The War on Holiday Cheer

I used to like Christmas.  I really did.  Actually, I still do, but the good cheer associated with it is dimmed by a portion of population who treat Christmas like a battering ram instead of a holiday.  To me, Christmas means that school will be closed, that I get in the mood to listen to Christmas music, and that I’ll be able to enjoy the warmth of joy in contrast with the cold weather outside.  When I was younger, I used to watch the yearly Christmas movies that are released around this time of year.  (I remember being fond of I’ll Be Home for Christmas (1998)[1] when I was ten years old.  Polar Express (2004)[2] was another one that made me quite happy and put me in the mood for the holidays, even though I was sixteen at the time.)

I do not wish to declare a “War on Christmas”; in fact, the religious conservatives who claim that they are defending Christmas are the ones declaring war on good cheer.  Although I have no disagreement with the holiday, I do have a disagreement with them.  Their actions are wrong when judged against the United States Constitution, the physical reality of the world, the history of religion, and the spirit of good will.  It is them I accuse of ruining Christmas for all of us who believe in the spirit of the season.

The First Amendment:  Separation of Church and State

There is a difference between being able to celebrate a religious holiday and having a religious holiday recognized by the government; the first is protected under the United States Constitution while the second is a violation of it.  The supposed defenders of Christmas equate government neutrality on the topic of religion with discrimination against Christians.  (Please note that they do not think that the lack of federal holiday for other people’s religious holidays is evidence of discrimination against these other religious groups.)  The government cannot endorse explicitly religious ideas or put up explicitly religious displays (such as nativity scenes) on government property.  If there are going to be privately-owned displays on government property, then any group should be allowed to put them up; one group should not be given sole access.

A fascinating aspect of Christmas, of course, is that it contains both a religious and secular component.  There are non-Christians who also enjoy and celebrate Christmas.  In fact, I think even those who don’t necessarily celebrate it have grown accustomed to having some time off during late December and early January.  So, although I am opposed to a federal holiday for Christmas as a religious holiday, I would not object if a secular holiday was to take its place and be recognized around this same time of year.

Again, the supposed defenders of Christmas don’t seem to comprehend why the religious aspects of the holiday being officially recognized by the government is not fair to people of other religions and also to nonreligious people.  Conservative religious groups will cite the fact that lots of people celebrate Christmas to justify government endorsement, while leaving out the crucial fact that many people celebrate the secular parts of Christmas while leaving out the religious parts (either because they are not Christian or because they believe in a more liberal interpretation of the Bible).  The secular aspects of the holiday can be considered universal, but the religious ones cannot.  A person should know and expect that a holiday observed by people of many faiths and no faith will be secular; if that person wants to celebrate a religious holiday, they should do so in a religious setting, without the endorsement of the government.  Greta Christina phrased it well in her recent article Why Religious People are Scared of Atheists, in which she wrote,

They still want Christmas to be a religious holiday, special to the Christian faith. Yet at the same time, they want it to be a government-recognized Federal holiday that everyone has to observe.

In other words: They want theocracy.

See, you don’t get have it both ways. You don’t get to have Christmas be a secular holiday, universal to the culture, recognized by government agencies and celebrated by people of all faiths and of no faith at all… and still have it be a religious holiday of the Christian faith. Not if you respect people’s basic right to worship, or not, in their own way. Pick one. If Christmas is a universal secular holiday, quit whining about it being secularized. If it’s a distinct religious holiday, quit trying to ram it down everyone else’s throats.[3]

While an attempt to share a secular holiday with others can be done with good will and happy tidings, the attempt to share (especially with government endorsement) a religious holiday with others is nothing other than proselytizing — which, in my view, takes away the good will and happy tidings.

Cashiers Do Not Have Telepathic Powers (or, Explaining the Obvious)

There is also the issue of business decisions being labeled anti-Christian.  Every year, we hear (usually via Fox News) about stores where the staff members say “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas”.  (I must point out that the same Christians who will complain about the greetings stores use at Christmastime do not seem to appreciate that their religious season receives attention while the holidays of other religions go completely unnoticed by most businesses.)  This is reported as an important news story, as “evidence” of an attempt by secularists to attack Christians.  In reality, this is not evidence of anti-Christian sentiment but evidence of business owners trying to appeal to as many customers as possible.  It is also evidence that business owners do not believe that their employees have magical powers.

