一句聖誕快樂引發的戰爭
It’s that time of year again, folks. It’s time for the War on Christmas.
又到了一年中的這個時候，夥計們。聖誕之戰(War on Christmas)到了。
What is that, you may ask? The short answer: a sometimes histrionic yuletide debate over whether the United States is a country that respects Christianity.
你可能會問，這是什麼？簡短的答案是：這是發生在聖誕期間、有時顯得有點裝腔作勢的一場爭論，討論美國到底是不是一個尊重基督教的國家。
For the longer answer, keep reading.
想知道更長的答案，請繼續往下讀。
The idea of a “War on Christmas” has turned things like holiday greetings and decorations into potentially divisive political statements. People who believe that Christmas is under attack point to inclusive phrases like “Happy Holidays” as (liberal) insults to Christianity.
“聖誕之戰”這個概念已經把節日問候和裝飾之類的事情變成了製造潛在分裂的政治宣言。感到聖誕節正遭受攻擊的人認爲“節日快樂”(Happy Holidays)等更具包容性的短語是（自由主義者）對基督教的侮辱。
For more than a decade, these debates have taken place mainly on conservative talk radio and cable programs. But this year they also burst onto a much grander stage: the presidential election.
十幾年來，這樣的辯論主要發生在保守派的廣播與電視談話節目上。但今年它們在總統選舉這樣一個更大的舞臺上活躍起來。
At a rally in Wisconsin last week, Donald Trump stood in front of a line of Christmas trees and repeated a campaign-trail staple.
上週在威斯康星州舉行的一次集會上，唐納德•特朗普(Donald Trump)站在一排聖誕樹前面，重申其競選期間的主要言論。
“When I started 18 months ago, I told my first crowd in Wisconsin that we are going to come back here some day and we are going to say ‘Merry Christmas’ again,” he said. “Merry Christmas. So, Merry Christmas everyone. Happy New Year, but Merry Christmas.”
“當我在18個月前起步的時候，我在威斯康星州告訴第一批支持我的羣衆，有一天我們將會回到這裏，再次說起‘聖誕快樂’(Merry Christmas)，”他說。 “聖誕快樂。所以，大家聖誕快樂。新年快樂，但是，聖誕快樂。”
Christmas is a federal holiday celebrated widely by the country’s Christian majority. So where did the idea that it is threatened come from?
聖誕節是佔國家多數的基督教徒普遍慶祝的聯邦節日。那麼，它在受到威脅的想法是從哪裏來的？
What is “The War on Christmas?”
什麼是“聖誕之戰”？
The most organized attack on Christmas came from the Puritans, who banned celebrations of the holiday in the 17th century because it did not accord with their interpretation of the Bible.
對聖誕節最有組織的攻擊來自清教徒，17世紀，他們禁止慶祝這個節日，因爲它不符合他們對《聖經》的詮釋。
Fast forward 400 years, and the idea of a plot against Christmas gained wide publicity when Fox News promoted a 2005 book by a radio host, John Gibson, that alleged liberal antagonism toward the holiday, according to Dan Cassino, a professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University.
時間快進到400年後，根據費爾裏•迪金生大學(Fairleigh Dickinson University)教授丹•卡西諾(Dan Cassino)的說法，福克斯新聞(Fox News) 推廣了一本廣播節目主持人約翰•吉布森(John Gibson)2005年的書，聲稱自由主義者對聖誕節懷有敵意，有人陰謀針對聖誕節這一想法由此得到了廣泛宣傳 。
Gibson said in an interview that he was “amazed” by the uproar his book caused.
吉布森在接受採訪時說，他對自己的書所引起的譁然感到“驚訝”。
He said it primarily focused on an issue that rarely happens anymore: educators and local officials banning nonreligious symbols like Santa Claus or Christmas trees out of a mistaken belief that displaying them violated the Constitution.
他說，他的書主要關注一個已經很少發生的問題：教育工作者和地方官員禁止聖誕老人或聖誕樹等非宗教符號的出現，而這是基於一個錯誤的觀念，即它們有違憲法。
Gibson said the book had taken on a life of its own over the years — and that it had never dwelled on the political implications of “Happy Holidays.”
