Christmas parade controversy short on goodwill toward men
Published: 12/6/2012 12:00 AM
Last Modified: 12/5/2012 5:31 PM
Santa at last year's Holiday Parade of Lights downtown.
Santa at the Tulsa Christmas Parade last year at Tulsa Hills.
Tulsa is the only city I know of with two Christmas-season parades at exactly the same time: the Christmas Parade at Tulsa Hills, and the Holiday Parade of Lights downtown.
For those of you who are just tuning in, Tulsa’s traditional Christmas parade has been held downtown for decades, and for decades, everyone was happy.
Then, a few years ago, the name Christmas was dropped from the parade. It became the Holiday Parade of Lights. It was a move to be more inclusive, to avoid offending the sensitivities of progressives and others in our diverse society who do not celebrate the biblical Christmas story.
And last year, a group lamenting the name change organized their own Christmas parade. An unexpected 20,000 people reportedly turned up for the first event at Tulsa Hills Shopping Center, overwhelming parking and porta potties.
In preparing a story on the Christmas Parade wars this week, I talked to the directors of both parades. Both are fine gentlemen. Neither is eager to drive a stake into the heart of Father Christmas, or a wedge in the community between people of differing religious and cultural persuasions. They are, in fact, on friendly terms with each other.
Both would be happy to see the two parades reunited, probably downtown. They have talked about it. And they are in agreement on all points but one: the use of the name Christmas in the title. On that they will not budge, and likely neither would many of those thousands who attend their respective parades.
Senator Jim Inhofe told me he will be attending the Tulsa Christmas Parade Saturday. I asked him why.
“Because it’s a Christmas parade. That’s what it is.”
How deep is the irony that the one who came to bring peace on Earth and good will toward men is at the center of controversy over the use of his name in a parade marking his birth 2,000 years ago and 10,000 miles away.
Written by
Bill Sherman
Staff Writer
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