White House Christmas Ornament Troubles Christians
A recent report that an ornament adorned with the face of a Chinese communist leader is hanging on a Christmas tree in the White House has troubled some Christians.
BigGovernment.com released photos revealing a Mao Zedong ornament reportedly on the tree in the Blue Room. Other pictured ornaments depict transvestite Hedda Lettuce and Mount Rushmore with President Obama's head added to it.
"I am stunned and profoundly disappointed by reports of an ornament with the image of Mao Zedong hanging on the White House Christmas tree," said the Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney of the Christian Defense Coalition, based in Washington, D.C. "It is hard to understand during this most holy season that President Obama would display an ornament of a man who brutalized and murdered his own people and his legacy still haunts the Chinese and the world."
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Mahoney called the ornament "a direct slap in the face to Christians who honor Christ."
"The message of Christ on that Christmas morning was 'peace on earth, goodwill toward man,'" he noted. "Yet the White House tramples that glorious message, with the image of a dictator who only brought tyranny and oppression to millions."
Mahoney says he contacted the White but was told that they could neither confirm if the ornament was on the tree or if it had been removed.
Brandi Swindell of Generation Life joined Mahoney in protesting the Zedong decoration.
"I went to China last year to speak out against the human rights abuses against the Chinese people that began under the regime of Mao Zedong," said Swindell. "Chairman Mao oversaw the deaths of 50,000,000 of his own countrymen under one of the most brutal governments in history. The policies and government he put in place still continue to crush, trample and terrorize the wonderful people of China."
Photos of the decorations were released after allegations that the White House sent a letter telling artists not to send ornaments with a religious theme and that Christmas trees would be called "Holiday" trees.
According to FactCheck.org, the allegations are false. Semonti Stephens, deputy press secretary to Mrs. Obama, told FactCheck that "the Christmas tree will be called the Christmas tree." Stephens also denied that a letter banning religious-themed ornaments was sent out.
This year, the White House's 27 Christmas trees have been decorated with hundreds of ornaments left over from previous administrations. The ornaments were sent to 60 local community groups throughout the country to decorate, paying tribute to a local landmark, as Michelle Obama explained earlier.
