Yes, it’s is time to stop being daft about Christmas. People should feel free to wish one another “Happy Holidays,” “Merry Christmas” and/or “Happy Hanukkah.” Christians should not take offense at “Happy Holidays,” and non-Christians should not take offense at “Merry Christmas” when no offense is intended.
I personally prefer “Merry Christmas,” but if I meet a person wearing a yarmulke, I will wish them “Happy Holiday” or “Happy Hanukkah.” This is not political correctness; this is simply good manners. We need to be respectful of one another.
How absurd this can get was recently seen in New York City where a modern day “Good Samaritan” story played out in reality not in parable. A group of Jews traveling on the subway were physically attacked because one of them responded to “Merry Christmas” with “Happy Hanukkah.” Luckily a Muslim came to the Jews’ defense. What happened to “Peace on earth, good will towards all people”? Christmas should not be a time of war but peace.
At the same time, let’s not deny history. December 25 is the day we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ (although we have no idea on what day he was actually born). Saying “Merry Christmas” is not an acknowledgment of Jesus as your Lord and Savior. As a theological statement, it has no content. It is the equivalent of “Have a nice day on the day we celebrate the birth of Jesus, whether you are his follower or not.”
The desire to erase the role of Christianity in history is offensive and at times absurd. For example, the European system of dating years as “BC” and “AD” was established by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582 with the birth of Jesus as the hinge date (again, they got the year wrong). This system has been adopted by the rest of the world. Why change it?
If the objection is that it is “religious,” then you need to be consistent and remove the religiously connected names for the months of the year, the days of the week and the planets in the sky, most of which are named after pagan gods. One of the ironies of the English language is that on the day Christians celebrate the Resurrection, we wish each other “Happy Easter,” a name that is derived from the Anglo-Saxon goddess of the dawn. Christians have a right to ask, if we can live with Easter, January, Thursday and Jupiter, why can’t we live with Christmas and BC? Why is Christianity singled out for historical cleansing?
As a Christian, I would be just as happy if Christmas became a day celebrated only by Christians as a holy day of prayer and good works. I could do without the retail binge. But if it is going to be celebrated by everyone, then I object to Jesus being banned from his own birthday party. I object when Rudolph replaces Jesus on his birthday.
[For a treatment of the legal aspects of the so-called “Christmas Wars,” see the Pew Forum.]
Please e-mail On Faith if you'd like to receive an email notification when On Faith sends out a new question.
Email Me | Del.icio.us | Digg | Facebook
