
contemptuous of traditional moral norms. "The teachings and guidance of
old-fashioned Christianity offend them, so they seek to remove all
traces of it from public life."
Message Board YOUR VIEW: Is religion the best route to ethical
behavior?

You don't have to be especially pious to find this atheist zealotry
alarming. Nor do you have to live in Europe. Though religion remains
important in American life, antireligious passion is surging here, too.

Examples abound: In two recent best sellers , Sam Harris heaps scorn on
religious believers, whose faith he derides as "a few products of
ancient ignorance and derangement." A study in the Journal of Religion
and Society claims that belief in God correlates with higher rates of
homicide, sexual promiscuity, and other social ills, and that when
compared with relatively secular democracies, the churchgoing United
States "is almost always the most dysfunctional." Secular absolutists
demand that schools and government venues be cleansed of any hint of
religious expression -- be it a cross on the Los Angeles County seal, a
courthouse display of the Ten Commandments, or the words "under God" in
the Pledge of Allegiance.

What is at stake in all this isn't just angels on Christmas cards. What
society loses when it discards Judeo-Christian faith and belief in God
is something far more difficult to replace: the value system most
likely to promote ethical behavior and sustain a decent society. That
isbecause without God, the difference between good and evil becomes
purely subjective. What makes murder inherently wrong is not that it
feels wrong,but that a transcendent Creator to whom we are answerable
commands: "Thou shalt not murder." What makes kindness to others
inherently right is not that human reason says so, but that God does:
"Love thy neighbor as thyself; I am the Lord."

Obviously this doesn't mean that religious people are always good, or
that religion itself cannot lead to cruelty. Nor does it mean that
atheists cannot be beautiful, ethical human beings. Belief in God alone
does not guarantee goodness. But belief tethered to clear ethical
values -- Judeo-Christian monotheism -- is society's best bet for
restraining our worst moral impulses and encouraging our best ones.

The atheist alternative is a world in which right and wrong are
ultimately matters of opinion, and in which we are finally accountable
to no one but ourselves. That is anything but a tiding of comfort and
joy.

Jeff Jacoby's e-mail address is jacoby@globe.com.

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2006/12/13/atheists_bleak_alternative/

Atheists' bleak alternative
By Jeff Jacoby, Globe Columnist | December 13, 2006

The atheist alternative is a world in which right and wrong are
ultimately matters of opinion, and in which we are finally accountable
to no one but ourselves. That is anything but a tiding of comfort and
joy.

Nearly 99 percent of Christmas cards sold in Great Britain contain no
religious message or imagery.
Presumably the greeting-card industry is only supplying what the market
demands;
A "tyrannical minority" of intolerant secularists is openly contemptuous
of traditional moral norms.

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2006/12/13/atheists_bleak_alternative/

Atheists' bleak alternative

By Jeff Jacoby, Globe Columnist | December 13, 2006

FROM THE land that produced "A Christmas Carol" and Handel's "Messiah,"
more evidence that Christianity is fading in Western Europe: Nearly 99
percent of Christmas cards sold in Great Britain contain no religious
message or imagery.
Article Tools

"Traditional pictures such as angels blowing trumpets over a stable,
Jesus in his manger, the shepherds and three wise men following the
star to Bethlehem are dying out," the Daily Mail reports. A review of
some 5,500 Christmas cards turns up fewer than 70 that make any
reference to the birth of Jesus. "Hundreds . . . avoided any image
linked to Christmas at all" -- even those with no spiritual
significance, such as Christmas trees or Santa Claus.

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2006/12/13/atheists_bleak_alternative/

Atheists' bleak alternative

By Jeff Jacoby, Globe Columnist | December 13, 2006

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2006/12/13/atheists_bleak_alternative/

Atheists' bleak alternative

By Jeff Jacoby, Globe Columnist | December 13, 2006

FROM THE land that produced "A Christmas Carol" and Handel's "Messiah,"
more evidence that Christianity is fading in Western Europe: Nearly 99
percent of Christmas cards sold in Great Britain contain no religious
message or imagery.
Article Tools

"Traditional pictures such as angels blowing trumpets over a stable,
Jesus in his manger, the shepherds and three wise men following the
star to Bethlehem are dying out," the Daily Mail reports. A review of
some 5,500 Christmas cards turns up fewer than 70 that make any
reference to the birth of Jesus. "Hundreds . . . avoided any image
linked to Christmas at all" -- even those with no spiritual
significance, such as Christmas trees or Santa Claus.

