Should Christmas Be Politically Correct?

Former New Mexican, Yahoo! Contributor Network
Nov 26, 2007 "Share your voice on Yahoo! websites. Start Here."

Ah, Christmas - the most wonderful time of the year; time for It's a Wonderful Life, Silent Night, Santa Claus, your millionth time to watch A Christmas Story and, of course, the endless shopping.

It's also the time of year when the American Family Association (www.afa.net) really gets its collective gander up. More e-mails will fill subscriber's boxes this time of year than just about any other, mainly due to the organization's vigilance about keeping "Christ" in Christmas. Personally, though I agree with the AFA about many things, this isn't one of them. Let's face it, Christmas hasn't really meant anything other than presents to most people for a long time anyway. Why are we beating a horse whose carcass was buried long ago?

To begin with, we don't know when Christ was born. Bible scholars tell us that Jesus probably was NOT born in December. I can appreciate the sentiment, and I will celebrate anytime I have a chance to show my faith. However, why do so many "Christians" decide that the month of December is the only time to give to the poor, spend time with family, and attend church service? That is really the height of hypocrisy.

I also understand the notion of "Christianity Under Attack!" I do believe that Christianity is singled out, but that is to be expected since it is the prevalent religion in America, and we do have not only religious freedom but the right to be nonreligious. It is frustrating that one of Christianity's holidays has more or less been hijacked by the retailers, but we Christians are as much to blame as anyone. How many of us refuse to take part in the gift-buying, decorating frenzy, and general busyness of the holidays?

There are some things which have gone by the wayside that I will miss and things which I do not believe should be eliminated. When I was in grade school, we learned to sing Silent Night in Spanish and German. It was a wonderful experience. Granted, I grew up in a small town, and the prominent religion was Mormonism, so we had little worry about offending anyone. My daughters will never do that. Even though we live in a conservative area of the country, we still have to abide by the politically correct notion that a non-Christian could be offended by a carol which proclaims the birth of Christ.

While I am not suggesting that a child should be forced to sing a Christmas carol which tells the story of Christ's birth, I do not believe all religious carols should be eliminated. I believe we should have an all-inclusive program. Why can't we have a program which includes secular carols, Christian carols, Jewish praise songs, Negro spirituals, and other music? Why can't we celebrate every winter holiday instead of eliminating religious Christmas carols? There are some wonderful religious and secular holidays from November to January. Instead, we have chosen to throw out the baby with the bath water.

I worry that my children are being taught that there is something shameful about being a Christian. It's almost like being a Republican in Hollywood - "Oh, you're one of those?" I feel picked on a bit at Christmas, because Santa has become more important than Jesus, because the presents are more important than the presence of family, and because we get the warm fuzzies toward people, especially the poor, that we find so easy to ignore the rest of the year.

I don't want to force retailers to have "Merry Christmas" in every ad they put out. I don't want them to force their employees to say "Merry Christmas" if they don't believe in Christ. In the same way, I don't want those things prohibited. I don't want the Salvation Army bell-ringers to be unwelcome at a store because they have a religious component in their beliefs. I don't want schools threatened by the ACLU if the music teacher decides to teach the chldren "Joy to the World" or a child in the classroom hands out cards with a Nativity scene on them.

If you are a non-Christian, would you please allow my children to sing religious Christmas carols? Will you allow me to say "Merry Christmas"? In return, I'll watch Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (again!), and smile when you say "Happy Holidays!"

Published by Former New Mexican

I am a full-time mom. My family is everything to me. I used to practice law, but now I am disabled. I now live in Texas, but I grew up in New Mexico. I am interested in current events, family life and... View profile

Should Christmas Be Politically Correct?

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