The War on Christmas

by Charles Wallace

Have you heard the news? There is a war on Christmas in America. At least that is what conservative pundit Bill O' Reilly and others want you to believe. Though many secularists oppose government endorsement of religious holidays because it violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, calling this a "War on Christmas" is an exaggeration. In this country everyone is free to worship any god they wish. Christians are free to decorate their trees, put wreaths on their doors, hang greenery, light up their homes, have parties and exchange gifts. There were wars against these activities, Mr. O' Reilly. It was not the atheists who waged them. It was Christians.

Neither the date nor the festivities of Christmas are originally Christian. No one knows when Jesus was born. Early Christians did not care. Origen, a biblical scholar in the third century, argued that only sinners celebrated the date of their births. There is no record during this time that Christians celebrated the birth of Christ. December 25 was an important date - - for Romans. In the Julian calendar it was the date of the winter solstice. Mid-winter was a time honor gods like Saturnus, Mithra and Sol. There were great festivities during this time; especially, Saturnalia and New Year's Day. During Saturnalia Romans visited friends, exchanged presents, sang, and held banquets. Romans decorated their doorways with garlands and lit candles. And Christian theologians condemned it all. Tertullian, the first theologian to proclaim god as “Trinity,” was furious at Christians who participated in Mid-winter and New Year's Day indulgences. He argued that the only people who should hang laurel-wreaths on their homes were those who were doomed to the fires of hell. Yet the war on what would become Christmas was being lost even as he preached.

Over time Christmas acquired new elements. Mistletoe was borrowed from the Druids, and Christmas trees began appearing in Germany in the sixteenth century. Folk tales about Father Christmas started in the seventeenth century – the same century a real war on Christmas took place. In 1640 the Puritan Parliament in England banned Christmas for being too pagan and Roman Catholic. Yet their ban lasted less than two decades. Christmas was a tradition that the English people refused to give up.

The only Christian part of Christmas is the nativity, the story of Jesus' birth. It is derived from the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. Their accounts of the birth of Jesus are irreconcilable, and many historians believe both are fictitious. Maybe U.S. District Judge Susan J. Dlott was correct when she ruled that Christmas is now a secular holiday. The war on Christmas is over. There is almost nothing Christian in Christmas, and time has proven that its celebration is here to stay.

The War on Christmas - by Charles Wallace: December 2008