The Grouser

To the Filangieri Society:

I recently received a letter in the mail from your organization, the Filangieri Society for Justice and Good Government. The subject of the letter reads "Congressman Ackerman's Vote against Christmas and America's Judeo-Christian heritage" [capitalization in original]. The letter urges me to "register my outrage" with my local congressman, Gary Ackerman, for not voting for Resolution 837, a House resolution "acknowledging America's Judeo-Christian roots." The resolution passed 372-9 on December 11, 2007. Congressman Ackerman was one of the nine nays.

I'm writing to you for two reasons: (1) to ask you to stop sending me unsolicited mail; and (2) to tell you Gary Ackerman just found a fan in me.

On the first point: please remove me from any and all mailing lists maintained by your organization and its affiliates. I do not recall ever requesting information from your organization. In fact, I had never heard of it until I received this letter. I have a general policy against unsolicited mail, and I won't make an exception for your group.

As a preface to the second point, I'd like to thank you for including a copy of Resolution 847 with your letter. It's only fair to show what exactly Congressman Ackerman voted against if you're urging people to criticize him for voting against it. Furthermore, if I hadn't seen the resolution with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed such a thing could have been proposed, much less overwhelmingly voted for, by the House of Representatives. Having now looked over the resolution, I think it reads as silly as it sounds.

But I won't explain why I think it's silly; I'll let my congressman do it. Fairly enough, your letter included two quotations from Congressman Ackerman defending his nay vote. I feel compelled to quote them in full:

"For the Congress to spend time talking about the coming of the Messiah really broaches the wall of separation of church and state."

"I do not understand why we need to set up a straw man just to knock him down; to protect the symbols of Christmas as if they were under attack... Did something happen when I was not looking? Did somebody mug Santa Claus? Is somebody engaging in elf tossing?"

These comments are funny and quote-worthy, and I'm glad your letter acknowledged that. What's more, they seem like pretty reasonable reasons not to vote for the resolution. In any case, they're certainly more reasonable than the ones you hint actually motivated Congressman Ackerman: that he wanted to to "vote against Christmas" or "attack... Santa Claus... and Christianity, our Judeo-Christian roots, America's religious heritage, and Western Civilization." Now I don't know Gary Ackerman from Adam, but those seem like pretty silly suggestions. The day I see Congressman Ackerman setting fire to the Bible, the Republic, and Moby Dick I might believe you. Until then, I'm skeptical.

I commend my congressman for voting against Resolution 847, which I was ignorant of before this letter. It takes guts to vote against a resolution that you believe mingles church and state, especially in light of the overwhelming majority in favor of the resolution.

I'm taking the opportunity to copy Congressman Ackerman on this letter. Sir, you have my vote in the next election.

Very truly yours,

Christopher W.