Christmas carping

First, a disclaimer. My boss is a UNC grad. That is my only tie - albeit a strong one - to Chapel Hill.

As a result, I feel an odd affection for a university I've never even seen.

Go Tar Heels!

I wish UNC well in all areas. I hope this fine state university produces many Rhodes Scholars. And fingers crossed for Tar Heel sports teams - except when they play UVa or Ole Miss, that is. (Come on, he's my boss, but there are limits.)

I am, in fact, so filled with warm feelings for Carolina that I would like to wish everyone down there a very merry Christmas  December.

Apparently, one must be careful with the whole Christmas thing in Chapel Hill. According to the Charlotte Observer, Christmas trees have been banned from the Wilson and Davis Libraries on campus.

Why, you wonder?

Because the mere presence of these trimmed artifical evergreens "bothered..at least a dozen" members of the sensitive library staff.

Sigh.

And so, the annual war on Christmas opens it's 2008 season on a new front: Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

What's especially unsettling about this latest Christmas carping, is that it happened in a library. Aren't librarians supposed to be well-read? Shouldn't they know that Christmas trees are a pagan tradition, adopted by early Christians for use in the Yuletide? Yes, a nativity set is undeniably Christian, but a fake tree with some tinsel and lights?

How, exactly, does the sight of such a thing "bother" anyone?

Beats me. But for those keeping score, let's give a point to the Grinches.

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