Each December, we are reminded that America is a post-Christian nation as evidenced by the effort to erase Christmas from our culture. Department stores are now requiring employees to say, “Happy Holidays;” school students get a “winter break;” Christmas parades have been replaced by “holiday parades;” Christmas trees have been replaced by “holiday trees,” and Christmas light displays are now referred to as “holiday lights.”The attack on Christmas is more than a simplistic Scrooge mentality. It is symptomatic of the anti-Christian sentiment that is widespread in America. This sentiment just seems more obvious at Christmas as suggested by talk show host, Bill O’Reilly’s statement, “There is an anti-Christian bias in this country, and it is more on display in the Christmas season than any other time.” Author Don Feder displays the same sentiment as he states, “You’d have an easier time setting up a nativity scene in Saudi Arabia than in most public parks.”
Now don’t misunderstand, the anti-Christian bias extends far beyond Christmas.
Battles are raging over Ten Commandments displays, efforts to remove God from the Pledge of Allegiance, banning prayer from public events, and even redefining marriage. Rosie O’Donnell recently compared radical Christians to the Muslims who flew the planes into the World Trade Center; Keith Ellison, Democratic Congressman from Minnesota, desired to be sworn into office using the Koran; Ford Motor Company endorsed the defeat of Constitutional amendments banning same sex marriage; and the list goes on!
The widespread attacks against religion in America have been ongoing and subtle. People offer their annual uproar about greetings such as “Happy Holidays” and celebrations of Santa, but neither is new. What is new is the readily accepted replacement of nativity scenes by decorations pertaining to Kwanzaa and Labafana, which are indicators that people are forgetting the true meaning of Christmas.
Clemson University religion professor, Nancy Hardesty, recently reported her belief that even Christians have forgotten the meaning of Christmas as a religious event. Could this be true? Christians are launching attacks against those taking Christ out of Christmas; but as author Matt Friedeman states, “Christians too often love to tackle "Happy Holiday" type issues because it diverts attention from the truth of our collective lives.” He states, “We are evangelicals without evangelism, Christians without compassion, and saints without a sanctifying presence.” Could it be that this secularization of culture, the removal of Christ from Christmas is ultimately the fault of Christians who have lost sight of the true meaning of not only Christmas; but also the true meaning of Christianity?
The effort to save Christmas must start within the Christian community. Christians must go back to the biblical foundation and become proactive in telling people about God’s love for mankind and the gift of His Son. If we fail to do so, we can only blame ourselves when our children come home singing, “Have Yourself A Merry Little Holiday,” or “I’m Dreaming of a White Holiday.” Worse yet, when they don’t even know that Jesus is the “Reason for the season!”
