Is Christmas Illegal?

"Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!" [Clement C. Moore].

The United States was founded upon the principle of religious freedom. Every school child in America knows that the pilgrims came to the New World, in large part, to be allowed to worship within their own religion and in their own way. In other words, in America, there would be no government established religion.

In recent years, there have been lawsuits against towns that display a creche on their town green. It is said that the display of a manger on town property is government endorsement or establishment of religion. This decision stands even if ALL symbols of the season are displayed there, such as inclusion of a Menorah. We have criminalized Christmas.

A few years ago, I attended a year end party hosted by a client. Several us stood in a circle, festive drinks in hand. We did not dare say "Merry Christmas" out loud, for fear of offending. Finally, one in our midst asked timidly, "Can we say 'it'?  Then, we all whispered "Merry Christmas" to each other. We have taken Christmas underground.

The Christmas concert has become the "Holiday Concert." We send out cards that say "Season's Greetings." The worst example of this lately was a card I found for sale in my local market. The front of the card showed a jolly Santa. The caption read, "Season's Greetings". Talk about mixed messages. Or covering all bases. We have euphemized Christmas.

In similar stores, I see coffee mugs for sale with snowmen or snowflakes pictured. The items are labeled "Winter Decorations."  We have "dumbed down" Christmas.

It is the same, at any time of the year, when we mention God's name. There comes a shocked hush, even a gasp. The reaction comes, not from the fear of uttering the holy, it comes from the fear of offending. We have turned "God" into an offensive word.

And now, not surprisingly, we live in a largely secular society. Christmas gift giving has reached new lows of greed and selfishness. Christmas has become an exercise in: "Tell me what you want and I will buy it for you." Recently, I heard in the news about a new trend: people registering their gift list with department stores in malls. We have materialized Christmas.

What happens when we materialize Christmas, when we secularize it, when we stigmatize it, when we criminalize it, when we euphemize it? Quite simple, we allow ourselves to lose Christmas, in all of its holy, magical, mystical, cultural and historical ways.

Worse yet:  when we treat our own Faith as a threat, then we allow others to threaten it as well. What starts as well-meaning politesse ends up as fear. And then ALL faiths are in peril.

There is a true story of Faith in peril in Billings, Montana in 1993.  In December of that year, a cinder block was thrown through the window of a Jewish family in Billings. The window, decorated with a Menorah and Stars of David, was shattered. The block landed in the room of the family's 5 year old son.

But this was a town that would not take this lying down. Children in Sunday School (yes, Christians) drew Menorah's for everyone in town to post in their windows. The local paper ran a full page picture of a Menorah so that residents could copy the page and post it. Every business in town posted a Menorah in its windows.

The racist hate group responsible for this vendetta had also been allegedly responsible for a bomb threat called into a local synagogue on their New Year. After the almost universal show of support at Hanukka, the hate group backed off and left town.


A reporter from the Billings, Montana newspaper interviewed the mother whose 5 year old son's bedroom had received the blow from the cinder block.  This mothers' conclusion:  "Never hide who you are!"

[Read the whole story of Christmas in Billings, Montana, 1993 at www.facinghistory.org; the article entitled "Not in Our Town"].

Perhaps we Christians see our God as the one true God and Jesus as the only Messiah. But if we do not become Defenders of the Faith for ALL of our brothers and sisters, we risk having no religion at all.

One Christmas, when I was in high school, a Jewish friend of mine came to Christmas Even Mass with me. She did not believe in Jesus as the Son of God but she was thrilled by the beauty of the church and the inspiring music. I always went out and bought her a Hannukah card, and she always sent me a Christmas card. In turn, I went to Friday night services at her temple, just to see what her faith was like in action.

To wish someone "Happy Holidays" comes either from fear or laziness. This Christmas, I challenge you to take an extra moment to ask the person you meet, "What do you celebrate?" Then, take a moment to wish them "Merry Christmas",  or "Happy Hanukkah" or whatever.

Welcoming all into our hearts is, to me, the true meaning of Christmas!

Love to all,

The Spiritual Devotional

(c) The Spiritual Devotional 2011. All Rights Reserved.