War on Christmas!

It's started already.

Defensive Christians all over America have once again begun to pick the rallying cry over the "War on Christmas". For those of you who have blissfully missed this silliness over the last few years, it started in Kentucky this year. Why am I not surprised? But I digress...

The governor there, Steve Beshear, insisted on calling the Christmas tree... a "Christmas tree". Apparently some of the state legislators were caught referring to it as a "holiday tree", which got the loonies in a lather. Last week, the Mississippi-based American Family Association announced a boycott against the Gap because supposedly it aired a "holiday" commercial and failed to mention "Christmas". They actually did, but far be it from the AFA to let facts and reason get in the way of a good tantrum.

And so it goes. Conservative Christians for years now have lamented the secularization of their holiday. "Jesus is the reason for the season", they would remind us, and pray mercy on those who forget. They've managed to recruit Bill O'Reilly to be their mouthpiece, spewing propaganda from his pulpit at Fox News regarding this atrocity.

Any time a nativity is represented in a town square, you can hear the veritable pin drop as these warriors for Christ wait for some ACLU no-goodnik to start whining about the separation of church and state, and how displaying religious holiday paraphernalia on government land, on the government's dime, is a constitutional violation, blah blah blah. I'd love to see how these same Christian Soldiers would feel, should the government wish to dedicate some tax dollars to sponsoring pilgrimages to Mecca for its Muslim citizenry, or festering Main Street with signs wishing passers-by a happy Ramadan.

They would remind us that America is a Christian nation (it’s not), and that all the founding fathers were Christians (they weren’t), and that our laws are based on the Bible (they aren’t). It is true that Christians far outnumber any other religion’s members in this country. No debating there. It’s true that Christmas, celebrated on December 25th, is generally and traditionally recognized as the birth of Jesus. Again, no contradictions here.

But I thought, as we enter the holiday season (too damned early, if you ask me), we remind ourselves of a few facts:

First off, the reason the early church leaders chose December 25th as the date for Christmas was to coincide with the winter solstice, traditionally revered by Druids and other various pagan groups. They figured out that this was when the days started getting longer, and the sun “returned” to the earth. Druids would decorate trees with candles to celebrate the returning of the light. Feasts were enjoyed. Gifts were given. Thousands of years before there was such a thing as Christianity, these pagan traditions were firmly embedded in the culture. In an effort to capitalize on this festive time, early church leaders started weaving in the story of Jesus’ birth to coincide with this date, and many of the existing traditions were simply re-written to give them a Nativity spin. Now we give gifts like the three Wise Men gave them, etc.

Secondly, there’s no way Jesus could have been born in late December, if the Nativity account in the Bible is to be believed. “Shepherds were watching over their flocks by night” in a field when a bunch of angels showed up, scared the crap out of them, and announced the birth of Jesus. In Bethlehem in Israel, late December is a very cold time of year. Shepherds were not likely to be out in a field at night. More likely in December, they’d have the sheep in a barn somewhere so they didn’t freeze to death. Jesus was born (again, if we are to accept the biblical account as fact) in warmer months, like late spring or summer.

Finally, late December, and the solstice in general, host many different holidays, sponsored by many faiths. We have Hanukkah. We have Kwanzaa (which while not a religious celebration per se, is still separate from Christianity). We have Yule, the modern version of the pagan solstice celebration.

So to assume that “Happy Holidays” is somehow a refusal to acknowledge Christianity is just plain silly. All it assumes is that there are several holidays being celebrated around that time, and person “A” is simply wishing person “B” a nice one, whichever they’re celebrating.

This whole “war on Christmas” is pure bunk. It really isn’t a Christmas tree, when you get right down to it. It’s a Yule tree, and the Christians outright stole it from the Druids. But you don’t hear them complaining. Not because they don’t exist anymore (they do), but because unlike Christians, they’re not that defensive. They accept the existence of other religions, and they are willing to share the season’s goodwill with anyone, regardless of their theology. Would that Christians were so gracious.

These Christian zealots see challenges to the dominance of their religion in every harmless little statement. They pick fights where none exist. No one is seriously trying to eradicate Christianity. But it must be acknowledged that not everyone celebrates Jesus' birthday, and there's no crime there. They are simply embracing our right to not have to be included in it. So they say "Happy Holidays". Where's the harm? There is no underlying sinister footnote. Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas, and pardon the hell out of me for not joining in. Why must clerks say "Merry Christmas"? What, their low-paying jobs are stressful enough without taking time out to appease the fundamentalist right wing under threat of boycotts as well? Why do stores like Target and KMart have to deal with the threat of boycotts just because they acknowledge that not everyone is a Christian? "How dare they wish those jews and pagans a happy holiday? Don't they know that Christmas is the only thing worth mentioning?" Or did I get it wrong, Mr. O'Reilly?

I’m reminded of the Christians’ Bible, Paul’s first letter to the church of Corinth, thirteenth chapter:

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.”

I humbly submit that this notion of a war on Christmas is borne of pride, of self-seeking, of an unwillingness to share, of a desire to keep a record of alleged transgressions. Insisting that people say “Merry Christmas”, insisting that store clerks say “Merry Christmas” instead of “Happy Holidays” reflects selfishness and insecurity. If your god is the one true god and every other religion is an exercise in futility, then it shouldn't ruffle your feathers when you encounter others who believe differently. It’s no threat to you it does not negate your truth, and you do your god a disservice by not being gracious and demonstrating his supposed grace and forgiveness.