Merry Christmas and other seasonal thoughts

Originally published in Reader Weekly, December 22, 2005

For yet another year, Christmas is controversial.  If there isn’t a ruckus about the commercialization of Christmas, there is a ruckus about Christmas not being “inclusive”.  Some big box stores have told their “associates” to not wish “guests” “Merry Christmas”; instead the associates are to wish “Happy Holidays”.  Some think that this is great because we are a “diverse” nation, others think it is terrible because we are a “Christian” nation, and yet others, possibly the majority, don’t care.

As a freethinker and sentimentalist, I think both sides are expecting too much of other people.  I personally don’t believe the Christian overlay to the winter solstice.  On the other hand, I love the traditions that have derived from that Christian overlay.  It doesn’t bother me to sing “Joy the world, the Lord has come” and other carols because the music is great and it brings back memories of many Christmas celebrations over the years.

Those who want “inclusivity” seem to think that a dominant culture is a dominating culture.   Because a larger portion of a society believes one way and acts on it in any fashion, then that portion is dominating all those who don’t believe that way.  That is, by saying “Merry Christmas” to everyone, you are making them believe in Christmas.

Some of those who don’t want others to practice such “inclusivity” seem to think that a dominant culture has a right to be a dominating culture.  That is, you will say “Merry Christmas” whether you believe it or not.

I think both sides could take a lesson from Irving Berlin, the son of a cantor who fled the anti-Semitic pogroms in Russia.  Irving Berlin wrote both “White Christmas” and “Easter Parade”.  He didn’t believe in either holiday, but he helped those who did celebrate them with joy.

To paraphrase Abraham Lincoln, you can please all of the people some of the time, and you can please some of the people all of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time.

Rigidity in viewpoint came up recently in another context.  A letter writer to the Star Tribune called Garrison Keillor anti-Christian as well as all of MPR or NPR.  That was a surprise to me.  Garrison Keillor may pillory hypocrites or gently chide those who have feet of clay, but all the evidence I’ve seen indicates he has the deepest respect for those who are sincere in their beliefs.  For as long as I can remember, he has often included hymns and religious singers in his shows.  Many MPR programs include religious music, including the annual “Festival of nine lessons and carols” from King’s College in Oxford.

Rigidity is found all across the political spectrum.  Many think that Kevin Thompson is hard-nosed and uncharitable.  So what do they do; they write hard-nosed and uncharitable letters about Kevin.  Hey, he stopped writing for the Reader Weekly; be charitable and let him be.

Speaking of Garrison Keillor, he recently gave an interesting view of Herod’s slaughter of the innocents – it was anti-terrorism.  In Herod’s viewpoint, Jesus was a threat to his power; therefore he had to take steps to reduce that threat.  Keillor went on to say the message of Christmas is that the weak shall prevail over the powerful.

Holiday spirits of another kind abound at this time of the year both in and out of the news.  Before I left for an employee party I decided I would have two beers while there.  When I left for the party it was snowing heavily; I decided I would have only one beer.  As I drove up Thompson Hill I saw either an accident or a disabled truck on the downhill side that had brought traffic to a crawl in one lane; I decided I would have no beers.  When I drove down the hill two hours later, the road was in somewhat better shape, but I was glad I held myself to my promise.

Holiday spirits are not the only thing to be wary of at this time of the year.  I often approach curves in the winter with the thought, “Somebody coming the other way could skid over the center line.”  As expected, my thoughts are usually not realized.  Except for twice in recent memory.  The second was this past week at Miller Hill Mall.  I approached a sharp turn to my left by Northstar Ford.  There was a huge pile of snow on the inside of the corner.  Would somebody be crossing the center line?  Sure enough, a car coming too fast for the conditions started coming into my lane.   I was going rather slowly and stopped without a problem.  The other driver managed to recover from her error, but she drove by me like I wasn’t even there.  I wonder if she even knew how close she came to spoiling both of our evenings, and holidays.

Hah! Funbug!

