Jihad for Christmas

Okay, I'm going to go out on a limb here. I have to say something because things have gotten to a level of ridiculousness that I simply cannot tolerate quietly. I had the displeasure of reading an article today on MSN about how Christian conservatives are up in arms over the White House holiday card and the genericizing of retail holiday promotions. Because I don't want to end up with dead links on the blog later, allow me to summarize the article:

Once again this year, President Bush sent out 1.4 million holiday cards to his close friends and supporters. The card wishes recipients a happy "holiday season", but for some, the friendly message rings hollow. In a time when the more equally applicable "happy holidays" replaces the previously common "merry Christmas", conservative Christians are crying out in defiance of consideration for a more diverse population.

This cry is being heard more and more every year as retailers abandon Christmas sales for holiday specials and public events such as tree lightings are given more "politically correct" titles. Conservative groups claim that there is a "war on Christmas" and have taken actions to boycott retailers and events that have given into the public trend and removed specifically Christian references from public scrutiny. They hope to put pressure on decision-makers and put the "Christ" back into Christmas.


Now, let me go over some specific things in this article that got me worked up.

~ This first one is actually kind of good. It's nice to see that some Christians understand. In this article, Rev. Bob Edgar, general secretary of the National Council of Churches is quoted as saying, "I think it's more important to put Christ back into our war planning than into our Christmas cards."

Touché

~ Next, Tim Wildmon, president of the American Family Association in Tupelo, Miss. said, "Sometimes it's hard to tell whether this is sinister -- it's the purging of Christ from Christmas -- or whether it's just political correctness run amok..."

Uh, sinister? Yeah, that's right. Satan lurks in the good intentions we have to not only refrain from offending those who don't celebrate Christmas, but also the friendly act of including them in the celebration of a holiday season that has been sacred for the majority of human beings since even before the supposed birth of Christ...

~ On the flipside, "It bothers me that the White House card leaves off any reference to Jesus, while we've got Ramadan celebrations in the White House," Wildmon said. "What's going on there?"

I reluctantly have to say that I agree. If the White House is not so eager to endorse Christmas, they should also keep away from other religions' holiday celebrations. Conversely, I wouldn't mind if the White House honored the diversity of our country and humanity in general by celebrating all kinds of holiday traditions, including Christmas.

~ William A. Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, announced a boycott of the Lands' End catalogue when he received his White House holiday card. True, he said, the Bushes included a verse from Psalm 28, but Psalms are in the Old Testament and do not mention Jesus' birth.

Oh brother! What the hell is wrong with people? This one got me really steamed. I make it halfway through the article merely rolling my eyes, then I find out that there is actually a biblical verse on the card! How finely can we split hairs? Regardless if it is an Old Testament verse, it is still a Christian reference. Okay, so some Jews might dig the message...heaven forbid!

~ Donohue said that Wal-Mart, facing a threatened boycott, added a Christmas page to its Web site and fired a customer relations employee who wrote a letter linking Christmas to "Siberian shamanism."

If I were that employee...I would be dialing me a lawyer. Let's face it, folks, most Christmas traditions are taken from much older religious practices. For example, where in the Bible is the Christmas tree mentioned? Actually, where in the Bible does it even mention the time of year Christ was born? There are clues in the Bible that very strongly suggest it was much earlier in the year than December. If that's so, why do you think the church eventually settled on December 25th? Take a look at religions from around the world and research some ancient religions as well. I think you'll find compelling information about many significant dates at or around the winter solstice, usually around December 22nd.

~ "Ninety-six percent of Americans celebrate Christmas," Donohue said. "Spare me the diversity lecture."

Ah yes, statistics, because we all know how accurate they can be. What that beefed up 96% number doesn't say is how many of those people are conservative Christians who actually care that government, schools and retailers are being considerate to those of alternate or no faith. It also doesn't say how many of them celebrate it as the birth of Christ. Granted, it is probably still a majority, but that should not be the point. And no, Donahue, we will not spare the diversity lecture as long as ignorant, intolerant blowhards like you prefer to ignore the fact that there are other human beings on this planet.

~ And finally, "There's a verse from Scripture in it. I don't mind that at all, as long as we don't try to pretend we're not a nation under God," said the Rev. Jerry Falwell.

Ah yes, let us not forget words of wisdom from the infamous, intractable Rev. Falwell. Jerry's "nation under God" phrase is, of course, a reference to the pledge of allegiance, another hotbed of conservative contention. But what I bet the good reverend doesn't know is that the phrase was added to the pledge in the 1950's along with several other religious references in government in order to separate the U.S. culture from communism, whose adopters were typically atheists. Let us not forget that our forefathers had a preference towards deism and transcendentalism and that the original motto of the U.S. is not "In God We Trust", but the more appropriate, and I think poignant, "E Pluribus Unum", "One From Many".


Addendum posted Dec. 9, 2005:

As I look over the content of this post and receive feedback from visitors, I think a little bit of clarification might be in order. I want to make it understood that I am not one of these Political Correctness (PC) enforcers. To me, PC is akin to censorship, which is something I also generally disagree with. I do have a tendency to use some PC terms in my own speech and writing, but my use of them is inconsistent and is occasionally situation sensitive.

The point is, when somebody says "Merry Christmas" to me, I usually smile and wish them the same, or I at least wish them "Happy Holidays". I agree with Elgon in his comment; I do not draw back in horror or tell the well-wisher off. I don't see anything wrong with "Merry Christmas" appearing in holiday retail promotions either. If retailers want to give me a discount, I don't care if they call it the "Go to Hell, You White Honkey Bastard" sale. Just make sure my items ring up right, dammit.

This is my problem with the article, and the concept in general: Conservative Christians are asking us to be PC to the minutest possible detail. Now we can't just offer a generic holiday greeting to cover all of our bases. No, now we have to know exactly what sect of exactly which faith the recipients of our message will be and tailor each individual message accordingly. The Christians will get special promotional ads from retailers that say "Merry Christmas", while Jews will get ones that specify "Happy Chanukah", and Wiccans will get ones that say "Solstice Blessings", etc. Talk about ridiculous!

Ok, so retailers use generic holiday wishes to appeal to the widest demographic possible. They're businesses, that is what it is in their best interest to do. Get over it already. By boycotting them you're only making your holiday shopping more expensive! Wake up and start caring about things that really matter, like the fact that yet another holiday season is passing by, regardless of our faith, and we all still have loved ones risking their lives overseas for a cause that many of us either never believed in or are just starting to doubt. Why don't we worry about how to get George W. to bring our troops back home, rather than what he's putting on his friggin' Christmas cards!

And speaking of W., I just wanted to add this one last thing. He's a politician, so I think the generic holiday greeting is a good move. I know he's a Christian, and however he wants to celebrate the holiday season is fine, but politicians have to be careful about the message they send to the public. Politicians are the ones for whom political correctness is the most important. We must be wary of any message a politician sends to the people that even hints at the public endorsement of a particular faith. Regardless of what the majority of the people in this country believe spiritually, we must not become a religious state. Once religion officially starts meddling in politics, the door is open for the government to begin stripping us of our constitutional rights under the guise of divine reason.

*lays down two pennies*