I work in a retail pharmacy, and one of my responsibilities is being a cashier.  Having a job in customer service does not give a person telepathic abilities.  This may seem obvious, but evidently, there are people who do not realize this.  When I am at the cash register and people are picking up their medications, I cannot possibly know what the religious beliefs of a particular person are (unless there are clues from their jewelry or clothing).  If I know which religion you follow, I’m happy to greet you accordingly; however, if you are a stranger, I don’t know which religion you follow.  Even if one particular customer is Christian, the customer who is next in line may be Jewish or Muslim or Hindu or Buddhist or atheist or agnostic or deist or a believer in the Bajoran Prophets,[4] who have appointed Captain Benjamin Sisko[5] as their Emissary.

When the owners or bosses of a particular store use generic greetings instead of a specific one in signs and advertising, it is most likely because they want to maximize their profits.  When employees say “Happy Holidays”, they are not attacking Christmas but rather realizing that they have a diverse customer base.  Some business owners may find it advantageous to tell their employees to say “Merry Christmas” instead of “Happy Holidays”.  If a store specializes in Christian products and has Christian employees, it would make sense to focus on Christmas.  Most stores, however, have employees and customers of different religions.  The managers of a big retail store (especially one that has stores all over the United States and even in other parts of the world) cannot possibly know the religious beliefs of all of the employees, let alone the beliefs of the customers.  For them, it makes sense to use a more inclusive greeting.  Is it really surprising that business owners will prefer using a generic greeting rather than a specific one, in order to appeal to more customers?  To believe that this is an example of persecution requires a person to be so accustomed to special treatment that equal treatment is interpreted as discrimination.

History, Diversity, and Similarity

Throughout the history of humanity, there have been and are many holidays.  Humans seem to have a talent for proclaiming special days.  Many religious as well as secular holidays have been created by humans, and many of them have similarities to each other.  People take older traditions and recreate them in a new way for their own cause or belief, so that we find similar details (such as candles, gifts, special foods, etc.) in many celebrations.

The mere existence of other people and their holidays should not be considered offensive, especially when non-Christians are not the ones whose holidays receive regular, official government support in the United States.  There are Christians who act as though they own the entire time period from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Eve.  Instead of appreciating the fact that they live in a country where they can freely practice their religion and celebrate their holidays, conservative Christians pretend that a lack of special treatment is persecution.

The history of various holidays is a fascinating topic.  We can understand how different people have been inspired to create holidays and see the similarities between them.  Adam Brown, over at Atheism Resource, has written a blog entry advising atheists to steal Christmas back, pointing out that many Christian traditions have origins in other religions.[6] Ray Garton at Atheist Oasis has written a long entry wishing a Merry Christmas and explaining the origins of the “war on Christmas”, pointing out that it is just bigotry.  (He also points out that the people who once banned Christmas in America were themselves Christians.)[7] When one group tries to deny history or use a holiday to discriminate against others, it becomes a holiday of hate.  I cannot help noticing that any holiday celebrated by those who believe in a hateful version of God is likely to be used to discriminate against others.  Bigotry being the motivation behind the words of those who accuse secularists of declaring an imaginary “war on Christmas” is not a surprise; the people who pretend that Christmas is being attacked are the same ones who attack everyone else during the whole year.

Conservative Christians talk about preserving tradition but never bother to acknowledge the traditions of anyone but their own group; they recognize the contributions Christianity has made to Western society and culture but do not acknowledge that Christianity and Christmas have themselves been created from ideas that existed in other religions and traditions.  This arises, I expect, out of a desire to believe that while other religions may have been invented by humans, one’s own religion was created by the Almighty.