Whew!  Thanks to all our efforts we have brought the sun back.  The days will be growing longer, warming the earth, and allowing crops to be planted.  Then they will be harvested and stored, ready for the cold season that will follow.  Then when the amount of daylight is at its shortest, we will make our celebrations once again to bring the sun back.  So it has been and so it shall always be.

Oh, but the ways that we observe this annual ritual!  It has almost nothing to do with bringing the sun back and a lot to do with our own beliefs.

For some it is to celebrate the birth of Jesus.  However, many biblical scholars think that he was born in September not December.  Others say that the Roman Church moved the celebration of the birth of Jesus to the winter solstice to compete with the various pagan celebrations.

The church “lost” in three ways.  First, many pagan symbols became attached to it.  Consider the Christmas tree, holly wreaths, and mistletoe, all celebrations of life continuing in the darkest time of the year.  Second, secular celebrations of feasting, drinking, dancing, and singing have proliferated.  Many forget that the Puritans banned the celebration of Christmas because of these celebrations.  Third, commercial interests have taken over much of the attention of the season: buy, sale, the perfect gift...

Ah, gifts!  How greedy I was as a kid.  The department store catalogs arrived and I immediately went to the toy sections.  I would want that and that and that.  What I would give to others was a minor distraction.  Now, it seems that I only consider what I might give to others.  What others might give me is a minor distraction.

We have had a major distraction for the last few decades.   It seems to me that “political correctness” came first and then a reaction to it.  “Merry Christmas” was not considered inclusive because not everybody celebrated Christmas.  We should say “Season Greetings” and “Happy Holidays”; these are supposedly more neutral and less offensive.  Now we have the counter-reaction about the “War on Christmas”.

I should back up a bit.  The objections were not just to the words used; many objected to the manger scenes erected on government property.  If you think about it, this is an indirect “religious Test” that is forbidden in the Constitution for “legislators” and “all executive and judicial officers”.  In order to meet “public approval” city councils had to erect mangers.  Conversely, if they did not erect the mangers, they would receive “public disapproval”.  The Constitution saves them from responsibility for either choice.

Taken together, the vapid greetings and the prohibition of governmental endorsement of Christmas have been seen by some as a “War on Christmas”.  But are they really?  Are those who consider themselves as celebrating Christmas as a religious observance being prohibited from making their own private observances in home or church?  That’s almost like saying that government wages a war on Hanukkah because cities don’t erect Menorahs and greet each other with “Mazel tof!”

One could consider the phrase “Merry Christmas” as a “War on Christmas”.  If you take the Puritan view that Christmas was a time of contemplation of the birth of Jesus and all it meant to Christians, then any suggestion of merriment was counter to that contemplation.  The Puritans saved their merriment for other times; they did like their beer and feasts.

The celebration of Christmas and other winter solstice celebrations have widened to over a month of holidays around the world.  The vagaries of various calendars and the adaptability of many cultures have spread festivals of light from late November until early January.  This year Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of light, was celebrated on the same day as Thanksgiving.  Christmas was once celebrated on the winter solstice.  Then with the Gregorian calendar reform the winter solstice was moved from the 25th of December to the 21st or 22nd.  But somebody neglected to change Christmas from the 25th.  The Orthodox Church didn’t move to the Gregorian calendar and celebrates Christmas on January 6th.

We could say that Christmas has gotten out of control of any one group.  There are those who celebrate Christmas quietly and simply in church or at home.  There are those who enjoy Christmas religious music but don’t believe any of the words.  There are those who attend parties and parties.  There are those who give lavishly to others.  There are those who use Christmas as a time to give to the less fortunate.  There are those who promote the sale of merchandise for giving to others.  There are those who are not Christian but create a whole Christmas culture, for instance, the Japanese.

Whatever, I hope you had a Merry Christmas, and I wish you a Happy New Year!

Also published in the Reader Weekly, 2013-12-26, at http://duluthreader.com/articles/2013/12/26/2665_party_of_one-10.