Forwarded email claims the Obamas will have 'holiday trees' instead of Christmas trees in the White House this year, and no ornaments with religious themes will be allowed.
Description: Email rumor
Circulating since: July 2009
Status: False
Email example contributed by an AOL user, Aug. 2, 2009:
Subject: Fw: Info of interest
Hello all,
Thought you might be interested in this information from the White House. This isn't a rumor; this is a fact.
We have a friend at church who is a very talented artist. For several years she, among many others, has painted ornaments to be hung on the various White House Christmas trees. The WH sends out an invitation to send an ornament and informs the artists of the theme for the year.
She got her letter from the WH recently. It said that they would not be called Christmas trees this year. They will be called Holiday trees. And, to please not send any ornaments painted with a religious theme.
She was very upset at this development and sent back a reply telling them that she painted the ornaments for Christmas trees and would not be sending any for display that left Christ out of Christmas.
Just thought you should know what the new residents in the WH plan for the future of America. If you missed his statement that "we do not consider ourselves a Christian Nation" this should confirm that he plans to take us away from our religious foundation as quickly as possible.
Analysis: Baseless rumor. Apart from the announcement last August that an 18- to 19-foot Fraser fir from Shepherdstown, West Virginia will serve as the official 2009 White House Christmas Tree, there have been no revelations to date as to First Lady Michelle Obama's plans for decorating the Executive Mansion for the holidays. All speculation in that regard is premature.
Moreover, we have only this one anonymous, secondhand account to support the claim that artists who have contributed White House Christmas ornaments in the past were invited to contribute again this year with the stipulation that submissions be limited to non-religious-themed designs. Its veracity is dubious, if for no other reason than that it does not appear to be the case that the same artists are asked to participate year after year. In 2008, for example, Laura Bush asked each member of Congress to select an artist from their home district; in 2007, each National Park site was asked to designate an artist; in 2006, submissions were restricted to craft artisans; and so on.
White House sources say that as yet no such invitations have been sent out for 2009.
White House Christmas Tree vs. Capitol Christmas Tree
It's possible the rumor was sparked by a controversy surrounding decorative guidelines for a different tree, the Capitol Christmas Tree (aka National Christmas Tree), which is displayed every holiday season on the West Front lawn of the U.S. Capitol. Each year, the federal government selects a different state to supply a 50- to 85-foot-tall National Tree and 75 smaller specimens for distribution around the Capitol, and citizens of that state are invited to contribute handmade ornaments.
Objections were raised this year when it was noted that the program guidelines stipulated that ornaments contributed by citizens "may not reflect religious or political themes." Threatening a first-amendment lawsuit, Christian and conservative groups called on the U.S. Forest Service, which sponsors the program, to rescind the ban. A Forest Service spokesman said the language prohibiting religious themes came from "old information" posted on the Capitol Tree website, an ABC News report says. It has since been revised.
Religious-themed ornaments were banned during the previous administration
In point of fact, online documents show that a ban on religious-themed ornaments was in effect in 2007 and 2008, though no one objected at the time.
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Sources and further reading:
Arizona Students Create Holiday Decorations Amid Controversy
ABC15.com, 2 October 2009Guess Who's Now Banned from Capitol Christmas Tree!
WorldNetDaily.com, 1 October 2009Federal Government Bans Religious Ornaments for 2009 Capitol Christmas Tree
LifeSiteNews.com, 30 September 2009Capital Christmas Tree 2009
Official websiteWhite House Christmas Tree Will Be from West Virginia
Associated Press, 26 August 2009A Red, White and Blue Christmas
CBS News, 3 December 2008
Last updated 10/13/09