’Tis the Season

Although there are people who are reclaiming Christmas for Christian bigotry and although Christmas often contains the shallow aspects satirized by Ursula K. LeGuin in her description of The Holiday Plane™,[8] there is still something in his holiday that can be redeemed.  One of the people who had a good message for Christians celebrating Christmas was Reverend Barry Lynn (Executive Director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State), who is often targeted by the people who claim to be defending Christmas.  He wrote,

So, what’s a reasonable Christian to do in this season? How about cutting to the core of the Jesus narrative, and promote your favorite value in the story. Joseph didn’t have his spouse Mary stoned to death for a pregnancy without his involvement, but, instead, embraced her. Mary was not a rich or powerful person, a demonstration that birth into privilege is not a prerequisite for the future career path of you [sic] child. And then there was the angels’ message: “on earth peace, good will toward men”. Peace- not a bad principle for believers or non-believers. Why, there’s even a message for Tea Party Christians. Be skeptical of political authority. King Herod really didn’t want to locate Jesus to worship him; he wanted to kill him.[9]

Why not take from a story the good messages, instead of trying to make the story exclusive?  Isn’t one mark of a good person the ability to read a story and determine which parts contain the good ideas worth following?

For me, one of the most enjoyable parts of Christmas is the music.  When I was younger, I used to love the song Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.[10] I would sing it frequently, and (according to my mother) a lady in the grocery store heard me singing it one day and thought I was cute.  Just a few days ago, my mother asked me to sing it again because, in her words, it “makes me remember your childhood”.  I even enjoy religious music.  Earlier this semester, I was listening (repeatedly) to Hark!  The Herald Angels Sing.[11] There is something about religious music that I just find inspirational and moving.

So I hope that this holiday season is enjoyable for all.  Try to remember the lyrics to The Twelve Days of Christmas,[12] find an excuse to watch the holiday television specials, eat good food, generally enjoy being with family and friends, and help others who are less fortunate.

And remember:  Peace on Earth and good will toward men is a universal statement applicable to the whole of humanity.

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Edit

Two years ago, Adam Lee (a.k.a. Ebonmuse) wrote a blog entry about The Roots of the War on Christmas, showing that the Christian-right tactic of pretending that there is a “war on Christmas” and accusing minority groups of discriminating against the majority has a history of bigotry.

URL:  http://www.daylightatheism.org/2008/12/roots-of-the-war-on-christmas.html

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References

[1] I’ll Be Home for Christmas (1998).  The Internet Movie Database.  Retrieved on December 22, 2010 from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0155753/.

[2] The Polar Express (2004).  The Internet Movie Database.  Retrieved on December 22, 2010 from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0338348/.

[3] Christina, Greta.  Why Religious People Are Scared of Atheists.  Posted on AlterNet on December 16, 2010.  Retrieved on December 23, 2010 from http://www.alternet.org/belief/149224/why_religious_people_are_scared_of_atheists/?page=entire.

[4] Prophet.  Memory Alpha.  Retrieved on December 23, 2010 from http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Prophet.

[5] Benjamin Sisko.  Memory Alpha.  Retrieved on December 23, 2010 from http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Benjamin_Sisko.

[6] Brown, Adam.  Hey, Atheists, don’t destroy Christmas… Just steal it back! Posted at Atheism Resource on December 14, 2010.  Retrieved on December 23, 2010 from http://www.atheismresource.com/2010/hey-atheists-dont-destroy-christmas-just-steal-it-back.

[7] Garton, Ray.  An Open Letter to Christians:  Merry Christmas From An Atheist.  Posted at Atheist Oasis on December 13, 2010.  Retrieved on December 23, 2010 from http://atheistoasis.wordpress.com/2010/12/13/an-open-letter-to-christians-merry-christmas-from-an-atheist/.

[8] LeGuin, Ursula K.  Great Joy.  Changing Planes.  New York:  Ace Books, The Berkley Publishing Group, 2005 (2003), p. 130-46.

ISBN:  0-441-01224-8

[9] Lynn, Barry.  Take a deep Christmas breath. Posted in the On Faith section of the Washington Post on December 22, 2010.  Retrieved on December 23, 2010 from http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/panelists/Barry_Lynn/2010/12/take_a_christmas_breath.html.

[10] Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer – Lyrics.  Posted on YouTube by OuiiTisMoii on December 12, 2008.  Retrieved on December 23, 2010 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONxKfG60CwU.

[11] Hark!  The Herald Angels Sing.  (As sung by Amy Grant)  Posted on YouTube by JC3Productions on December 23, 2007.  Retrieved on December 23, 2010 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbdvo019mgM.

[12] The Twelve Days of Christmas (song).  Wikipedia.  Retrieved on December 23, 2010 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twelve_Days_of_Christmas_ (song).

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