Christmas is Better Than a Season's Greeting
Thursday, December 22, 2005 at 11:48PM 
Thanks in large part to John Gibson’s book, ‘The War on Christmas’, public awareness and discourse over Christmassy greetings have sparked controversy because of the terms "Merry Christmas" and "Happy Holidays". Christmas means literally "the Mass of Christ".
Here is a brief history of Christmas in America:
In the early 17th century, a wave of religious reform changed the way Christmas was celebrated in Europe. The Godly or parliamentary party, working through and within the elected parliament in the 1640s in England clamped down on the celebration of Christmas and other saints’ and holy days, a prohibition which remained in force on paper and more fitfully in practice until the Restoration of 1660.
The pilgrims, English separatists that came to America in 1620, did not celebrate Christmas in early America. From 1659 to 1681, the celebration of Christmas was actually outlawed in Boston. Anyone exhibiting the Christmas spirit was fined five shillings.
After the American Revolution, English customs fell out of favor, including Christmas. The celebration of Christmas was practiced by Roman Catholics in America and eventually Protestants took up the celebration as well. Christmas was declared a federal holiday on June 26, 1870.
With that established, Christmas is necessary to the holiday. It is not immaterial to complain about the secularization of Christmas nor the attempts to take Christ out of the Holy Day altogether. Indeed, there is no "holy day" without "Christmas". There is no "Season" without Christ.
THE "HOLIDAY SEASON" IS NOT ABOUT KWANZAA
Kwanzaa is not an African celebration, but an African-American celebration. It is a non-religious celebration strategically coinciding with the Christian Holiday of Christmas. It is celebrated between December 26 and January 1 and focuses on black unity, community and self-determination. Kwanzaa was conceived in 1966 by Dr. Mualana Karenga, although it didn’t catch on as a holiday for several years. Dr. Karenga, a felon and anti-white activist, played a key role in Black United Front efforts serving on the founding and the executive committee of the Black Power Conferences of the 60’s, the Black United Front, the National African American Leadership Summit, the Black Leadership Retreat and the Million Man March/Day of Absence. Kwanzaa can hardly be called a "holiday", i.e., "holy day."
THE "HOLIDAY SEASON" IS NOT ABOUT ATHEISM
Atheism is the belief that there is no god. Atheists cannot celebrate Christmas, then, as we know it by virtue of their own philosophy, but can "celebrate" the Winter Solstice. No "holy day" going on with the atheists.
THE "HOLIDAY SEASON" IS NOT ABOUT WINTER SOLSTICE
Solstice means "standing-still-sun". Winter solstice is when, because of the earth’s tilt, the northern hemisphere is leaning farthest away from the sun, and therefore the daylight is the shortest. The sun has its lowest arc in the sky. Winter Solstice includes a 12 day observance that usually begins around December 21 or 22. This period can be appreciated by all but is celebrated by mostly pagans, secularists and some agnostics and atheists. While it legitimately occurs during the Christmas Season, Winter Solstice cannot be called a "holiday", either.
THE "HOLIDAY SEASON" IS NOT ABOUT HANUKKAH/CHANUKAH (although, getting warmer!)
Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, is a celebration of the victory of the Maccabees and the rededication of the Jerusalem Temple. It also commemorates the miracle of the oil that burned for 8 days. The celebration usually falls in the end of November or beginning of December but varies since the Jews base their year on the lunar calendar as opposed to the solar calendar. This year, Hanukkah falls on December 25, 2005 - January 02, 2006 "Chanukah is not a very important religious holiday. The holiday’s religious significance is far less than that of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Passover, and Shavu’ot. It is roughly equivalent to Purim in significance, and you won’t find many non-Jews who have even heard of Purim! Chanukah is not mentioned in Jewish scripture; the story is related in the book of Maccabbees, which Jews do not accept as scripture. The only religious observance related to the holiday is the lighting of candles." Hanukkah/Chanukah can be considered a "holiday" and is appreciated by Christians since, without Judaism, there would be no Christianity.
THE "HOLIDAY SEASON" IS ABOUT CHRISTMAS!
(for the low-down on St. Nicholas and Christian tradition in Christmas, link here)
Some say that the "separation of Church & State" make Christmas problematic. The so called separation of Church and State is not a constitutional tenet but a reference in a private letter from Thomas Jefferson to a minister. In fact, Jefferson also said in the very same letter:
-"Our sentiments are uniformly on the side of religious liberty"
-"May God strengthen you.."
-"And may the Lord preserve you safe from every evil and bring you at last to his heavenly kingdom through Jesus Christ our Glorious Mediator."
The Declaration of Independence states that "all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
The United States is a government of the people, by the people, for the people Over 80% of Americans claim Christian affiliation or preference, although whether 80% of Americans act like Christians is still in dispute. Christians have no reason to limit their freedom expression and worship to their homes. The Constitution allows for freedom OF religion and the free exercise THEREOF, and the church is to be protected by the state, not pushed into their homes to worship out of the public eye.
To take Christ out of Christmas is to have no "happy holiday", because it is no longer a holy day. It is a federally approved gift giving occasion which the federal government would be hard pressed to support. The "holiday" would cease to exist because it would have no foundation nor merit. It’s an all or nothing proposition. You cannot minimize Christ in this holiday or it ceases to exist at every level, and all celebrate it in some form or other.
To deny Christian roots in America is foolish when those roots, like them or not, are what has given the minority of pagans and heathen the safety of expression not afforded many other cultures and countries. They should thank a Christian every day for public expressions of religion because it affords them their own freedom of expression.
