ARE WE LOSING CHRISTMAS? ARNOLD BUCKS PC `HOLIDAY' SPEAK.

Byline: JILL STEWART Capital Punishment 

CALIFORNIA jumped into the yearly fray over why Christmas symbols and carols get banned from schools and other public places when that well-known religious radical, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, pointedly called the state's official ``holiday'' tree its ``Christmas'' tree.

Schwarzenegger is a (shudder) Catholic. His spokesman tells me, ``Well, it is a Christmas tree. ... But somebody did ask us whether the governor misspoke.'' Former Gov. Gray Davis had bowed to special interest groups, dubbing the huge conifer a ``Holiday Tree.''

Arnold's audaciousness was preceded by the shocking actions of that well-known right-wing nut, Maria Shriver.

Shriver went to Washington Elementary School in Sacramento to share a set of books. According to a reporter, Shriver held up one book and said to the children, ``This is a book called `What's Heaven,' then pointed to a photo of herself on the back cover and noted, `That's me. I look younger.'''

Shriver mentioned heaven at a school? Good grief! Later on, ``a discussion followed about whether or not Santa Claus is real. `That's a good conversation for you to have with your parents or your grandparents,''' Shriver said.

A discussion of Santa ensued in a public school? Obviously, the Schwarzenegger-Shriver clan is blissfully unaware of the raging effort each December to rid schools and public spots of people exactly like them.

In recent years, various California schools have banned the hideous ``Silent Night'' (in Sacramento's San Juan district), banned ``Jingle Bells'' because of offensive religiousness (in Fresno, where outraged parents quickly overturned the ban) and removed red-and-green lights that were seen as a ``provocation'' (in a Newport Beach school). One pundit questioned whether upscale Newport Beach should also take down traffic signals. Most parents don't realize Christmas is being banned at their school because the media don't really give a rip.

Yet blacklisting of angels and stars of Bethlehem and Christmas trees is not required by any law, anywhere. I am a secular humanist with no religion. But I wince each year as my intolerant secular humanist brethren increasingly shame teachers into stamping out Christmas.

The courts say the U.S. Constitution's Establishment Clause can't be used to promote hostility to a religion, such as Christianity, in schools. Religious expression is allowed if there's a legitimate secular purpose - such as, oh I don't know, perhaps explaining to children the most widespread cultural holiday in America, observed even by many nonbelievers?

Lance Izumi, with the conservative Pacific Research Institute, says bureaucrats and teacher colleges work hard to convince teachers there's a mystery Christmas ban. ``Everybody is walking on eggshells when discussions of Santa or heaven come up. And how dare Arnold call it the Christmas tree? ... Yet we have this huge multicultural effort to teach multicultural methods and multicultural instructions to our teachers, where you are supposed to value everyone's culture. Christians are a major part of society, and they have a culture. But it conflicts with the PC ethic.''

This PC intolerance is why we blue states are viewed by the heartland crowd as hostile, godless places.

A few weeks back, schools in Maplewood, New Jersey, banned all carols. This inspired outraged WABC Radio co-hosts Curtis Sliwa, the conservative Guardian Angels founder, and outspoken left-wing lawyer Ron Kuby - two guys who rarely agree on anything - to poll listeners. Of 3,750 respondents, 93 percent said the ban on carols was ``another example of the PC crowd going nuts.''

The Anti-Defamation League has gotten into the guilt-tripping, urging on its Web site that ``to avoid First Amendment violations,'' public schools not hold Christmas concerts dominated by Christmas songs.

What nonsense. There is no such First Amendment ruling. The ADL also urges schools not to display ``a nativity scene, crucifix or other undeniably religious symbols.'' Again, no such court ruling. The Catholic League responded on its Web site, ``The use of religious Christmas symbols within the context of a discussion of the season, or acknowledging the religious Christmas celebration along with the secular aspects of the season and the traditions of other faiths within December is not only permissible but appropriate.''

Christmas is being stamped out among adults as well. Residents of Los Angeles and San Francisco now invariably say ``Happy Holidays'' instead of the increasingly repressed ``Merry Christmas.''

Feeling a need to act in a world gone insane, I'm boldly stating ``Merry Christmas!'' this year. As I learned from my irreligious father, having religion is not a requirement for cherishing the warmth and decency of the most widespread cultural tradition in America. California, or much of it, already lacks a key ingredient for a classic Christmas: snow. How awful if our busy thought police stamp out the songs, the merry greeting, the red-and-green, and the enduring question among children, so deftly handled by Maria Shriver the other day, of whether Santa Claus is real.