✖ Blazing Monk ✖

So This Is Christmas?

By ✖ the Monk ✖ on December 21st, 2009

A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let’s hope it’s a good one
Without any fear — John Lennon

Do you hear what I hear? It wouldn’t be the holiday season without the incessant whining of the religious grinches of our land, upset because another school principle decided not to force the children of his school to believe the myth that Christmas has anything to do with Christ or Christianity.[*] I had a friend years ago who was part of a church that refused to celebrate Christmas or Easter because of its pagan ties. At the time and even now, I thought this was an extremist view. What was the harm in spending time with family, giving gifts and eating lots of food? His reasoning: it was hypocritical for Christian believers to celebrate a holiday which was based on a lie and was in reality stolen from the pagan Roman feast celebrating the winter solstice and birth of Mithra, the god of the unconquerable sun. This feast took place on Dec. 25 and was the most sacred day of the year in Rome. Mithra is the real reason for the season. This tradition went on for thousands of years until Constantine legalized Christianity, which bought humanity a ticket on the fun train that is the Roman Catholic church trying to convert and baptize the world. Step one, take pagan traditions and make them Christian traditions — enter Christmas and Easter.[*]

You can imagine my annoyance when I read about the controversy in Chambersburg, Pa., this years battle ground in the “war on Christmas.” At least that is what Fox News would have you believe with their headline, “Atheists Trigger Nativity Scene Ban.” One might get his or her veggie tale printed underoos in a bunch at the thought of those pesky God hater’s crusade against baby Jesus! The Christians began complaining that Pennsylvania Nonbelievers Inc. was going to display a sign next to the nativity scene that listed the names of atheist veterans. The city council responded by unanimously voting to stop all displays. This sent Christians over the edge in protest and conservative news outlets spinning the blame on the nonbelievers. The nonbelievers said nothing about the nativity scene which has been on display for 20 years. What did these nonbelievers really do but try to participate and enrich their community?[*]

My pastor growing up had a saying: “People who want to be offended always find a way.” Here is the holiday season and Christians, who should know the meaning of Christmas, are working overtime at becoming offended. When did the holiday season turn into boycott season? Would baby Jesus be organizing boycotts because stores didn’t greet him the way he thought they should? I guess so, because who should come to the rescue but moral majority champion James Dobson and his posse, conservative champion Focus on Family trying to accomplish something with its Web site StandforChristmas.com. This Web site gives an outlet for grinchy Christians to express their outrage at corporations that are not Christmas friendly. This Web site encourages Christians to go into stores looking for things to be offended about. Where is the grace and humility of Christ in that? How does writing a rant about JC Penny not playing Christ-centered music help nonbelievers become Christians? Do you think the retail manager who just got an earful from you is going to be willing to come to your Christmas program at your church?

It is nothing short of pure arrogance when another Christian group called American Family Association organized boycotts of retailers like Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic [*] and Best Buy for acknowledging Christmas as well as other holidays such as Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Eid Al-Adha or the winter solstice.[*] Christians get offended and declare a “war on Christmas” when corporations take a purely secular “Happy Holiday” approach to their advertising and decorations. They get even more offended when corporations take a more ecumenical approach and acknowledge all religious holidays. It really boils down to them wanting preferential treatment, which means they arrogantly want corporations to decorate and celebrate only Christian holidays while completely ignoring the religions and cultures of the rest of their customers. American corporations can’t win with Christians. They are damned if they do and damned if they don’t.

Let’s try and remember this holiday season isn’t about forcing people to give the proper greeting or getting offended at a store playing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. No, Christmas is really about appreciating the people around us. It’s the time of year when we should be looking for ways to brighten others’ days – not tear down and focus on ways to get offended. Let’s remember the true meaning of Christmas this year.