by David Fowler, Family Action of Tennessee
posted December 17, 2007
Well, "Holiday Season" is in full swing and signs of it are everywhere. But somewhere in my 49 years of existence, the word "Christmas" fell out of favor in the public square and became an expression of intolerance for a whole lot of people.
Many Christians are put off by the now routine substitution of "Holiday" for the word "Christmas." I confess it irritates me too a bit that all those who expect us to be tolerant of those who do not celebrate Christmas or, more likely, just don't recognize the Christ-based reason for the season can't tolerate those of us who like the word "Christmas" and who really do believe it is the real reason for the "Holiday" season.
Think about it for a minute. If it weren't for Christmas day would it really be a pain to get into the local mall on Dec. 24? I doubt it. Dec. 25 would be just another day. And how many retail signs do you see that say "Only 10 shopping days until Holiday Day?" None. At least we still have "After Christmas sales." So, let all the Grinches just admit it: Christmas is the focal point of the season.
I’m not sure what the harm is in wishing a Merry Christmas to people who don't recognize Christ or in a store having a "Christmas Sale." If someone were to wish me a "Happy Hanukkah" or a "Happy Ramadan," it might not mean a whole lot to me, but I'd appreciate the expression of good will that lies behind it, and I sure wouldn't get mad at them. After all, Christmas is about "glad tidings" and "great joy" and getting Grinchey myself is a bit contrary to what the Heavenly Host proclaimed at Christ's birth - "Joy to the world!"
But I have wondered why the ACLU and others are so intent on suppressing "Christmas" celebrations in our schools and public squares. Perhaps it is because Christmas is an anathema to our post-modern culture. How so?
Well post-modernism, as the philosophical types call it, says there is no absolute truth because there is no basis for it - we are all we have. It also says there are no meta-narratives (big picture stories) to explain the reason for our existence. And if you believe that, then Christmas really is a horror story to be suppressed. Letting people think too much about Christmas might scare little children and convert the post-modern skeptic because Christmas is a story about a God who transcends us, who is over us, who created us and all there is. If the Christmas story is true then there is a basis for absolute truth. But the really scary part is that this superintending, Creator God is not just "out there" somewhere. No, the scary part is that He has broken into our earthly existence to make Himself known and to call us to recognize His authority over all that which He has made. That is not a comforting thought to those who want to think of themselves as autonomous and free of any rule but such as they, not God, make.
So, I understand the cultural consternation from those prefer Holiday cheer to that of Christmas cheer. Do I feel the need to picket and protest? Sometimes, but not really. Real tolerance means tolerating that which you think is wrong and, well, I guess I can "tolerate" the "Holiday Season" crowd. But, more importantly, it’s a bit easier to "tolerate" since I can recognize Christmas all by myself. And part of that for me and perhaps my own form of protest is still wishing a "Merry Christmas" those whom I meet. And perhaps if enough of us just do that, we'll soon forget about the "Holiday" and rediscover Christmas.
So, please excuse me when I say to each of you, "Merry Christmas!" Your tolerance is appreciated.
David Fowler
* * *
Mr. Fowler, I couldn't help but notice that you are the president of a Christian based lobbyist group. I wonder what it's like to write an article that speaks of tolerance while actively participating, and getting paid by, a group of people who seek to impose their religious dogmas on a multicultural pluralistic society. A society whose' very constitution was designed to not favor any particular religion over another or any religion over no religion at all, this same constitution that does not have the word "god" anywhere in it. While this is a non sequitur to your arguments, I just thought that particular point should be made before I start displaying my grievances with your stance on the Holiday Season.
The Term Holiday Season has nothing at all to do with trying to stamp out the word "Christmas" from the modern lexicon. I would like to give you a little lesson in multicultural etiquette. Despite what you and your constituency may think about the Holiday Season, Christ is not the reason for the season. In fact that argument is so easy to deflate it's almost embarrassing that a man of your caliber would be caught saying so. It not only exposes ignorance on history and various cultures but also exhibits an extreme amount of arrogance.
You see, dozens of cultures celebrate holidays in or around this time of the year. Have you ever heard of Rohatsu, Bodhi Day, Saturnalia, Dongzhi, Karachun, Yalda, Yule, Winter Solstice, Festival of Sol Invictus, Humanlight, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or Hogmanay to name a few? Those are all celebrations that are held during this Holiday Season. Perhaps the most embarrassing part of all is that no theologian or historian has ever clearly shown what the Jesus character even looked like much less him being born on Dec. 25. In fact, there has been historical debate over when he was actually born. Many believed that Jesus was born on Jan. 6 (the birthday of the God Osiris). The rationale for this date was the belief that Jesus was exactly 30 years old when he died and that he died on April 6. Counting backwards from April 6 exactly 29 years and 3 months gave a birth date of Jan. 6. This date was adopted by the Eastern Church and called "Epiphany" [1] or "The Appearance." The African Tertullian (c 160 –220 A.D.) and the Roman Hippolytus (c 170-235 A.D.) believed the date to be March 25th, the spring equinox under the ancient Roman calendar. Clement of Alexandria (c 150-215 A.D.) believed that Jesus was born on May 20, the 25 day of the Egyptian month of Pachon. None of these theories had any real facts associated with them, but they were popular nonetheless. The Roman Church simply declared, in 300 A.D, that his birthday was on December 25th, hundreds of years after his death. When in reality, if Luke's account has any historical basis Jesus was likely to have born in the in the spring or summer.
So the burning question remains why would the Church choose December 25th as his birthday? The answer would be probably because that's what all the cool religions were doing at the time. A December 25th birthday was shared by many gods of that era, including Attis of Phrygia, Dionysus of Greece, Horus of Egypt, Krishna of India and Mithra of Persia just to name a few. The birthday of Jesus was decided as a marketing decision plain and simple. Christianity did that sort of thing in the past to make it easier for people to convert, often even adopting local traditions and incorporating them into the holiday. Decorated Trees came from western Germanic pagan tribes.(Christians are even warned not to do this in the Bible. "Jeremiah 10:2-4") Boughs of holly, yuletide logs, and eating ham came straight from Scandinavian tribes celebrating Yule.
The reason for the season is joy, love, thankfulness and human solidarity. So please, stop acting like your holiday is so special and unique. People all over the world celebrate different holidays for different reasons. When you wish someone Happy Holidays you are covering all the cultural bases of the world. There is nothing less genuine about wishing people a happy holiday no matter what they celebrate.
In saying that no matter what age, sex or creed you hail from may this Holiday Season be merry and bright! That includes you too, David. I truly hope that you and your family have a wonderful celebration.
Nathaniel Foster
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