c. 2006 Religion News Service
Secular Songs Beat Out Christmas Carols on Most Popular Radio List
(RNS) “The Christmas Song” _ with its “chestnuts roasting on an open fire” _ was the most performed holiday song on the radio in the last five years. Only one song in the top 25 was a religious Christmas carol.
The list of “Top 25 most performed holiday songs” was released Monday (Nov. 27) by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), which co-owns Mediaguide, a radio airplay monitoring service.
“For Americans and many others around the world, these classic lyrics and melodies are inseparable from the celebration of the holiday season _ brightening lives year after year,” said ASCAP President Marilyn Bergman.
There was no “Silent Night” or “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” on the list. Only one explicitly religious song _ “Little Drummer Boy” _ made the list, coming in at No. 8.
The newest song on the list is “Do They Know It’s Christmas? (Feed the World),” which made the list for the first time. It was recorded in 1984 to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia.
Among the 25, the most recorded song is “White Christmas,” which has been performed in more than 500 versions and dozens of languages.
The top 25 list, including titles and performers:
1. “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire),” Nat “King” Cole
2. “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” The Pretenders
3. “Winter Wonderland,” Eurythmics
4. “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town,” Bruce Springsteen
5. “White Christmas,” Bing Crosby
6. “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!”, Andy Williams
7. “Jingle Bell Rock,” Bobby Helms
8. “Little Drummer Boy,” the Harry Simeone Chorale & Orchestra
9. “Sleigh Ride,” The Ronettes
10. “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” Gene Autry
11. “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” Andy Williams
12. “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” Vanessa Williams
13. “Silver Bells,” Kenny G
14. “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” Brenda Lee
15. “Feliz Navidad,” Jose Feliciano
16. “Blue Christmas,” Elvis Presley
17. “Frosty the Snowman,” The Ronettes
18. “A Holly Jolly Christmas,” Burl Ives
19. “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas,” Johnny Mathis
20. “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus,” John Mellencamp
21. “Here Comes Santa Claus (Right Down Santa Claus Lane),” Elvis Presley
22. “Carol of the Bells,” John Tesh and the Christmas Symphony Orchestra
23. “Do They Know It’s Christmas? (Feed the World),” Band Aid
24. “(There’s No Place Like) Home for the Holidays,” The Carpenters
25. “Santa Baby,” Madonna.
_ Adelle M. Banks
Pass the Meatballs: Swedes Rate IKEA More Trustworthy Than Church
(RNS) IKEA has long provided the world with shelving units, home decor and Swedish meatballs. Apparently, it also provides Swedes with a greater feeling of trustworthiness than their religious institutions do.
According to a recent survey, 80 percent of Swedes surveyed said they place much or very much trust in the Swedish furniture chain. That compares with only 46 percent of respondents who said they placed similar amounts of trust in churches.
Indeed, the study showed that Swedes place more trust in Volvo (69 percent), Ericsson (59 percent) and Saab (57 percent) than they do in religions, which only ranked 14th on the list of institutions, behind public television, universities and the central bank, but ahead of the post office (38 percent) and the nation’s Social Democratic Party (32 percent).
According to the Sueddeutsche Zeitung and Spiegel Online, both of which ran the survey results, 80 percent of Sweden’s 9 million citizens are registered as members of the (Lutheran) Church of Sweden. The survey was originally published in Sweden’s Dagens Indstri, a Stockholm-based business newspaper.
The survey was conducted by TNS Gallup between Oct. 17 and 26. Telephone interviews were conducted with 778 respondents.
_ Niels Sorrells
Conservatives Angry Over `Nativity Story’ Flap in Chicago
(RNS) A flap over whether to show clips from “The Nativity Story” movie at a Chicago Christmas festival has some conservative Christian activists saying “Bah, humbug.”
New Line Cinema, which produced the film about Jesus’ birth, had been listed as a sponsor of the annual German Christkindlmarket, with plans to show clips from the film during the month-long festival in the city’s Daley Plaza.
