Christmas Time

It’s the most wonderful time of the year… That is, if you like bickering, political wrangling, cries of offense and claims of persecution. That’s right folks, we’ve come once again to that time of year when atheist’s look to purge the holidays of any semblance of religious value and Christians cry out for justice in the midst of secular intrusion into their views of Christmas. It seems that particularly in the last 5 years or so the drum beats on both sides have gotten louder and louder. It’s almost to the point that I look more forward to the holidays being over, rather than beginning. Even writing this blog feels more like a chore then a joy, but sometimes I have issues rattling around in my head and it’s better to just get it out on “paper”, as it were, then to keep dwelling. Here are some of the common issues I keep hearing.

This is both true and false. On the face of it, it’s blatantly false. Christmas is without question the day on which Christians celebrate the birth of Christ. However, the underlying sentiment expressed in the proclamation does have some merit. Many of the customs that we see surrounding Christmas were also used in some form among pagan cultures. Even the eventual date which came to be agreed on by most is tied towards pagan ritual holiday times. It seems that early church leaders eventually landed on Dec. 25th as the date since there were at least a couple of major festivals taking place at this time. Natalis Solis Invicti (the Roman "birth of the unconquered sun"), and the birthday of Mithras, the Iranian "Sun of Righteousness" whose worship was popular with Roman soldiers. Also, the Winter Solstice, another celebration of the sun, fell just a few days earlier.

This is a bit of a silly line of reasoning to me though. You could literally throw a dart at an open calendar, land on any day of the year and find that there was some pagan ritual, at some point in time, associated with that date. So no matter what time of year was chosen, we’d still hear the same argument. There seems to be nothing more devious to the choosing of that date then church leaders deciding to honor the One who made the sun, while those around them honored the sun itself. Besides, if the majority of the society at the time was “off for the holidays” anyway, why not just do it then? Isn’t that why Kwanzaa is celebrated this time of year?

There are plenty of other traditions associated with Christmas that also find commonality with pagan rituals, one of which being the Christmas tree itself. The issue though is not what the meaning of a Christmas tree or mistletoe was 1000 years ago, but what significance do they hold now. We don’t live in medieval times. We live in modern America. What is the significance of the traditions we hold to today? This leads me to my next objection…

Christmas observances or decorations should not be allowed on Government property.

This is the age old argument of separation of church and state that is debated ad nauseum year round over any number of issues. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” Establishment of religion was the system that the founders were fleeing from. We weren’t raised in that type of system so maybe it’s harder for us to understand their perspective. We do still see that type of governance in play today though. In the Middle East the Presidents of many of the countries have powers limited by the wishes of the Imam. If the Imam declares that all women are to be covered at all times, then that is in effect, law. That is the system that our founders were trying to protect us from. Establishing religion is not the same thing as recognizing one.

We live in a Representative Republic. According to the latest Census information, 80% of the American population identify themselves as Christian. Would it not make sense that the governmental body (who is us btw) would also reflect that reality? No one in government has demanded that Dec. 25th must be observed as Christ’s birth or that all Americans must attend the Church of America. That would be an establishing. However, it doesn’t seem unreasonable to recognize that in a predominantly Christian culture (as identified by the culture itself) certain observances will take place by the citizens in that culture, even the ones in the government. It’s a simple recognition of the culture in which we live. If we were being intellectually honest then we wouldn’t give government workers the day off on Christmas if we had such a strong stance on separation. Instead we spend too much effort trying to protect the few who might be offended. That leads me to my next observation…

Christmas displays might offend some people so instead of putting up one of everything we do nothing.

I know it’s been said many times before, but there is no Constitutional right to not be offended. The vast majority in our society in fact are not offended by Christmas observances or displays. Even many of the atheists that I know, while not agreeing with the religious implications, are not offended particularly by the displays. After all, what’s there to be offended by? I’ve often wondered, if you have no belief in God or a god, what do you see in a Nativity scene that is offensive? It’s nothing more than a baby in an uncomfortable looking crib with a bunch of nosey neighbors bothering new parents. You can find that scene occurring at virtually every birth since the beginning of time. Why should a vocal minority be allowed to suppress the free expressions of the majority?

At this point I can hear the furious clicking away at the keyboard by some who are anxious to tell me how the “majority once thought slavery was acceptable” or some such example. The expression “apples and oranges” comes to mind. In the case of Christmas observances or displays no one’s rights are being abused. No one is being treated as sub-human. No one is being denied a voice. And that leads me to my last observation…