In a curmudgeonly essay, author Garrison Keillor unexpectedly bashed Unitarian and Jewish Christmas song writers.

While ruminating on a Cambridge Unitarian church that rewrote the words to “Silent Night,” the host of A Prairie Home Companion and author of “A Christmas Blizzard” criticized a number public figures. His column featured an odd mix of satire and self-righteousness, and generated some angry responses.

Here’s the controversial quote, from a Baltimore Sun column: “If you don’t believe Jesus was God, OK, go write your own damn “Silent Night” and leave ours alone. This is spiritual piracy and cultural elitism, and we Christians have stood for it long enough. And all those lousy holiday songs by Jewish guys that trash up the malls every year, Rudolph and the chestnuts and the rest of that dreck. Did one of our guys write “Grab your loafers, come along if you wanna, and we’ll blow that shofar for Rosh Hashanah”? No, we didn’t.” (Via Sarah Weinman)