By Rob Ginter - Staff Writer
According to state officials, the giant evergreen tree on the capital lawn will be known as a holiday tree. Yet local Christmas celebrants are offended at the move to get rid of the tree’s title.
“For the tree that stands on the capital grounds we will refer to it as a holiday tree,” said Director of Communications for the State Finance and Administrations Cabinet Cindy Lanham. “It is not new terminology and it’s not meant to offend anyone or exclude anyone but meant to include everyone. It’s meant to unite Kentucky not divide it.”
But with the inclusion of every holiday being celebrated by the tree local Christians are worried by the loss of the identity of the Christmas tree.
“We keep making it a holiday and it’s called Christmas and has been for a long time,” Rowan County Pastor’s Fellowship 2009 Director Brian Farmer said. “It is called Christmas for a reason and that reason is Jesus came to the earth to give his life for everyone. They are taking the one that tried to bring us all together and are ashamed of him for the sake of ‘unity.’ I wouldn’t appreciate people taking my birthday and making it everybody else’s. It shows the state of our world that nobody wants to take a stand, we just want to hide and blend in, sometimes we can’t and this is one of those times.”
“We wish people Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays and all of that,” Morehead Wal-Mart Manager Scott Napier said. “Some people don’t think it’s politically correct to say Merry Christmas, however I do. Our trees are Christmas trees grown on a Christmas tree farm.”
“I always thought the idea was dumb,” Morehead State student Derek Russell said. “It’s an attack on Christianity because of what Christmas stands for. I worked at Lowe’s and that’s when it started for the holiday. We were not allowed to say Merry Christmas because it could offend somebody and cause an issue. I do know that this has been made into a political issue but the simple fact is that it all goes back to Christianity. There are mosques and behavior like adultery widely accepted but anything that has to do with Christianity or its origin is widely neglected or hated. But for God so loved the world that he gave his only son and whoever believes in him won’t perish but will have everlasting life. Saying that tree is a holiday tree speaks against the Christ that we know as our savior.”
Lowe’s Home Improvement officials said they were not permitted to speak on a local store management level about the topic and referred questions to the corporate communications office.
“The Beshears are Christians and refer to the tree in their home as a Christmas tree,” Lanham said. “But they also realize that other beliefs make up citizens of the state and this one is the Commonwealth’s tree and is on state property.”
A tree lighting ceremony in Frankfort will be approximately around the first week of December, Lanham said, and the tree will stay lit until the first of the year.