Presumably the greeting-card industry is only supplying what the market
demands; if Christian belief and practice weren't vanishing from the
British scene, Christian-themed cards wouldn't be, either. But some
Britons, not all of them devout, are resisting the tide. Writing in the
Telegraph, editor-at-large Jeff Randall -- who describes himself as
"somewhere between an agnostic and a mild believer" -- announces that
any Christmas card he receives that doesn't at least mention the word
"Christmas" goes straight into the trash. "Jettisoning Christmas-less
cards is my tiny, almost certainly futile, gesture against the dark
forces of political correctness," he writes. "It's a swipe at those who
would prefer to abolish Christmas altogether, in case it offends
'minorities.' Someone should tell them that, with only one in 15
Britons going to church on Sundays, Christians are a minority."

Meanwhile, the employment law firm Peninsula says that 75 percent of
British companies have banned Christmas decorations for fear of being
sued by someone who finds the holiday offensive. And it isn't only in
December that this anti-Christian animus rears its head. British
Airways triggered a furor when it ordered an employee to hide the tiny
cross she wears around her neck. At the BBC, senior executives agreed
that they would not air a program showing a Koran being thrown in the
garbage -- but that the trashing of a Bible would be acceptable.

"It's extraordinary," remarks Randall. "In an increasingly godless age,
there is a rising tide of hatred against those who adhere to biblical
values." A "tyrannical minority" of intolerant secularists is openly
contemptuous of traditional moral norms. "The teachings and guidance of
old-fashioned Christianity offend them, so they seek to remove all
traces of it from public life."
Message Board YOUR VIEW: Is religion the best route to ethical
behavior?

You don't have to be especially pious to find this atheist zealotry
alarming. Nor do you have to live in Europe. Though religion remains
important in American life, antireligious passion is surging here, too.

Examples abound: In two recent best sellers , Sam Harris heaps scorn on
religious believers, whose faith he derides as "a few products of
ancient ignorance and derangement." A study in the Journal of Religion
and Society claims that belief in God correlates with higher rates of
homicide, sexual promiscuity, and other social ills, and that when
compared with relatively secular democracies, the churchgoing United
States "is almost always the most dysfunctional." Secular absolutists
demand that schools and government venues be cleansed of any hint of
religious expression -- be it a cross on the Los Angeles County seal, a
courthouse display of the Ten Commandments, or the words "under God" in
the Pledge of Allegiance.

What is at stake in all this isn't just angels on Christmas cards. What
society loses when it discards Judeo-Christian faith and belief in God
is something far more difficult to replace: the value system most
likely to promote ethical behavior and sustain a decent society. That
isbecause without God, the difference between good and evil becomes
purely subjective. What makes murder inherently wrong is not that it
feels wrong,but that a transcendent Creator to whom we are answerable
commands: "Thou shalt not murder." What makes kindness to others
inherently right is not that human reason says so, but that God does:
"Love thy neighbor as thyself; I am the Lord."

Obviously this doesn't mean that religious people are always good, or
that religion itself cannot lead to cruelty. Nor does it mean that
atheists cannot be beautiful, ethical human beings. Belief in God alone
does not guarantee goodness. But belief tethered to clear ethical
values -- Judeo-Christian monotheism -- is society's best bet for
restraining our worst moral impulses and encouraging our best ones.

The atheist alternative is a world in which right and wrong are
ultimately matters of opinion, and in which we are finally accountable
to no one but ourselves. That is anything but a tiding of comfort and
joy.

Jeff Jacoby's e-mail address is jacoby@globe.com.

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2006/12/13/atheists_bleak_alternative/

Atheists' bleak alternative

By Jeff Jacoby, Globe Columnist | December 13, 2006

...without God, the difference between good and evil
becomes purely subjective. What makes murder inherently wrong is not
that it feels wrong,but that a transcendent Creator to whom we are
answerable commands: "Thou shalt not murder."

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2006/12/13/atheists_bleak_alternative/

Atheists' bleak alternative

By Jeff Jacoby, Globe Columnist | December 13, 2006
What is at stake in all this isn't just angels on Christmas cards. What
society loses when it discards Judeo-Christian faith and belief in God
is something far more difficult to replace: the value system most
likely to promote ethical behavior and sustain a decent society. That
isbecause without God, the difference between good and evil becomes
purely subjective. What makes murder inherently wrong is not that it
feels wrong,but that a transcendent Creator to whom we are answerable
commands: "Thou shalt not murder." What makes kindness to others
inherently right is not that human reason says so, but that God does:
"Love thy neighbor as thyself; I am the Lord."

