Boston "Holiday Tree" Stirs Controversy

Boston "holiday tree" stirs controversy
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Staff and agencies
25 November, 2005
By Jason Szep Fri Nov 25, 5:53 PM ET
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BOSTON- Boston set off a furor this week when it officially renamed a giant tree erected in a city park a "holiday tree" instead of a "Christmas tree."
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The move drew an angry response from Christian conservatives, including evangelist Jerry Falwell who heckled Boston officials and pressed the city to change the name back.
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"There's been a concerted effort to steal Christmas," Falwell told Fox Television.
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The Nova Scotia logger who cut down the 48-foot (14-meter) tree was indignant and said he would not have donated the tree if he had known of the name change.
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"I'd have cut it down and put it through the chipper," Donnie Hatt told a Canadian newspaper. "If they decide it should be a holiday tree, I'll tell them to send it back. If it was a holiday tree, you might as well put it up at Easter."
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Falwell and the conservative Liberty Counsel led a campaign that threatened to sue anyone who spreads what they see as misinformation about Christmas celebrations in public spaces.
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The controversy reflects the legal vulnerability of city and state governments over taxpayer-funded displays of religious icons and concern over crossing the line in the separation between church and state.
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Last year, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger lit what he called a "Christmas tree" at a state ceremony. The year before, he and former California Gov. Gray Davis presided over ceremonies for the more secular "holiday trees."
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In Boston, many residents voiced their dismay over the Web site that promotes a December 1 ceremony for "Boston's Official Holiday Tree Lighting."
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Christmas has become too politically correct, said 64 percent of people who responded to an online poll by a CBS television affiliate in Boston.
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Boston Mayor Thomas Menino said he would keep calling the Nova Scotia spruce a "Christmas tree" regardless of what it said on the city's official Web site.
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"I grew up with a Christmas tree, I'm going to stay with a Christmas tree," Menino told reporters on Thursday.
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But the controversy cast a pall over a long-standing tradition between Boston and Canada. Nova Scotia donates a tree each year to Boston in gratitude for the city's help after an explosion killed about 1,900 people and injured 4,000 others in Halifax in 1917.
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http://www.leadingthecharge.com/stories/news-00104805.html
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http://www.cityofboston.gov/
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http://www.bostonusa.com/
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http://www.falwell.com/?a=
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Falwell