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the so-called war on Christmas
As I write this, it is mid-December and numerous editorial writers,
buoyed by what they think is a mandate from the November 2004 election
in the US, are railing against the secularization of Christmas.
Now on one level I agree with them; what is supposed to be the
second-holiest day on the Christian calendar has been reduced, largely,
to reindeer, tinsel-covered trees, a fat red guy, and loot. Lots of
loot; it's how many retailers stay in business. If I were a Christian,
I might be pretty annoyed at that too.
The problem, though, is in their targetting. I've seen quite a few folks lately writing about how catering to the non-Christians (who, after all, are a minority and ought to just do everyone a favor and get out of the country now, or so I gather) has brought this on. "The Jews won't let us celebrate our holiday!", they whine, or "those damned athiests are taking the christ out of Christmas and must be stopped!" It's always someone else's fault, it seems.
Where is the self-examination and responsibility? How many of these good Christians, now complaining about secularization, put up trees, teach their kids about Santa, and break the bank on gifts for their families? This seems to be the norm in quite a few families. Hey guys, listen up: the non-Christians didn't impose secularization over the objections of the faithful followers of Jesus; the Christians did it to themselves. And now that it's spun out of control, a few of them are looking for a scapegoat.
It's time for everyone to take a little responsibility for his own beliefs and practices. No one else is going to do it for you, and sitting back doing nothing but whining about it gets old. It's everyone's responsibility to live out your beliefs through acts, not just by spouting words. If you believe that it's time to restore Christmas as a religious holiday, what are you doing about it?
I offer, then, nine commandments for indignant Christians (ten would be presumptuous):
1. Thou shalt act in accordance with thy beliefs. This is the greatest commandment.
2. Thou shalt not be surprised when others draw conclusions about thy beliefs from thy actions. If it walketh like a duck and talketh like a duck...
3. Thou shalt permit others to act based on their beliefs, whether those beliefs be of other faiths or none at all.
4. Thou shalt spend Christmas in worship, not in material gluttony. Extra merit will derive from spending the day with those more needy than thyself.
5. Thou shalt enhance thy private property with decorations in accordance with thy beliefs, and refrain from decorations not in accordance with them.
6. Thou shalt recognize that public property belongs to, well, the public, and refrain from imposing thy views there. This applies to everyone else, too.
7. Thou shalt carry the message of Christmas well past December 26 and strive to emulate the target of thy veneration. That's what it's really about, after all.
8. Thou shalt cease and desist from elevating minor holidays (like Chanukah and Kwanzaa) into "Jewish Christmas" or "African Christmas". It's not that simple, and thou doest not get it.
9. Recognizing that Christmas is not a secular holiday (in thy beliefs), thou shalt immediately commence lobbying for governments and employers to remove this holiday from their schedules of days off. (Thou canst take it as a vacataion day, just as the Jews do with Yom Kippur and the pagans do with Beltane.)
May you be free to enjoy your holy day insofar as you permit others to do the same with theirs.
I wish my Christian friends a merry Christmas. I realize that your lunatic fringe does not speak for you, and I'm sorry you have to put up with those guys.
no subject
I find myself bewildered by all the "war on Christmas" flap. There is a billboard near my office that reads "Jesus: the only reason for the season". This is clearly false. Various other traditions have celebrations around this time of year, some of which have been around longer than Christmas. To me it makes no sense to get bent out of shape about hearing "happy holidays" since that includes the whole set of events happening around this time, including but not limited to the Christmas subset.
I agree with you about the work-holiday business as well. I'd rather have more straight PTO to dispose of as I wish.
no subject
And if Jesus is "the" reason, then why does anyone care what people engaging in the commercial aspect say to each other? Shouldn't they be railing against the commercialism itself, not choice of greeting?