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2006/12/13/atheists_bleak_alternative/

Atheists' bleak alternative

By Jeff Jacoby, Globe Columnist | December 13, 2006

FROM THE land that produced "A Christmas Carol" and Handel's "Messiah,"
more evidence that Christianity is fading in Western Europe: Nearly 99
percent of Christmas cards sold in Great Britain contain no religious
message or imagery.
Article Tools

"Traditional pictures such as angels blowing trumpets over a stable,
Jesus in his manger, the shepherds and three wise men following the
star to Bethlehem are dying out," the Daily Mail reports. A review of
some 5,500 Christmas cards turns up fewer than 70 that make any
reference to the birth of Jesus. "Hundreds . . . avoided any image
linked to Christmas at all" -- even those with no spiritual
significance, such as Christmas trees or Santa Claus.

Presumably the greeting-card industry is only supplying what the market
demands; if Christian belief and practice weren't vanishing from the
British scene, Christian-themed cards wouldn't be, either. But some
Britons, not all of them devout, are resisting the tide. Writing in the
Telegraph, editor-at-large Jeff Randall -- who describes himself as
"somewhere between an agnostic and a mild believer" -- announces that
any Christmas card he receives that doesn't at least mention the word
"Christmas" goes straight into the trash. "Jettisoning Christmas-less
cards is my tiny, almost certainly futile, gesture against the dark
forces of political correctness," he writes. "It's a swipe at those who
would prefer to abolish Christmas altogether, in case it offends
'minorities.' Someone should tell them that, with only one in 15
Britons going to church on Sundays, Christians are a minority."

Meanwhile, the employment law firm Peninsula says that 75 percent of
British companies have banned Christmas decorations for fear of being
sued by someone who finds the holiday offensive. And it isn't only in
December that this anti-Christian animus rears its head. British
Airways triggered a furor when it ordered an employee to hide the tiny
cross she wears around her neck. At the BBC, senior executives agreed
that they would not air a program showing a Koran being thrown in the
garbage -- but that the trashing of a Bible would be acceptable.

"It's extraordinary," remarks Randall. "In an increasingly godless age,
there is a rising tide of hatred against those who adhere to biblical
values." A "tyrannical minority" of intolerant secularists is openly
contemptuous of traditional moral norms. "The teachings and guidance of
old-fashioned Christianity offend them, so they seek to remove all
traces of it from public life."
Message Board YOUR VIEW: Is religion the best route to ethical
behavior?

You don't have to be especially pious to find this atheist zealotry
alarming. Nor do you have to live in Europe. Though religion remains
important in American life, antireligious passion is surging here, too.

Examples abound: In two recent best sellers , Sam Harris heaps scorn on
religious believers, whose faith he derides as "a few products of
ancient ignorance and derangement." A study in the Journal of Religion
and Society claims that belief in God correlates with higher rates of
homicide, sexual promiscuity, and other social ills, and that when
compared with relatively secular democracies, the churchgoing United
States "is almost always the most dysfunctional." Secular absolutists
demand that schools and government venues be cleansed of any hint of
religious expression -- be it a cross on the Los Angeles County seal, a
courthouse display of the Ten Commandments, or the words "under God" in
the Pledge of Allegiance.

What is at stake in all this isn't just angels on Christmas cards. What
society loses when it discards Judeo-Christian faith and belief in God
is something far more difficult to replace: the value system most
likely to promote ethical behavior and sustain a decent society. That
isbecause without God, the difference between good and evil becomes
purely subjective. What makes murder inherently wrong is not that it
feels wrong,but that a transcendent Creator to whom we are answerable
commands: "Thou shalt not murder." What makes kindness to others
inherently right is not that human reason says so, but that God does:
"Love thy neighbor as thyself; I am the Lord."

Obviously this doesn't mean that religious people are always good, or
that religion itself cannot lead to cruelty. Nor does it mean that
atheists cannot be beautiful, ethical human beings. Belief in God alone
does not guarantee goodness. But belief tethered to clear ethical
values -- Judeo-Christian monotheism -- is society's best bet for
restraining our worst moral impulses and encouraging our best ones.

The atheist alternative is a world in which right and wrong are
ultimately matters of opinion, and in which we are finally accountable
to no one but ourselves. That is anything but a tiding of comfort and
joy.

Jeff Jacoby's e-mail address is jacoby@globe.com.