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Happy Christmas to All! [1]
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Date: 2022-12-25
Not everybody recognizes the name Edwin Markham (1852-1940), but it is likely that you remember one of his poems:
“He drew a circle that shut me out-
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.
But love and I had the wit to win:
We drew a circle and took him in!”
Markham also wrote:
“We have committed the Golden Rule to memory; let us now commit it to life.”
(The Golden Rule, of course, is found at Matthew 7:12, and says, “whatever you want people to do to you, do also to them.” Contrary to one common belief, it does not say “Do unto others before they do it unto you.”)
On this Christmas Day, 2022, it can be easy to dislike and reject everything connected to Christian beliefs and celebrations because of the evil things that too many people have done “in the name of Christ.” But that goes against a core principle of modern liberalism, which states that every individual should be judged on their own personal qualities, not on the perceived “typical” qualities of the ethnic group, gender, or religion that they belong to. At its best, Christianity teaches that the highest priority of every individual is that they love others, and that “others” includes not only their neighbors, but also the strangers and foreigners among them, and even their enemies. Further, Christians are told never to answer evil with evil, but to overcome evil with good. Jesus of Nazareth not only taught this to his followers, he lived it to the maximum, going so far as to pray from the cross on which he was hung, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
Of course, despite the fact that the Roman Emperors and Medieval Europe never got the memo, Biblical teachings do not anywhere include the idea that Christians should ever force others to follow the Christian faith against their will; according to both the Christian Bible and American law, every person is free to choose whether or not to be a follower of Christ (or Buddha, or Muhammad, or whomever, or nobody at all). But today is a special day of celebration for most Christians, (although some dissent, on the grounds that the pagan and Saturnalian roots of the holiday make it suspect. However, I personally subscribe to the Senator Samuel Hayakawa school of thought on this matter: We stole it fair and square, so why should we give it back?)
Be that as it may, today I extend Christmas greetings, and pass along the angels’ hopeful announcement of “Peace on earth to all people of good will.”
Merry Christmas to all!
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