Festival of PC Lights

We were considering packing up the kids and heading to Winterhaven to enjoy the Christmas lights and displays this evening. The Winterhaven district of Tucson has put on its best since 1949 during the Christmas season delighting thousands of visitors. Knowing that some nights are reserved for walk through and others drive through spectating I checked the Festival of Lights web site. Imagine my surprise to see that the festival organizers felt compelled to dispel the unfortunate myth that "The Festival of Lights is a Christmas celebration." They clarified this misperception by stating that "Light is a common theme among many religions of the world." That may very well be true but nearly everyone that is putting up light displays between December 15th and 28th is celebrating Christmas. I bet the Winterhaven residents of 1949 would be surprised to know that they were not celebrating Christmas. Heck, I imagine there are quite a few residents in 2007 that would be surprised. The fact that Winterhaven officials found it necessary to distance themselves from Christmas is just so much more of the PC gruel that we can do without. I suppose it won't be long before the neighborhood association bans the Christ child, shepherds and angels from their displays. But hey at least the website did indicate that the festival was going green this year! So to all those going to Winterhaven have a wonderful green winter light event. I think we will look for a Christmas celebration.