吉布森說，這本書幾年來已經形成了自己的影響力，它也根本沒有討論“節日快樂”的政治涵義。
He attributed the firestorm to two things: The book’s take-no-prisoner’s title (“The War on Christmas: How the Liberal Plot to Ban the Sacred Christian Holiday Is Worse Than You Thought”) and the Fox News host Bill O’Reilly.
他把這場風暴歸因於兩件事：這本書毫不留情的標題《聖誕之戰：爲什麼自由主義禁止神聖聖誕節的陰謀比你想的還要糟》(“The War on Christmas: How the Liberal Plot to Ban the Sacred Christian Holiday Is Worse Than You Thought”)，此外就是福克斯新聞主持人比利•奧萊利(Bill O'Reilly)。
“It wasn’t really me. I think it was more Bill, to tell you the truth,” he said. “When Bill made it an issue, it went mega.”
“其實不是我。我覺得更多的是因爲比爾，說實話，”他說。“當比爾對它大肆宣傳時，它就成了一個大話題。”
Indeed, O’Reilly has returned to the theme of a war on Christmas again and again over the years. In 2012 he told viewers that liberals were “tying the Christmas situation into secular progressive politics” because they wanted “a new America, and traditional Christmas isn’t a part of it.”
的確，多年來奧萊利一次又一次地回到聖誕之戰這個話題上。2012年，他對觀衆表示，自由主義者正在“把聖誕節問題變成世俗的進步派政治”，因爲他們想要“一個新美國，而傳統的聖誕節不是新美國的一部分”。
That argument became a sweeping shorthand for conservative anxieties, Cassino said.
卡西諾說，這個理由成了保守派的焦慮的簡稱，無所不包。
“They say the next step after saying ‘Happy Holidays’ is abortion on demand and euthanasia,” he said. “That’s a hell of a slippery slope, but that’s the argument being made.”
“他們說，說‘節日快樂’後的下一步是流產市場化和安樂死，”他說。“那可是個大滑坡，但人們仍以此爲理由。”
Is This a Real Thing?
是真的嗎？
There is no evidence of an organized attack on Christmas in the United States.
沒有證據表明聖誕節在美國受到了有組織的攻擊。
The Rev. Barry W. Lynn, the executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said the annual uproar is based on “stories that only sometimes even contain a grain of truth and often are completely false.” He has spent years pushing back against it.
政教分離美國人聯合會(Americans United for Separation of Church and State)執行總監巴瑞•W•林恩(Barry W. Lynn)牧師表示，每年都會出現的喧囂建立在“僅僅是有時候具有一點真實性，通常完全是無稽之談的故事”的基礎之上。他在過去多年中一直對此進行反擊。
“This politicizing of the whole issue is mind-boggling to me,” Lynn said, “and it has been for well over a decade.”
“把整個問題政治化這種做法讓我覺得難以理解，”林恩說。“而且這種情況已經持續了十好幾年了。”
He added, “They see this as some kind of a politically correct effort, but I see it as reasonable to not use Christmas references as just an accommodation of the reality of America.”
他接着說，“他們認爲這是某種政治正確的行動，但我認爲，不使用提到聖誕節的說法和接受美國的現實一樣合理。”
People who believe that Christmas is under attack often blame the American Civil Liberties Union. Earlier this month, the ACLU in Indiana filed a lawsuit on behalf of a resident of Knightstown, Indiana, who objected to a Latin cross displayed atop the town’s official Christmas tree. The cross was removed.
認爲聖誕節正在遭受攻擊的人常常指責美國公民自由聯盟（American Civil Liberties Union，簡稱ACLU）。本月早些時候，ACLU印第安納分支代表該州奈茨敦的一名居民提起訴訟。這名居民反對在該鎮官方的聖誕樹樹頂上懸掛拉丁十字架。後來，該十字架被取下。
Daniel Mach, director of the ACLU program on freedom of religion and belief, said his organization has also defended people’s right to engage in Christmas-related activity, including a Pennsylvania inmate who wanted to organize a communal prayer.
