I've seen a lot of billboards around town that say,"Keep Christ in Christmas." They all seem to be sponsored by the Knights of Columbus, so I assume this is a nationwide campaign. I think it's fine to want to celebrate a Christmas that is Christ-focused. But what grabs my attention on these billboards is not what they say, but what they don't say.
Christmas is short for Christ's Mass. The Mass is a Roman Catholic liturgical celebration. So is the implication in these bulletin boards that the Catholic mass should also be kept? I'm sure the Knights of Columbus would reply to that with a resounding "Yes!" as they're one of the largest Catholic fraternal service organizations in the world. But what about all the people who echo the "Keep Christ in Christmas" phrase?
Back in 2005, Christmas fell on a Sunday. What a perfect time for Christ and Mass to collide. And yet the New York Times reported that many megachurches (which tend to be Protestant, so we're really talking about "services" rather than "masses") canceled their Sunday morning events. (Here's the NY Times article or if you can't view that, try this repost.)
What's my point? I think it's just that this is a band-wagon and people love to jump on it without thinking through what it means. Shall we celebrate the Christmas holiday (Christ's Mass Holy Day) as Catholics - with a midnight mass which we attend in reverence and probably also a sense of obligation? Or is this rather a phrase to be used as a weapon of the culture wars, more for bludgeoning others than anything else?
I'm not a big fan of religious bandwagoning. I'm all for jumping on the Doctor's bandwagon ("Bow ties are cool.") or a viral bandwagon (Chanukah with the Maccabeats) or perhaps even a technological bandwagon (Kindle vs. iPad). But God is not a bandwagon, and I don't believe the birthday of Jesus is a divinely sanctioned time to bludgeon others with words. If a non-Christian celebrates a time of Santa and evergreens and lights, what is that to me? They're not making a religious claim by that, so why should I respond with a religious polemic? On the other hand, it seems like a far more interesting and meaningful discussion to approach "Christ in Christmas" Christians and discuss the intersection of the birth of Christ with pagan rituals involving trees and garland or corporations' co-opted version of Saint Nicholas. If you're going to push the Christ back into Christ's Mass, then why celebrate with the non-religious trappings of the holiday rather than with... well, a Mass?
nodding vigorously, whilst remembering the days when I was very much part of the "keep Christ in Christmas" brigade, I was one of those who deliberately sent cards with nativity-related themes to non-Christian friends and colleagues, who fumed about the abundance of polar bears and penguins on the cards in the shops, muttering things like what-have-penguins-got-to-do-with-the-birth-of-Christ and so on... but since I learned more about the history of this festival - I think, no, leave them to it, they're simply continuing an age-old tradition and no, Jesus isn't "the reason for the season" (no more than he is the reason for any other season) and it's not the world around us that's hijacked a Christian festival, it's the other way around.
ReplyDeleteIt's very cool to see someone acknowledge reality this time of year. :)
ReplyDeletethanks. and have a happy whatever :)
ReplyDelete"Happy Christmas" for me (since I'm Irish) and for you as well. :)
ReplyDeletehey, don't you go trying to force me to have a happy Christmas :)
ReplyDelete"Don't go happying up my merry!" :P
ReplyDeletewouldn't dream of it :)
ReplyDeleteHere's a somewhat parallel post by The Lutheran Zephyr.
ReplyDeleteQuotes:
"Perhaps this shift in language is simply a long-awaited acknowledgment that many people in our society do not celebrate Christmas, and that many who do celebrate Christmas do so more as a cultural celebration of generosity and gift-giving than an explicitly religious reflection on the birth of Christ. Even for we who strive to mark Christmas as a religious holy day, the gift-giving and holiday customs often overshadow the nativity scene that rests on our windowsill.
"Christians can and will continue to celebrate Christmas as the birth of Christ, with or without stores wishing us a "Merry Christmas," with or without the town sponsoring a Christmas festival, with or without the courthouse lawn being adorned with a light-up nativity scene. We certainly don't need retailers or government officials to help us celebrate the Holy Day of Christ's birth. And from what I can tell, they surely aren't at war with our religious celebrations, either. No retailer or government official is coming into my house requiring me to wish my daughter "happy holidays" instead of a "merry Christmas." Nobody is getting in the way of our church holding services on Christmas Eve. We even get a federal holiday and a day or two off from work for Christmas, thanks to the government which is supposedly at war with our holiday. Jews, Muslims, and people of other faiths are not so lucky. No matter what the broader culture does in regards to Christmas, we can continue to celebrate in our homes and in our churches however we see fit.
""If the name of Christ is used less frequently in efforts to peddle shoddy merchandise, that's fine with me.
btw, I just stumbled on this old post of mine, which is kind of related:
ReplyDeletehttp://meirav.multiply.com/journal/item/592/the_true_meaning_of_Christmas_give_me_a_break
I like it. Very well said. :)
ReplyDeletethanks. I think I do some of my best writing when I'm cross :)
ReplyDeleteHaha! Then let me be your muse. :P
ReplyDeletefrom the colorado springs newspaper (i think) on christmas day. i'm hotlinking from FB. not sure how well that works.
ReplyDeletei like the "king of the hill" ad right over the "real reason" segment (which i would think is referring to the king of the universe as opposed to the king of the hill.)
hmmm, i could see the picture on the browser where i posted it. but now that i'm in a different browser, i don't see it. can you all see it?
ReplyDeletestrange. I can see it just fine.
ReplyDelete