When I was about eight years old my mother explained holiday greetings to me. It was simple. If someone is Christian, say "Merry Christmas". If someone is Jewish, "Happy Hanukkah" is appropriate. And if you don't know, "Happy Holidays" or "Happy New Year" always work.
For my mom it wasn't about political correctness or hatred of Christmas. Far from it. It was about being polite, having good manners, and respecting the fact that my religious beliefs were not shared by everyone. It made sense to me at age eight, and it makes sense to me now as an ordained Christian minister whose favorite time of year is Christmas.
But every year I hear about some Christians who interpret the "Happy Holidays" greeting given to them at stores to mean that there is a full-on, multi-front war against their faith. I find it ironic that the person checking out their big screen TV on Black Friday somehow is thought to have some power to destroy Christmas. But even so, some Christians are absolutely livid about the fact that we no longer keep Christ in Christmas, and (in their perception anyway) no longer keep Christmas at center stage this time of year.
What they fail to understand is that culture didn't remove Christ from Christmas. We Christians did. We accepted the transformation of Advent, the period from late November until December 24th, from a time of holy watching and waiting to one of hyper-consumerism and cultural observances. So much so that when we go to a big box store and don't hear "Merry Christmas" we see it as an attack on our faith instead of the rightful separation of the commercial from the spiritual.
But there are still those who believe Christmas is under attack. I think they're right. But I don't think stores who have "holiday sales" are the attackers. I don't think it's towns that remove Nativity scenes from parks. I don't believe it's public schools that insist that Jewish and Muslim and Buddhist kids not be asked to sing songs affirming a faith different from their own.
I believe the greatest attack on Christmas has come from within. It has come from those of us who claim our greatest hope comes from the fact that God became a person of goodness, kindness, justice, and love. And who then act nothing like that person did.
And so here is my suggestion to Christians about how to keep Christ in Christmas: this season, worry less about the holiday policies of non-religious institutions, and worry more about whether we are actually listening to, and then doing, what Christ told us to do. In short, keep Christ in Christmas by acting like Christians.
I've always found the Beatitudes a good place to start. When Jesus called his followers up to a hill and preached to them, he told them who the "blessed" were; the ones whom God has looked with favor upon and will grant joy. The ones Christ calls blessed are often the same ones we as a culture are the quickest to condemn or criticize. We blame them for their own situation, and we refuse to help them. We somehow forget that when God became incarnate and preached a sermon about who was most blessed by God, these are the ones who were named: the poor, the hungry, the oppressed, the peacemakers, the merciful, the mourners, the pure in heart, the gentle. If Christmas is about the incarnation of God, and this is what God incarnate saw fit to tell us, then this is the ultimate Christmas message.
But over the last year, how many examples have there been of Christians who could care less who God has called blessed? How many times has a Christian told a hungry man to get a job? How many times has one told a poor woman that she just needs to work harder? How many times has a Christian ridiculed the gentle or the merciful? Called the ethical naive? Mocked the peacemaker or the one who calls for justice?
How many times have we told God by our actions that we could care less what Christmas means? Because if we don't take seriously the words of the man that that baby born on Christmas came to be, we have no idea what it means to keep Christ in Christmas.
It's not the "Holiday Tree" out in a public park that makes me think Christ has been forgotten. It's the ability we Christians have this time of year to confess our faith in one breath, and then be breathtakingly small-minded or just plain mean in the next.
It doesn't have to be that way. On December 26th the red faced commentators will turn to a new target, the stores will slash their prices, and the carols will end. The cries that there is a "war on Christmas" will be packed up with the ornaments.
But the teachings of Christ won't be. They'll be here all year.
Next year I'd love to hear the rhetoric around a "war on Christmas" change its focus from intolerance for other beliefs, to concern about how we Christians have lived by those teachings in last year. Did we follow the Prince of Peace? Or did we wage a war that has nothing to do with what he taught us? Next December I'd like us to realize that keeping Christ in Christmas has nothing to do with what others choose to do, and everything to do with who we choose to be.
If we can change that focus, then what the cashier says at the checkout won't threaten our Christmas joy one bit.
Follow Rev. Emily C. Heath on Twitter: www.twitter.com/calledoutrev
Christmas — History.com Articles, Video, Pictures and Facts
be ruled by that omnipresent "fear" their whole life.
I met a woman at a Christmas party last weekend and I think we hit it off pretty well. I sent her a friend request the next day, which she accepted, and one of the first things I read was where she asked a question on whether Atheist celebrate Christmas and why. There were 8 comments where she and several of her friends were saying some completely rude and judgmental things about people. And my first thought was 'Would Jesus say these things?'. I doubt it. I could be wrong but a couple of the things that always stuck out for me in the bible was his interactions with Mary Magdalene, and also the adulterous woman brought for him to judge her. Jesus was about forgiving people and second chances.
Merry Christmas!
And Merry Christmas..........as in.........
Christ is King.
[2] "the fact that God became a person of goodness, kindness, justice, and love"
Christ and Christianity were INVENTED. Reports of gods with virgin births + deaths + resurrections were documented in stone by the Egyptians, 3-4 millenia ago. Christmas is an utter sham. --
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikhernofret_Stela -- Berlin Museum: death and resurrection of Osiris
www.stellarhousepublishing.com/luxor.html -- Annunciation, Immaculate Conception, Birth and Adoration of Horus
www.stellarhousepublishing.com/star-east-three-kings.html -- Christians named the three stars of Orion the Magi
[ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_of_Hammurabi -- Babylonian Law, plagiarised by Leviticus]
Many authors have written on the millennia of forgeries and deceit: still being uncovered. "How christianity was invented" summarises briefly SOME of the skullduggery by Emperor Constantine and Bishop Eusebius in promoting the christian product. -- http://acurseonalltheirhouses.net/2011/11/11/how-christianity-was-invented/
A BHA survey [www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12799801], reported in March, found that 65% of respondents said they were not religious; whilst of those who identified as christian, "fewer than half said they believed Jesus Christ was a real person who died, came back to life and was the son of God"
This month the 28th "British Social Attitudes" survey adds statistics on the variation of religiosity with age, sex, education, and party politics. Â http://ir2.flife.de/data/natcen-social-research/igb_html/index.php?bericht_id=1000001&index=&lang=ENG ]
Osiris battled Set (supposed similarity to Jesus' temptation in the desert. in a big wrestling match with Set trying to prove his dominance by raping him and Osiris clawing out his eye. When he couldn't rape him he self gratified and tried to trick him into eating his semen. Set than tore him up into pieces and through him into the river.
Isis found his body parts, sans phalus, and put him back together ( Supposed similarity to Jesus' resurection) again so SHE could rape him and impregnate herself (Supposed simlarity to virgin birth) and re-birth him so she could get revenge on Set.
How on earth is this anyway like Jesus' life? Nothing alike
Merry Christmas to everyone who celebrates it. Peace and Love to all.
Throw separation of church and state in their faces together with a non-existent threat of sharia law, and the pot boilith over. The santorum that comes to the surface overflows, poisoning civility, tolerance, and acceptance. Poisoning the best of American society.
www.4thought.tv/themes/can-atheists-enjoy-christmas/