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Debunking the War on Christmas [1]

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Date: 2023-12-09

“Christ, the Savior, is born. Christ the Savior is born.” The lyric is from “Silent Night,” which is not the only Christmas song with explicitly Christian content that we hear in supermarkets and malls. There’s “O Holy Night,” which has “Oh night divine, Oh night when Christ was born.” And there’s “The First Noel,” which has the line “Born is the King of Israel!”

But not everyone is Christian. Not everyone believes that Jesus is the Son of God, or a Savior, or the King of Israel. Tough. Such people just have to suck it up and take it. No whining allowed! Because if you say “Happy Holidays” to some Christians instead of “Merry Christmas,” they get their panties in a terrible twist and start pouting (“You better not cry. You better not pout.”). “There’s a war on Christmas!” they whine. In fact, “There’s a war on Christianity itself!” some of them add.

OK, let’s pretend there really is a War on Christmas. In fact, let’s pretend its enemies are attacking Christianity itself. How should a Christian respond?

Someone who naively believes Christians follow Christ might feel confident that Christians will love their enemies, will turn the other cheek, will forgive seven times seventy, will forgive as they wish to be forgiven, will not judge. Dream on. Self-described “Christians” who get butt hurt over “Happy Holidays” will have none of that. Rather than responding with love and forgiveness, they respond with anger and hate. “How dare you remind me that not everyone is Christian!” they seem to say. “How dare you! Christ is the Reason for the Season.”

Only he’s not. The reason for the season is the celebration of the Winter Solstice. Its celebration predates the birth of Jesus. By millennia.

Nowadays, when night comes, we turn on the light. When it gets cold, we turn up the thermostat. And when we want food, we drive to the supermarket. For our ancestors, it was very different. They grew their food on their own land and lived much closer to nature. They were keenly aware that the sun gets weaker in the Fall. It rises later in the morning. It darkens sooner at night. The days and nights grow colder. The crops stops growing. If the trend continues, everyone will die a cold death of starvation.

The sun is dying! Some ancient peoples would create huge bonfires as encouragement. Wake up, Sun! We’re rooting for you! Then, glory be! The great day came when the sun was out just a bit longer than yesterday. Ole Sol is on his way back! The Winter Solstice has arrived! Now, the sun will rise just a bit sooner and set just a bit later. THE SUN HAS BEEN REBORN. WE ARE NOT ALL GOING TO DIE COLD AND STARVED.

Time for a party.

And parties there were, throughout the Northern Hemisphere. Well before the birth of Jesus. And while we don’t know exactly when Jesus was born, we do know he wasn’t born in December, when sensible shepherds are keeping warm in their homes at night. Rather, the Bible says that Jesus was born in the Spring when shepherds are out at night watching their flock, helping with the birthing of baby sheep.

You better watch out

You better not cry

You better not pout

I'm telling you why

I’ll tell you why: because your war on Christmas is a bogus issue meant to keep you angry and politicized. If anyone is insulting Christ or Christmas, it seems to me it’s the self-described “Christians” who direct hate and anger towards neighbors they are supposed to love as themselves. Just as Jesus would want them to? I doubt it.

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