 |
U.S. National Unity and Fascism
Lighting national Unity? ~Lián A. Sifuentes
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/12/20021205-10.html. Viewed on 4/20/04.
(This pictre is of a the same event held in 2002.)
 http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/12/images/20011206-8-1.html. The tree in 2001. viewed on 4/20/04.
|
The lighting of the National Christmas Tree is not new- in fact this past December 4th was the 80th annual lighting. The First Family lighting the National Christmas Tree was a breaking news story, and this was the very first time I ever knew it happened. The ceremony, covered by most local news stations, broke into my regular television programming. It's just a Christmas tree, right? It's a national tradition, right? This national ceremony could be seen simply as a benign tradition, but in this political climate the implications were disturbing. |
In our readings and class discussions on fascism, many of us have noticed the connections within fascism between joy and terror, and the manipulation of the public to willingly give up their civil rights to the benefit of the state. We have also discussed the importance within fascism for symbols and rituals to be used as national unifiers- to create one nation.
In one joyful, celebratory moment Bush and his wife (who actually flipped the switch to light the tree) claimed to unify the country as Christian, and by extension, non-Arab, in a time when many U.S. soldiers were in the Middle East. The image of the First Family, as a symbol of America, also perpetuates compulsory heterosexuality by the Bush Administration. By asserting a national unity around a symbol of Christian faith, the Bush Administration is using that faith as tool to exclude and to manipulate.
Perhaps this is all too cynical- why can't an image of the First Family be an image of familial love? Why can't a tradition be respected and performed on a National level? These benign, joyful ceremonies do create a unity among those who are willing to believe in that which our leader believes. Thus, non-Christians are excluded from the First Family's celebratory moment.
I wonder if there is a lighting of a national menorah? Perhaps there is, but it certainly did not interrupt my television show.
Bush is very clear that his Christian beliefs and morals are part of his public policy. As Head of State, he takes action in an official capacity- celebrating Christmas becomes official policy. The exclusion of non-Christians on a National level is almost as dangerous as the reverse- Christians associating with the Bush Administration because of a symbolic act. The lighting of the National Christmas Tree is a joyful moment to celebrate and associate with Bush. When the Bush
Administration charges the nation to vote against abortion, homosexual marriages, or any other cause considered "anti- AmeriChristian," Christian voters remember their pleasant association of the "unifying" Christmas spectacle. |
 http://www.drooker.com/ Eric Drooker. Viewed on 4/4/04. |
 http://www.drooker.com/ Eric Drooker. Viewed on 4/4/04. |
The ritual of lighting the tree is one of many celebratory moments of enacted nationalism that are inherently religious, and therefore exclusive. As an easy, happy moment with which to associate, the tree lighting ceremony strengthens a celebratory bond between Christians in the U.S. and the Bush Administration. That bond can easily be (and has often been) manipulated for the gain of religious right-wing conservatives in the name of national unity. |
 http://www.drooker.com/ Eric Drooker. Viewed on 4/4/04. |
|
