Seasons Greetings Challenge Church-State Separation

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Some 80% of Americans are Christian, and 95% of Americans celebrate Christmas. Yet, this year apologies are being demanded for calling the office "Christmas party" a "holiday party," lawsuits are being filed for displaying Hanukah menorahs rather than nativity scenes at shopping malls, and there's uproar for not allowing Christmas caroling at secondary schools. Though these complaints are heard annually, this year they are louder and stronger than usual, having become both a personal and a political debate due, perhaps, to the participation of the Christian right on the re-election of George W. Bush in November. Guest host Diana Nyad speaks with journalists, civil libertarians, religious watchdogs and historians about this intersection of faith, free expression and religion. Making News: Update on Violence in Mosul, Fallujah Monday, a suicide bomber blew himself up in the military dining tent in Mosul, killing 22 people. Today, 250,000 residents of Fallujah, evacuated last month as US forces fought to regain control of the city, began trickled back in. As they did, skirmishes erupted and several marines were killed. Colonel Paul Hughes, senior military fellow at the Institute for National Strategic Studies at the National Defense University, updates the situation. Reporter's Notebook: What Teachers Get for Christmas It-s customary for children to bring their teachers homemade macaroons this time of year, but a recent article in The New Yorker spills the beans on what's going on at elite private schools. There, where tuition can run as high as $14,000 a year, students are bestowing some outlandish holiday gifts on teachers, say the article's author, Caitlin Flanagan, a former private school teacher herself.
Some 80% of Americans are Christian, and 95% of Americans celebrate Christmas. Yet, this year apologies are being demanded for calling the office "Christmas party" a "holiday party," lawsuits are being filed for displaying Hanukah menorahs rather than nativity scenes at shopping malls, and there's uproar for not allowing Christmas caroling at secondary schools. Though these complaints are heard annually, this year they are louder and stronger than usual, having become both a personal and a political debate due, perhaps, to the participation of the Christian right on the re-election of George W. Bush in November. Guest host Diana Nyad speaks with journalists, civil libertarians, religious watchdogs and historians about this intersection of faith, free expression and religion.
  • Making News: Update on Violence in Mosul, Fallujah
    Monday, a suicide bomber blew himself up in the military dining tent in Mosul, killing 22 people. Today, 250,000 residents of Fallujah, evacuated last month as US forces fought to regain control of the city, began trickled back in. As they did, skirmishes erupted and several marines were killed. Colonel Paul Hughes, senior military fellow at the Institute for National Strategic Studies at the National Defense University, updates the situation.
  • Reporter's Notebook: What Teachers Get for Christmas
    It-s customary for children to bring their teachers homemade macaroons this time of year, but a recent article in The New Yorker spills the beans on what's going on at elite private schools. There, where tuition can run as high as $14,000 a year, students are bestowing some outlandish holiday gifts on teachers, say the article's author, Caitlin Flanagan, a former private school teacher herself.
Guest host Diana Nyad holds the world record for the longest swim without the aid of a cage -- from Bimini to Florida, 102.5 miles! She was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2002. A business sports columnist for Marketplace, Nyad has served as senior sports correspondent for Fox News, and hosted her own show on CNBC. She's also the author of three books, Other Shores, Basic Training and The Keyshawn Johnson Story.

Bill O'Reilly on secularists, including Tim Rutten

O'Reilly on revenge of the secularists

Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights

Committee to Save Merry Christmas

Charles Krauthammer's Washington Post editorial on Christmas

Rutherford Institute's Twelve Rules of Christmas

Rutten's article on religion, culture wars

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Warren Olney