“And so it came to pass that a choir of elves appeared in the night sky singing, ‘We bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people for on this night Santa Claus is coming to town.’”
Can you imagine the Christmas story being told this way? Well, that’s exactly how it is being told in America by politically correct folks, including the occupants of the White House.
They insist on celebrating Christmas without CHRIST. That, of course, leaves only “MAS” – Mainly About Santa. Or Marketing And Sales.
In December 2005, William A. Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, mounted a media blitz to criticize Pres. George W. Bush for excluding the word “Christmas” in the official White House holiday card sent out – you guessed it – on the occasion of Christmas.
The card stated, “May the light of the season shine bright in your heart now and in the new year.” But it avoided mentioning Christmas.
Said, Donohue, “At a time when a lot of Christians today are very upset about the way our society is dumbing down Christmas, they certainly don’t want to see the president of the United States chiming in. We know him as a man of courage. So why is he caving in to the forces of political correctness?”
According to Donohue, it was Pres. Bill Clinton who first did the “dumbing down” of Christmas by sending out a “holiday card” that avoided mentioning “the C word.”
In this regard, Donohue was corrected by the news anchors in his TV appearances. According to them, Clinton and Bush had “not made a departure from the practices of previous administrations.” In the final six years of Pres. Ronald Reagan’s term, the White House also sent holiday cards that did not mention “Christmas.”
The White House confirmed that in an official statement, pointing out that the Bush holiday card was no different from holiday cards sent out by the office of the president “for the last five years and they went to people of many faiths.”
Pressing the point, anchor Miles O’Brien of CNN’s “American Morning,” asked Donohue, “What if Jesus got this card, what would he do? Would he be angry about it? He’d be okay with it, wouldn’t he?”
To which Donohue replied: “Well, maybe he would, but I’ve never met him.”
It was an exchange between Dumb and Dumber. Apparently, Donohue, despite his spirited crusade on behalf of Christmas, was also unclear on the concept.
Of course, Jesus, the birthday celebrant (because that is what Christmas is – a birthday celebration) would not have been angry. He would have simply heaved a deep sigh, looked up to Heaven, and said, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”
But there’s more to the issue than that of political correctness. Christmas is a Christian holiday, just as Hanukkah is a holiday of the Jews, Ramadan of Islam and Kwanzaa of the Blacks.
Would the Jews, Muslims and Blacks feel you are celebrating their holidays with them if you didn’t mention Hanukkah, Ramadan and Kwanzaa by name?
The political correctness police insist that a large segment of the American population would take offense if Christmas were to be observed as a religious holiday. But that is exactly what it is.
Of course, there’s nothing wrong with celebrating a holiday for Santa Claus. It’s not even wrong coinciding its observance with that of the Birth of Christ. But Santa’s tale is different from the Nativity story – and the latter has to be told for the very reason it was conceived in the first place.
The reason the Nativity came about is something the majority of Americans and the rest of the world, even non-Christians, are familiar with. The Messiah had been long in coming. His advent had been prophesied in the Old Testament. He would come to redeem a sinful world.
And then on a silent and holy night, when all was calm and all was bright, in a little town of Bethlehem, a child was born in a manger. His birth was highlighted by a star and announced by angels to shepherds tending their flock.
It was an occasion of great joy and so important that three wise men journeyed from afar to offer gifts to the newborn – gold to designate His kingship, frankincense for His divinity, and myrrh to symbolize the suffering and death He would undergo in His mission of redemption.
The gift-giving enhanced the occasion and obviously captured the imagination of people, not the least of them, those with merchandise to sell. Thus did Christmas become a marketing bonanza.
And, so it came to pass that the commercial potentials of Christmas overwhelmed its religious intent, and the joy of giving – which is a great thing – drowned out the message of salvation – which is even greater. And nowhere has this been more apparent than in the United States of Political Correctness.
But, hey, when you buy a gift on the occasion of Mother’s Day, do you avoid saying “Mother” because fathers might take offense?
And when someone is celebrating a birthday, do you avoid specifically saying “Happy birthday” in your greeting card because some of the guests might resent it?
An occasion that celebrates love and generosity, family solidarity and friendship is a wonderful thing, especially if it is packaged with colorful trimmings, songs and laughter and a jolly fat man bearing gifts.
That’s the “mas” part of Christmas. Nothing wrong with that. What’s wrong is taking away the “Christ” part.
That’s kicking out the birthday celebrant on His birthday.
Merry Christmas everyone. And, if it makes you feel better, Merry Santa, too.
