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Holiday Wars
by Janet Brazill
| 'Tis the season -- let the Holiday wars begin. Oops, make that the Christmas wars. |
It's starting to become a holiday tradition: Christians insisting that the only legitimate greeting during this Holiday Season is "Merry Christmas" -- this despite the fact that Christians have no clear ownership of the season. Not only are there other religions celebrating their own holidays at this time of year who deserve the all-inclusive term "Happy Holidays," but the date of December 25 cannot be verified as the true date of Christ's birth, since the Bible is silent about this. Scholars suggest that this date was appropriated by Christians from the Mithra religion which celebrated its own Savior-god's birth on that date. Christians could avoid detection by joining in the festivities, while secretly celebrating their own beliefs. |
It may have seemed fitting to do so, since the Winter Solstice, when the days begin to lengthen -- which happened to fall on December 25 by the Julian calendar in use at the time -- had been celebrated for centuries as a time of rebirth. |
If Christians appropriated this date, why should modern Americans be criticized for using the same date for their festivities? Why shouldn't everyone enjoy the Christian tradition of gift giving during the dreary winter months? |
Christian groups, however, refuse to share this holiday, even threatening lawsuits claiming religious discrimination. Spokespersons cry that Christians are being victimized -- their Holiday is being "hi-jacked" and "genericized." Stores using "Happy Holidays" to entice the general public are the object of boycotts, though these boycotts appear to have little influence on holiday shoppers. |
A special target this year appears to be the decorated tree that has become a holiday tradition, even in secular homes. Communities trying to change the designation to the more inclusive "Holiday Tree" are threatened with legal challenges from an army of lawyers, assembled to defend the faith. Authorities reluctantly agree to continue calling it a "Christmas Tree" to avoid spending taxpayer money on such frivolous lawsuits. |
Skeptics rightly question whether all this war-mongering is not just a fund-raising scheme, since it's difficult to understand how the terms "Happy Holidays" or "Holiday Tree" could threaten anyone's religion. |
Christians who are secure in their beliefs should be ashamed of such antics. Imagine the funds being spent on lawyers across the country charged with policing this childish campaign. Imagine where those funds could be spent to help humanity in what many were taught should be the true spirit of the Christmas season. |
Imagine, if you will, what would happen if Christians across the country decided to honor their Savior this holiday season by remembering his saying, "Blessed are the peacemakers." Our government has cut $50 million from our current budget which had been slated to help pay for the African peacekeepers in Darfur. This is a country where 3.5 million people are now hungry because of the devastation of war; where, since February 2003, over 400,000 men, women and children have died while another 2.5 million innocent civilians have been forced to flee their homes. A concerted campaign by committed Christians could force our Congress to restore this desperately needed funding. |
Imagine what could happen if Christians worked toward bringing about "Peace on Earth" instead of stirring up ridiculous holiday wars. |
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