Happy Holidays! My Christmas Spirit

Christmas is in danger, it’s true. There is a War on Christmas, perhaps even on Christianity as a whole; a war waged to distort and adulterate the teachings of Christ and to dilute the spirit of his teacherinig. Despite claims from the psychotic-branch of the Right, this war isn’t fought by pedantic liberals attempting to uphold the constitution’s First Amendment or even by yellowbellied Jews who want cultural respect and social acknowledgment, but a war fought by the very religious zealots and cultural radicals who claim to be crusading for Christmas’ salvation.

Night after night, conservative talk-show host Bill O’Reilly tells us that Christmas is “under siege” by a “secular progressive agenda.” John Gibson in his book “The War on Christmas” declares that there’s a “liberal plot” to destroy Christmas led by “professional atheists” and “Christian haters.” Jerry Falwell warns us that Christian Americans are “facing persecution.”

The simple truth of the matter is: as our country becomes more diverse—with nearly one quarter of Americans not Christian—we should make a conscious effort to include all people of all religious diversity. Sure, the first Amendment doesn’t say anything about putting “Holiday trees” in public squares, but the Supreme Court’s decisions about public displays of religion such as Lynch v. Donnelly (1984) and Allegheny County v. Greater Pittsburgh ACLU (1989), are at the ceiling of acceptability, not the floor; by saying “Season Greetings,” we are well within the realm of cultural respect.

Beyond this, as a nation, we so often forget that Christmas isn’t celebrated in Macy’s department stores or in school hallways. It’s celebrated in our homes, in our churches, and in our hearts. Governments and businesses alike say “Happy Holidays,” not as an attack on Christian values, but out of cultural and constitutional respect, and out of capitalistic desire for consumer inclusion. Christmas is not intended to be a holiday founded on the pillars of consumerism and greed, but on the pillars of love, virtue and peace. How can two words of cultural respect (happy holiday) lead a war against a holiday based around values that transcend much farther than department stores and school plays?

Christmas to me is the one day of the year that we are told to forget our fundamental deficiencies, to forget our sins, to forget our guilt, and to forget salvation from the world as is. It’s the one day of the year that we are told to embrace each other, to love each other, and to concern ourselves not with the afterworld, but with the world we live and breathe; the day we are told to celebrate the goodness of our souls, not feel guilty about the wickedness of mankind--values true to Jesus' cause.

With this in mind, I say: Mr. O’Reilly, every time you villanize and distort the arguments of those you disagree with, every time you use religiosity to push your own political agenda, and every time you spread malice and hate throughout our country, you are in fact undermining the very Christian values you are attempting to perpetuate. Perhaps, rather than ranting about the shallow linguistics of the holiday season, you should actually live the message of the Gospel. Rather than complaining about “liberal schemes” to attack Christmas spirit, perhaps you should assert your own spirit by helping the sick and the poor, by working to alleviate human misery and by spreading love and happiness. If indeed you really want so much to save Christmas, you should consider traveling to Darfur and fighting against those who truly are attacking Christmas values. Christmas isn’t what we buy in Department stores, what we hang on our trees, or the words we choose say; instead, it’s a feeling within all of us, it’s the capacity to live justly, generously, and compassionately. We don’t need to wait to save Christmas, we need to embrace it and we need to live it.