Santa May Appeal To Children...BANNED!
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) -- A beer distributor says Maine is being a Scrooge by barring it from selling a beer with a label depicting Santa Claus enjoying a pint of brew.The state maintains this is like the Joe Camel thing. It may appeal to children. I am not sure exactly how I feel about the violation of First Amendment rights in this case and whether they have actually occurred; you have to draw a line somewhere.
In a complaint filed in federal court, Shelton Brothers accuses the Maine Bureau of Liquor Enforcement of censorship for denying applications for labels for Santa's Butt Winter Porter and two other beers it wants to sell in Maine...
...The lawsuit, filed Thursday, contends the state's action violates the First Amendment by censoring artistic expression...
...But the state says it's within its rights. The label with Santa might appeal to children, said Maine State Police Lt. Patrick Fleming. The other two labels are considered inappropriate because they show bare-breasted women....
...The lawsuit was brought by the Maine Civil Liberties Union, which says the beer labels are entitled to First Amendment protection...
Read the entire article
What really bothers me, is that a company, any company, would take such an important religious holiday and make such a mockery of it. True, Christmas, though Christian in origin, has become a secular holiday for many, for many still it has a religious sacredness.
Then there is St. Nicholas, aka Santa Claus. He’s been widely forgotten as the Catholic saint and has become almost exclusively a childhood fairytale character. I don’t know of any marketing strategy elsewhere that portrays St. Nick as a boozing exhibitionist.
It seems that marketing of this nature against this religious holiday could damage children and disrespect the season we celebrate the birth of Christ. It is for this reason I lean with the side of the state in this matter despite the fact that both sides could do compelling arguments for their civil rights. This free speech thing can just go too far, as in this case.
Labels: Moral/Social
posted by Troy at 8:05 AM
1 Comments:
According to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas) parts of the origin of Christmas and celebrations related to Christmas included drunkeness and nudity, among other things. So in that case, the Santa would go right along with it.
On the other hand, I do agree that in today's culture children (along with and because of adults) are supremely focused on Santa and his image.
I personally have a problem with telling my children that there is a Santa - and then a few years later they find out or we tell them that he's not real and we willingly lied to him. How then do they know when you are telling them the truth and when you are lying. Our basis is that Santa is a great idea, but he's not a real person - it's more of a fun pretend thing. But I have never yet and will continue to refuse to tell my kids that he exsists. My kids are not yet of an age where they can drink or have access to beer so I'm not too worried about it on the whole. AND (here we go - pet peeve time) if each and every parent is doing THEIR OWN GOD-GIVEN JOB, not relying on society to train their children and teach them right from wrong, it's a non-issue. The kids will already know.
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