“The Nativity Story” hits theaters on Friday (Dec. 1). Although it is a mainstream release film, it has been heavily promoted at churches and among religious groups.
Now, after what activists call inappropriate pressure from city leaders, it’s unclear whether New Line remains a sponsor. Ray Lotter, the event’s manager, declined to comment, directing questions to Mayor Richard Daley’s special events office.
Veronica Resa, a spokeswoman for the office, said the city never forced the market to drop the film but “recommended it because we thought (playing the film) might be insensitive,” she said. “Chicago is a diverse city that embraces all people and religions and Daley Plaza is a public place.”
But Resa also said the concern “was never about religion, it was about marketing.” She said the festival would have received $12,000 to $15,000 from the movie promotion, and officials didn’t want advertisements in the middle of a festival that had never had them.
Jay Sekulow, chief counsel with the American Center for Law and Justice, a conservative legal action firm, said the city “threatened to pull their funding.” He called on the city to reverse course.
“They’re aiding and abetting religious discrimination,” Sekulow said.
A statement from the city on Tuesday (Nov. 28) said, “At no time did the city threaten to pull support of this market.”
Melissa Caldwell, senior director of programs with the Parents Television Council, a family entertainment watchdog group, said the decision to block the nativity movie was “anti-religious bigotry.
“I can’t imagine them doing something like this with any other faith,” Caldwell said. “It’s part of a Christmas festival. Why not include a film about Christmas?”
_ Keith Roshangar
N.J. Senator Proposes Bill to Ban Gay Marriage, Allow Benefits
NEWARK, N.J. (RNS) A New Jersey state senator and a coalition of clergy and activists who oppose gay marriage have called for legislation to declare that only a man and a woman can wed _ but said they support expanding rights for nontraditional couples.
Republican state Sen. Gerald Cardinale has proposed a constitutional amendment that would declare that marriage can only be between one man and one woman.
Last month, the state Supreme Court gave lawmakers six months to either allow same-sex couples to marry or create civil unions that convey the same legal rights and benefits.
“It is almost an obscenity that the Supreme Court would seize unto itself the power to order the Legislature to create legislation,” Cardinale said. “That is unheard of in New Jersey. That kind of activism requires a reply. This is not a government of appointed justices.”
Activists from the New Jersey Family Policy Council announced they have written a separate bill called the “Equal Benefits Act.” It would also declare that marriage is between a woman and a man, but would provide civil benefits to same-sex couples as well as others whose relationships do not fit the traditional definition of marriage.
“There are many families who cannot have access to the benefits of marriage because their living arrangements are outside the realm of marriage,” said Len Deo, president of the Family Policy Council. “For example, two elderly women who are domiciled together, or perhaps a grandparent and grandchild.”
State Senate President Richard J. Codey and Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts have said they expect to see a bill passed no later than January that would allow civil unions, but not marriage, for gay couples.
Cardinale said his proposed constitutional amendment is not intended to affect equal partnership laws.
“Times have changed,” he said. “We need to recognize that relationships change. But to accommodate those relationships, there is no reason to affect marriage.”
Cardinale has sponsored the proposal several times in the past, but it has always died in the Democrat-controlled Legislature.
Steven Goldstein, chairman of Garden State Equality, a statewide gay rights lobby, said both the Cardinale and Family Policy Council proposals have no future in the Legislature.
“In a pro-gay state where the current debate is at the most progressive end of the spectrum … today’s proposal has as much chance of passing as Gerry Cardinale marrying Dick Cheney in the ballroom of the Baghdad Hilton,” Goldstein said.
_ Tom Hester
Quote of the Day: `The Nativity Story’ Actor Oscar Isaac
(RNS) “My sense so far speaking to people is that they are understanding. They’re taking the high road and being compassionate, not condemning her.”
_ Actor Oscar Isaac, who plays Joseph in “The Nativity Story,” which opens on Friday (Dec. 1), speaking about the recent revelation that actress Keisha Castle-Hughes, who plays Mary, is pregnant at age 16 and unwed. He was quoted by USA Today.
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