Putting the Christ back in Christmas
Saw this bumper sticker here in Houston this week, and I cannot help but applaud that sentiment. Over the last decade or so, Americans have felt increasingly threatened by Christianity. You would have thought the September 11th attacks were masterminded by Jack Van Impe, or that we had a few hundred thousand troops in Vatican City, by all the bias and mockery of Christianity in pop-culture and media.
Maybe the problem is not Christianity, but Christians. There are some real Christian nuts out there, and they really freak people out. But there are some real Islamic nuts and secular nuts out there too. In fact, I’ll see your Alabama, and raise you Pakistan and San Francisco. I think what really gets under people’s skin is that we Christians are going to heaven and they are not. But if you are not Christian, then obviously you know (think) that’s not true. Remember, all Kirk Cameron is trying to do is save your soul. Just respectfully disagree with him if you have to and move on.
No matter what the reason, Christmas today is more forcefully referred to as the Holidays. The word God is stricken from more written and oral American traditions. And the Cross is banned from more public and even private properties. However some of the other great American religions and traditions remain just as protected and promoted.
I love and respect other American religions and traditions. Detroit City Hall should and probably does have a Kwanza display during the holidays. What ever governing body represents Bayside Queens – its public building should and probably does have a Hanukkah display. And when I come for the lighting ceremonies for each, I won’t be offended if there is no Christmas tree. To the contrary, I would love to wear African headdress or a yarmulke, and experience a culture and celebration that is not my own. It doesn’t matter. Jesus will forgive me.
So, let the towns and people of this country, who last time I checked were still predominantly Christian, have their Christmas. Give them their nativity scenes. And join in the religious hoo-ha. Remember, most of you are not Irish, but you come out in green every March 17th. Do the same for Christmas, Santa is watching. Merry Christmas and Happy Festivus.
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Is the bible open for revision on truth claims it makes or not?
For instance, God made light on day 1, but waited til day 4 to make the sun and the stars. Any chance this and other overt untruths might be corrected by Christian leadership?
Once the tome recounting the mythology of christianity is placed on the proper shelves in book stores (namely fiction) then I think your secular “enemies” will calm down…
“I love and respect other American religions…” How quaint, I bet he doesn’t even realize what he did here…
Also you say “I think what really gets under people’s skin is that we Christians are going to heaven and they are not.” … Uh, no, that’s definitely not it. Secularists would be happy to let you revel in your fantasy if you would let the country get on with its business. No, what really gets under our skin is that Christians’ real goal (perhaps unspoken) is to include biblically inspired language, concepts and ideas in legislation and amendments. Not OK.
Oh, Kirk Freaking Cameron? You know, his brand of Christianity thinks that CATHOLICS are going to hell. So, as a Catholic, yeah, that might get under my skin.
This is written with particularity to the pseudo-intellect that failed to realize and recognize that the “concepts and ideas in legislation and amendments” ARE based on “biblically inspired language”, particularly the Ten Commandments and the Christian maxims: Do Unto Others as you would have them do unto you, and Love thy Neighbor as thyself.
This country was founded on Christian principles and were steeped in Christian ideals. Moreover, the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence were rooted in Christianity, upon which the very foundation of our nation was built.
These “building blocks” of our Democratic Republic were cornerstoned on Christian precepts and Biblical inspiration, not driven to include “biblically inspired language”, rather to be driven and inspired by the Christian religious Mores, Morals and Values that seek to provide an anchor and a compass to weather any storm that our nation may find itself as a nation, both on an internal level and on an external level. It sets the bar of what to strive for to reach these ideals, forcing high moral standards upon itself for the betterment of its citizens, its states, its governing bodies and as it relates globally.
The founding fathers were Christians, some more than others. The believed in one God. The drafted documents upon which we base our freedoms today on the Bible and Christian tradions and teachings. To try to whitewash the past because it is less convenient to have to live up to these standards is not an acceptable alternative, nor is it what has made this country great. To ignore Christian maxims and principles, the very maxims and principles that created the documents we so reverantly hold dear and the freedoms we cherish particularly as we spend more and more time living abroad, is absurd and undermines these very documents and ideals.
So yes, Rob, go ahead and put Christ back in Christmas, because “In God We Trust” as “One Nation, Under God” we have recognized that we “are endowed by [our] Creator with certain unaienable Rights…” including the right to find balance between the secular world and the religious ideals necessary to move forward as a great nation.
Coleen –
1.) The wisdom of “Do unto others…” predates Christianity and is also found in nearly all other religions. Not to mention it is pretty self-evident, I can arrive at that conclusion easily through secular logic.
2.) Commandments 1, 2, and 3 are not observed in any form in our legal system.
Commandment 4, 6, 9, and 10 are either not legislated on or not enforced legislation in our country
That leaves Commandments 5,7 and 8; No murdering, no stealing, and no lying. These are legislated on, but contrary to the commandment we do allow murder in certain situations, and lying is only punishable when it is done under oath. Stealing is forbidden mostly because our capitalist values honor private property and stealing undermines this value, gods opinion of stealing is not considered in the justification of this law in our judicial system. So 30% of the document vaguely resembles our legal system. Not much of a “Foundation” or “Cornerstone,” huh?
3.) Bill of Rights and Declaration of Independence are not Christian-based, they were primarily based on works of John Locke and other Scottish Philosophers who were largely Empiricists (If you read about empiricism you’ll soon learn it is rather incompatible with religion).
The Bill of Rights’ only mention of anything remotely close to Christianity is in Amendment One, which simply uses the word religion and effectively proclaims no one religion more important than another and removes federal ability to legislate respecting any particular religion. This is not based on Christianity or endorsing it in any way.
As for the Declaration of Independence; first of all it is not a constitutional or legal document only an historic document since it predates the constitution. It uses theistic language twice: “equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them.” This puts natural law on equal grounds with “supernatural law.” Not to mention “Nature’s God” is more like a deistic god or a pantheistic God. It’s not a Christian god that’s for sure.
The other instance: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.” Here the point is being made that there are self evident rights of each person by virtue of being human. The Creator is a theistic concept but not necessarily Christian, there are plenty of other religions with creators. Again its more likely a deistic or pantheistic Creator, the more prominent founders were deists after all.
BTW, I ignore christian maxims all the time and get by just fine because it is possible to arrive at good ethics and be a good American relying only on reason and without any input from a god. This is not a threat to our country, but a boon. In fact the majority of the world population functions without Christianity. I bet you’ll find that our country as a whole too is slowly waking up to this and will begin legislating accordingly. Such things as legalizing same-sex marriage, decriminalizing drug use, and removing phrases like “In God we Trust” or “Under God” from public domains will serve to broaden American liberty, not shrink it.
The Founding Fathers were NOT Christian, not in any meaningful sense of the word or belief. Some were barely deist, and Jefferson was possibly the most skeptical of them all. Christian zealots of today seem to feel that by dint of constantly repeating the untruth they can make it a truth, but it doesn’t work that way. In any case, even if all of them had been Bible-walloping holy-rollers, it would not affect America’s status today in regard to being (or not) a Christian nation. Just as it would not affect that status if none of them were Christian.
lol, i think Coleen got scared off, and Rob O’Hara has yet to defend his diction…
I think all Christians should definitely keep Christ in Christmas. Maybe they can go somewhere and do this full-tilt for about a month. We will be here when they get back.
WJV, of course Coleen got scared off. She doesn’t want to engage someone heated enough to spend their time on 3 posts and 10 paragraphs on a pretty ligh-hearted blog — almost a full week after the original post mind you. But keep writing. It is a good discussion.