[Vision2020] Separation of church and state holidays

[Art Deco]

  Tuesday, December 12, 2006 


Separation of church and state holidays
J.R. Labbe
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
December 12, 2006

The e-mail came from a well-meaning and locally respected physician. His concern? The use of the word "holiday" in place of Christmas.

"I have talked to many people about this, and have UNIFORMLY found them to be irritated about the anti- Christian, defamatory use of holiday instead of Christmas," he wrote. "I talked to my ham radio friends at coffee, my wine drinking buddies at our weekly Wednesday noon lunch, to a Best-Buy Store manager (they shun 'Christmas,' but he said 'many people are upset about it.'), my neighbors, a retired CEO who owned an international corporation headquartered in FW (Fort Worth), etc. I really dislike 'holiday' & I am sick of it in the (Fort Worth Star-Telegram), on TV, & the radio. Why does the Star-Telegram not have something about this?"

     
The good doctor included a number of attachments to his e-mail, including an editorial cartoon bemoaning a politically correct Santa wishing a "Merry religious holiday of your preference" and commentaries by self-described conservatives Don Feder and Dennis Prager on the purging of Christmas from our culture.

In an attempt to be educational, I suggested that retailers started using the phrase "Happy Holidays" in their advertising as a way to save money. Since the "holiday" season runs from the day after Halloween to Jan. 1, they were looking for a phrase that captured Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, New Year's, Kwanzaa and Diwali - every conceivable celebration during this time of year - so they didn't have to go to the expense of remaking their ads.

"There's nothing anti-Christian about it. It is purely a business decision," my e-mail said. "As a Christian, it does not bother me one bit whether someone wishes me Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays. Don't you think our Lord and Savior would want us to concentrate more on following His great commandment to love one another - than on something as trivial as this?"

The use of "trivial" hit a nerve.

"Honestly, I think we should have a little respect for the Christmas season, and not act like Jell-O-spined wimps who can be molded like putty," he wrote.

I attempted to counter the doc's inclusion of the newspaper in the war on Christmas by pointing out the times that the Star-Telegram has reprinted the Christmas story from the Book of Luke, the number of columns I and other Christian writers have written about our faith, the letters to the editor that consistently and openly represent Christian viewpoints on a variety of issues.

"My God is so much bigger than this trivial - yes, trivial - non-debate," my e-mail said. "If you want to be outraged about what's happening to Christians in the 21st century, I'd direct your attention to our brothers and sisters in Christ living in nations that don't have the freedom to worship as one chooses. Christians in other parts of the world are being beaten, jailed, tortured and killed for their faith. You're upset because someone says 'Happy Holidays' instead of 'Merry Christmas'? Sorry, I'm saving my outrage for issues that merit it."

Re-reading these words I realize I sounded much more harsh than intended. The good doctor is obviously experiencing real angst from what he perceives as an encroachment or minimalization of his faith.

Navigating this intersection of sectarian with the secular is crowded with dented fenders and smashed bumpers. In a nation that values individual freedom and the ability to worship the god of one's own belief, the co-opting of a religious observance into the commercial world makes for trouble.

Last year, Charles C. Haynes, senior scholar and director of education programs at the First Amendment Center, wrote a thought-provoking column titled, "To save Christmas, separate Christ from commerce."

"If the aim is to keep 'Christ' in the shopping-mall Christmas or to ensure that pagan trees and mistletoe don't lose their Christian labels, then it might make sense to attack presidents and business owners who commit the 'happy holiday' sin," Haynes wrote. "But if the goal is to restore the religious meaning of the Christian holy day, then they are aiming at the wrong Target.

"Once the birth of Jesus was made a 'national holiday,' taking 'Christ out of Christmas' was destined to happen."

Therein lies the answer for all who bemoan the corruption of Christianity: The United States should no longer "celebrate" Christmas - or Easter for that matter - as national holidays. Let the retailers have the days; just don't call them Christmas or Easter.

To expand on an idea posited first by the Puritan minister Roger Williams, who warned about the worldly pollution of faith back in 1635, and developed by Haynes in his column, let the merchants have their pagan trees and "Jingle Bells," Santa Claus and the elves, chocolate Easter bunnies and pastel-colored eggs.

Leave the creche and the cross out of it.

If you want to put Christ back into Christmas, then instead of battling the mall crowd to spend outrageous amounts of money on presents that will be forgotten by Easter, use that time and money to feed the hungry, clothe the poor and visit the infirm.

Jesus' new commandment was not for "them" to love us, but for us to love them.
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