We only cheat ourselves when we take Christ out of Christmas
As Christmas draws nearer—oh, whoops, I’m so sorry, I just committed a huge taboo. I used the term “Christmas.” Forgive me for invoking such an offensive word. I’m sure I’ve just earned myself a phone call from the American Civil Liberties Union, because heaven forbid I use terminology other than “holiday”—or, even worse, I discuss the actual meaning of Christmas.
The Christmas that we know today, of course, is the product of centuries of mixing traditions. The holiday has its roots in the early years, when theologians began purporting theories on the birth date of Jesus. In various regions the celebration was observed on different days, and historians believe that the Christmas feast was introduced in Constantinople in 379 A.D. and spread to other major cities within a few decades.
Over time the Christmas holiday continued to evolve. After Anglo-Saxons were converted to Christianity around the seventh century A.D., several pagan traditions were incorporated into the celebration, most notably the Christmas tree. The holiday took on its name, which literally means “Christ’s mass,” in the Middle Ages. Many medieval calendars were crafted around it (giving way to periods we know as Advent as well as the Twelve Days of Christmas), and the celebration began to include huge festivities that involved decorations, caroling and gift-giving.
Whatever the specifics, and whatever kind of evolution has occurred, it’s clear that Christmas was based on one key element: Christ. It wasn’t based on Santa Claus, “Jingle Bells,” or sales at Macy’s. It was based on—get ready for another taboo—Jesus Christ.
As much as our society has embraced the “holiday season” in all of its materialistic glory, it has run from any hint of Jesus. Countless lawsuits have been filed to ban school choirs from singing religious songs that make any mention of God, the Wise Men or Bethlehem.
In 2004, a Texas school district barred its students from handing out Christmas pencils as gifts with the word “Jesus” on them (the school district also forbade students from wearing red and green to a “Winter Party”). Regardless of separation of church and state issues, we’re just deathly afraid of using the name Jesus as anything more than the occasional swear word.
Hollywood seems to be afraid of the real meaning of Christmas, too. Remember that beloved cartoon from our childhood, “Rugrats”? The creators aired an episode about Passover that told the story of Moses leading his people out of Egypt, and an episode about Hanukkah that told the story of the Macabees. But when it came time for the Christmas episode, there was no baby Jesus, no Mary and Joseph, and no angels. There was just a fat guy in a red suit. Apparently kids are free to hear the truth about every holiday as long as it’s not Christmas—remember, we don’t want to offend anyone.
By secularizing the Christmas holiday, we don’t just earn ourselves extra stress and empty wallets. We dilute a beautiful message of love and salvation. I’m going to commit yet another taboo and tell you the true meaning of Christmas: God loved the world enough to send His son to earth, who would eventually die on the cross so that all who accept Him may have eternal life. Wow, I’ll take that over a Best Buy gift card any day, even if it is politically incorrect.
This country is obsessed with gifts, especially this time of year, and the rule is always “the bigger, the better.” But what’s bigger or better than a gift from God Himself? Why wouldn’t we want to welcome something so wonderful that it could never be bought in the mayhem of Black Friday?
This isn’t about issues of church and state, of legal versus illegal. This is about our society missing out on something beautiful because it’s investing its time and energy in all the wrong places. Deep down, we know there’s more to life—and the “holiday season”—than high credit card bills. We just choose not to see it.
So this year, I’m wishing the ACLU a very merry Christmas and reminding them that Jesus loves them. If that offends them, too bad, they can’t get me—because I’m not singing about it in a school choir.
Kathryn Manning is a senior history and political science major.
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