The Holiday Formerly Known as Christmas

There has been a lot of buzz in the news lately about the word "Christmas" and its use in our society. Everything from store ads, to trees, and songs are being targeted to adopt a more politically correct title or content.

Honestly, the Christmas holiday really has very little to do with its namesake anymore. At best it maybe retains a quasi-religious meaning. Instead it is mostly a secular holiday that revolves more around shopping and eating than anything religious. Although there still are those who do indeed celebrate it as a commemoration of Christ's birth. But it's really no insult to me personally whether or not people choose to celebrate it or how they celebrate it or if they even recognize it or not. No one is stopping me from celebrating it however I choose to see fit with my family. If I choose to celebrate it as Christ's Mass or as Santa's visit or some perpetuation of both then I am free to do so. And the same with everyone else. So what difference does it make to me what people call it?

But something really bothers me about this issue. The people behind the changes to using "holiday" instead of "Christmas" point to not offending those people who practice other religions besides Christianity. This sounds like a fine idea on the surface... but who is this that is really offended by the use of the word "Christmas?" Seriously who really associates Christmas with Christianity anymore? Santa Claus and presents and candy and Christmas lights, secular songs, Christmas trees, and time away from school or work, etc. Where exactly is this horrid Christianity they refer to? It's pretty much just the name anymore. Sure there are Christmas carols that are laden with references to Christianity but most radio stations choose not to play the more traditional carols but instead play more contemporary, politically correct songs. That is if they even choose to play Christmas music at all. But despite how secular Christmas truly has become there are people that want the name Christmas removed from stores and products and schools and businesses and so on in the name of being politically correct.

If you were to point to a picture of a Christmas tree (ie. an evergreen laden with ornaments and having a star or something similar on top) to a person in pretty much any country in the world, what will they say it is? I'll bet you that 99.9999 percent of the time they'll say it's a Christmas tree - nothing else.

You see, Christmas is part of our culture. Whether you view it as a religious holiday or a secular holiday is beside the point. People all remember stories of Christmas's from our past: family, lights, carols, cookies, nativity scenes, school plays about the birth of Jesus, etc. Why now, do we want to water down our own heritage and the Christmas's of the future for our kids? Why take away from them the very things that made Christmas special to us growing up? Some people don't see it this way though. And I recognize that. They feel that their kids will not miss anything by not doing a school play about the birth of Jesus, or sing religious Christmas carols, or call the tree a "Holiday tree," or call the presents "Holiday presents." To them these changes are merely signs of the times. Signs of our society growing up into one that is more tolerant of people from other backgrounds. And they are happy to teach their kids that we call it a "Holiday party" instead of a "Christmas party" so kids from other religions can participate too.

But what message is this really sending? That we do not embrace culture that is brought to this country but instead use an eraser to erase the parts of it we don't like? Seriously, what is wrong with calling it Christmas? Where is the crime in that? Are we going to change Ramadan and Kwanzaa and Hanukkah and every other religious holiday to just "Holiday" so that people from the other religions won't be offended? Are Jews in America doomed to lighting "Holiday candles" instead of a menorah every year? By far, the largest danger is the precedent this "graying out" of the Christmas holiday presents.

I will teach my children the opposite of this. I will teach them that Christmas is a religious holiday. One that has been celebrated in this country since the first pilgrims came and, God willing, will continue to be celebrated into eternity. I will teach them that people from other religions have holidays too and teach them to embrace the culture that brings to this country. It's good that Jews can celebrate Rosh Hashanah and Hanukkah; that Muslims can celebrate Ramadan, and even that Atheists can choose to abstain from celebrating these holidays or celebrate them in a different, more secular way if they choose. Our country benefits greatly from the culture brought to it by not only the many religions that exist here but also the many races and the country-specific culture brought here by immigrants. It's important that this culture is not erased, not grayed-out, but allowed to exist in the purist form it can. It is that which makes us more tolerant. And it is that which makes this the greatest country on Earth.

Personally, I find nothing offensive about Hanukkah or Ramadan or Kwanzaa or any other religious holiday and I try to be respectful of those religions and their holidays. For whatever reason, people really have a problem bestowing this type of attitude towards Christianity. Either religion is accepted in this country, or it isn't. If you are intolerant of one then you may as well be intolerant of them all. Anti-Christianity should be looked at with the same disdain as anti-semitism. And this singling-out of Christmas does send the message to Christians that their religion is not to be openly tolerated in this country. Would you expect anything different from Jews if people suggested changing the menorah to "Holiday candles?" Or Muslims if someone suggested changing Ramadan to "Religious Holiday #12."

We do have a Christian heritage in this country. And I think it's important to understand and embrace that - as well as the rest of our heritage regardless where it came from. We do ourselves a huge disservice if we try to erase our Christian heritage from our history (or erase or "gray-out" anything from our history for that matter) and indeed to erase it from our very culture. Imagine a Jerusalem devoid of the rich culture of its past. Suppose the inhabitants of that city decided to take on the same politically correct attitude we do about their own culture and heritage. By taking steps to erase our own heritage we simultaneously erode the very foundation that holds up the principles to which our Constitution rests. It was not upon the principles of ourselves with which we laid the foundations of this country, it was those liberties endowed to us by our Creator with which we derived the framework for our government. The attitude behind those attacking the use of the word "Christmas," if allowed to proliferate, would indeed have us living in a land devoid of religion completely. And without the religious principles which served as the basis for the foundation of this country then we must rely instead on the principles of man. And I don't think it's hard to imagine where that would lead us.

Besides all these things, there is one more point I would like to make. Atheism is a religion too. And by siding with atheistic attitudes we set Atheism as the prevailing religion with which we enforce in our schools, businesses, and government. Are there not those who are offended by Atheism? So who are we trying to protect by eliminating religious references from our daily repertoire? Who do we choose to offend?