Mayor Slater Says "Happy Holidays"

Image via Chris Rosebrough

Thought I'd give my "two cents" on a recent letter to the editor by Troy resident Robert Bickmeyer to The Oakland Press. Here's what Mr. Bickmeyer had to say...

I just returned from the U.S. post office where a display showed an assortment of “holiday” stamps available instead of “Christmas” stamps. As I sat down to relax, I read (in another paper) where Troy’s mayor, Dane Slater, was quoted as saying, “We look forward to kicking off the ‘holiday’ season and welcoming Santa to Troy.” In the war against Christianity the secularists have won two more battles, one in the federal government and one in the city government.

Before I offer a mild rebuttal to Mr. Bickmeyer, I do want to say something positive about him. When I served on the Troy City Council, Mr. Bickmeyer deserved significant credit for encouraging us to re-name the annual City Tree Lighting Ceremony to the Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony. Mr. Bickmeyer was correct in calling us on the carpet for our failure to use the term Christmas Tree.

My disagreement with Mr. Bickmeyer's letter is that he believes that Mayor Slater's use of the term "holiday" season represents part of the "war against Christianity." Now, I'll admit that in the past I held a viewpoint similar to Mr. Bickmeyer. But, that was prior to my exposure to the Confessional Lutheran doctrine known as the Two Kingdoms.

Rather than a lengthy discussion of the Two Kingdoms, I'll briefly make two points:

1. Dane Slater's primary job as Mayor is to serve as the chief elected official of the City of Troy.


2. At the 2014 City of Troy Christmas Lighting Ceremony, Mayor Slater wished everyone Happy Holidays, and then went on to mention Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa. (See the YouTube video at the bottom of this blog post from this year's ceremony and you can hear for yourself.)

Instead of worrying about Mayor Slater's use of the term Happy Holidays, let's thank him for doing his job and for being willing to say Merry Christmas!