If pagans, atheists and secularists are offended by "Merry Christmas", they should go to work or neglect family during Dec. 24-25. The Christian holiday, Christmas, benefits EVERYONE and even they have the luxury of family time and a paid vacation. They are foolish to complain. There is nothing offensive about Christmas… a newborn baby being born to a holy family.
While some feel Christians are unrealistic in their desire to preserve the salutation, "Merry Christmas", and in fact it is mocked by secularists, all that is needed is a swift look backwards in history to see that the assault on Christianity in America occurs in baby-steps. Prayer taken out of public schools, religious private schools forced to hire personnel whose lifestyles overtly contradict religious values, the Supreme Court hearing cases to limit the free exercise of religion and the ACLU’s relentless pursuit to abolish it in the public square, despite the undeniable foundation Christianity has played in the formation of our government and law.
If we don’t keep Christmas as it was intended to be, that is, to insist that it be declared (if not celebrated) as the birth of Jesus Christ, then no one will insist and it will decline into a secular momento. The fact is that all other groups who could be offended by a friendly "Merry Christmas" depend upon the holiday to celebrate their own beliefs, or else December 25th would be a working day as any other. The sharing, gift giving and "peace on earth" is ONLY the Christian message.
So don’t be afraid to give Jesus His propers this "holiday season". MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
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While some feel Christians are unrealistic in their desire to preserve the salutation, âMerry Christmasâ, and in fact it is mocked by secularists, all that is needed is a swift look backwards in history to see that the assault on Christianity in America occurs in baby-steps. -
As I am involved with the usual "Christmas Cheer" with my little family this weekend, I will not be posting another article until next week. HOWEVER, my friend Amy Proctor has two great articles regarding Christmas that I think everyone will want to read:
Reader Comments (68)
I take this post to wish you Merry CHRISTMAS and a New Year full of peace and joy for you and all your family and friends.
I make it extensive to all the people posting and commenting this blog.
Best wishes from Spain to the whole world.
It is the absence of belief in God, not (necessarily) the belief that there are no gods.
To me the special thing about christmas is that it is a time of year where nobody raises any eybrows at you for taking time off work to visit people you actually like. That's quite precious by itself.
Merry xmas.
BTW-wikipedia is worse than useless as any Tom, Dick or Harriet can alter an entry to suit themselves.
Whatever, it's not useless.
The important distinction is lack of belief vs lack of god... j rob, you're following a red herring.
Would that be better or worse than a simple Merry Christmas?
P.S. I left you a message on the other thread jez.
wikipedia is WORSE than useless, when it combines "correct" entries with "incorrect" entries! As JRob said, "--any Tom, Dick or Harriet can alter an entry to suit themselves."
How do you know what is real or not realthere, and how can we trust someone who uses this wikipedia as a reference "fact". If you are as "knowledgeable" as you would have us believe, please use "legitimate" references please.
Are you related to Dan Rather or Jason Blair? lol
Just wanted to wish you and yours a very merry Christmas!
And of course a happy and blessed New Year.
God Bless,
Detroit Patriotette
RAM, anyone who uses a single reference work and treats it as "FACT" is misguided, imo. I'm not saying that wiki should replace your bibles.
If you use your head, wiki is a great resource. No resource is perfect. It's openness has certain advantages, which I'd have thought being right-wing you would all be quick to appreciate. I like using it because the process is open -- on any entry, I can easily read the discussion around the artical and evaluate the quality of the contributors. Eg. if there is a long-standing disagreement with firmly entrenched camps, that's probably indicative of an article in constant flux which frequently switches sides. Otherwise, I can see the direction and arguments which guided the contributors to a stable compromise... don't dismiss it just because it's anarchic. Imperfect is not the same is useless, still less "worse than useless". Read resources with some intelligence guys...
all i've done is correct Amy's mistake about the meaning of the word "atheism". I'm right (about the technical meaning of the word). That's an absolute, I don't know what you're getting at.
or are you talking about my championing the wikipedia despite the fact that it might have errors (Are there any available books which are error-free?). Honestly, I don't understand your complaint PCD.
As I originally said, if you're saying atheism is the belief that there is no god, not necessarily the fact that there is no god and you yourself believe there is no god, what's the difference?
The classical definition of atheism is what I quoted and I stand by it. I will look further into it when I have time, but it appears to ME that you are perhaps intermingling atheism with agnosticism.
Check the wiki, which has a summary of the etymology (note the history of the words "theist" and "deist" to see why this is not a perfect way to settle the matter), and also http://www.philosophyofreligion.info/definitions.html which defines theist, atheist and agnostic.
Also, it sounds almost like 6 of one, 1/2 dozen of the other. The site you quoted from reads:
=====================================
Definition: “Atheist”
Atheism is usually taken to be belief that god does not exist. More recently, however, some atheists have attempted to define atheism in more cautious terms, as nothing more than the absence of belief in God. This has complicated matters, introducing an ambiguity into the definition of “atheism”. One solution to this ambiguity is to distinguish between “weak atheism” and “strong atheism”.
-Weak atheism is defined as the absence of belief in God.
-A strong atheist, on the other hand, is someone who has the positive belief that God does not exist.
=============================================
Not to offend, but I think the difference is ridiculous and far from absolute. Both are the absence of belief in God. One stronger then the other. The dictionary defines it in absoulute terms.
Both, incidentally, are unfortunate.