ACLU宗教信仰自由計劃負責人丹尼爾•馬奇(Daniel Mach)表示，他所在的組織也捍衛人們參加聖誕節相關活動的權力，包括賓夕法尼亞州一名犯人的權利。這名犯人想組織一場共同祈禱的活動。
“Christmas celebrations in this country are alive and well,” Mach said. “And as long as the government itself isn’t promoting religious doctrine those celebrations are entirely constitutional.”
“這個國家的聖誕節慶祝活動盛行，”馬奇說。“並且只要政府自己不宣傳宗教教義，這些慶祝完全符合憲法。”
What does the “war” look like in practice?
這場“戰爭”在現實中是什麼樣子？
Many conservative groups have rallied to defend Christmas, lobbying for decorations in public schools or town halls. One group, the American Family Association based in Tupelo, Mississippi, publishes a “Naughty and Nice” list every year to castigate companies it believes are “censoring ‘Christmas.'”
很多保守派團體舉行集會，保衛聖誕節，並通過遊說，爭取裝飾公立學校或市政廳。其中一個團體是總部設在密西西比州圖珀洛的美國家庭協會(American Family Association)，該組織每年都會發佈一個“不良與友善”(Naughty and Nice)名單，嚴厲批評其認爲正在“審查‘聖誕節’”的公司。
“There are secular forces in our country that hate Christmas because the word itself is a reminder of Jesus Christ,” the group said on its website. “They want to eradicate anything that reminds Americans of Christianity.”
“我國存在一些世俗力量，它們憎恨聖誕節是因爲這個詞彙本身就會讓人想起耶穌基督，”該團體在自己的網站上說。“它們希望消除會讓美國人想起基督教的一切。”
Entries on the 2016 naughty list include Barnes & Noble, Best Buy and Victoria’s Secret. Starbucks has come under fire for several years for seasonal cup designs that emphasize winter weather or social harmony over Christmas greetings.
2016年的不良名單中的上榜企業包括Barnes & Noble、百思買(Best Buy)，以及維多利亞的祕密(Victoria’s Secret)。多年來，星巴克(Starbucks)因節日杯具設計強調冬季天氣或社會和諧而非聖誕問候而備受抨擊。
“Merry Christmas” or “Happy Holidays”?
“聖誕快樂”還是“節日快樂”？
The greeting “Happy Holidays” has been in use as a Christmas greeting for more than 100 years. But it has grown in popularity in recent decades as people have tried to be inclusive and sensitive to those of other faiths and the nonreligious.
用“節日快樂”作爲聖誕節期間的問候用語已有100多年的歷史。但最近幾十年，隨着人們試圖對信仰其他宗教和不信仰宗教的人們表現出包容和善解人意，這句問候語變得更加流行。
The controversy appears to have shifted opinion about the proper greeting. Cassino wrote in the Harvard Business Review this month that the number of people who said they preferred to to hear “Happy Holidays” has decreased sharply in the past 10 years, from 41 percent to 25 percent. “Merry Christmas” remained popular. Indeed, President Barack Obama, a Christian, has frequently uttered the phrase.
相關爭論似乎改變了對恰當的問候語的看法。卡西諾本月在《哈佛商業評論》(Harvard Business Review)中寫道，過去十年裏，自稱更願意聽到“節日快樂”的人數急劇減少，從41%跌至25%。“聖誕快樂”仍頗受歡迎。的確，身爲基督徒的貝拉克•奧巴馬總統就經常說這句話。
It should be noted that Jews, Muslims and others who do not celebrate Christmas often say they are not offended by a hearty “Merry Christmas.”
應當指出的是，猶太人、穆斯林和不慶祝聖誕節的其他人士常常表示，他們不會因爲一句熱情友好的“聖誕快樂”而覺得自己受到了冒犯。
So perhaps there is hope for peace on earth, or at least cable television.
因此，或許還是有希望在地球上，或者至少在有線電視上實現和平。
