Dispatches from the War on Christmas

I wasn't sure whether to write about this again today. After all, if one of my main arguments is that Christians should have better things to do than fight over Happy Holidays vs. Merry Christmas, then why talk about it?

But I decided that I don't want to cede religious discussion to the right. In doing so, people allow the religious right to frame the debate, and it becomes Conservative Christians vs. godlessness, the kind of oversimplified kind of Red State/Blue State dichotomy that was so prominent during the last presidential election. I think it's important to show that people of faith can have differing opinions. The bullying tone that Bill O'Reilly and company have been using lately scares me. I go to church. I celebrate Christmas. And Bill O'Reilly does not speak for me.

Last night, I decided to see if Jesus said anything that would shed light on the whole debate. (I'll warn you though that I only got through the book of Matthew.) At the risk of practicing theology without a license, here's a summary what Jesus told his followers that could be relevant:

Love your neighbor as yourself. Keep the commandments, and beyond that, sell what you have and give the money to the poor; but give Caesar that which is his. Don't pray loudly on street corners or do your good deeds to impress other people; at the same time, spread the gospel and don't deny Christ. Money changers and dove sellers in the temple are bad. Don't judge other people, and pray for your enemies.

From what I read, Jesus doesn't say much about how we should celebrate his birthday, and he definitely doesn't specifically comment on whether it's better to have a Holiday Tree trimmed in blue and silver or a Christmas Tree trimmed in red and green. People are supposed to spread the gospel, but I don't think getting Sears to display a "Merry Christmas" banner really counts. The admonition not to judge people, of course, is always a good reminder, and it calmed some of my indignant feelings.

After finding the following dispatches from this "war on Christmas," I'm not sure what to think. I'm curious to know what the conservatives who are fighting this war hope to accomplish. Are they hoping to convert people? Make corporations bow to a political force? Turn the U.S. into a theocracy? Honor Jesus?

Somehow, the Christmas message of love and hope and peace seems to be getting lost.

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Knowing of the petitions circulating to make stores wish customers a Merry Christmas, I wrote to Target and Sears to let them know that not all of their customers agree.

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My online friend Angel shares that the megachurch Without Walls International in Tampa near her has posted a giant banner that reads, "To HELL with the word Holiday, put the CHRIST back in Christmas." Um, wow. I wonder whom they consider their audience for that, and what their purpose is in posting it.

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The New York Times and cnn.com report that several prominent megachurches will be closed on Christmas Sunday, and some conservative Christians are upset. I don't attend a megachurch and I doubt I ever will, so far be it from me to tell them when they should be open or closed. I was intrigued, however, by the person who commented that her church needs 500 volunteers in order to hold a service. Having been Quaker for a long time, I got used to the idea that all you need for worship is a few people gathered in His name and possibly some uncomfortable benches. Needing that many volunteers in order to worship is a foreign concept to me.

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Salon.com reports that, for Bill O'Reilly, Christmas is a "chance to wage an us-vs.-them cultural war." Michael Lerner discusses whether O'Reilly veers into anti-Semitism, and suggests that perhaps something is missing from Christmas:

Lerner suggests liberals would be making a serious mistake if they failed to acknowledge the real sense that the spiritual side of Christmas is being undermined in American culture. He says Jews, progressives and secularists aren't the real Grinches, but rather the material-obsessed marketplace. "It's turning the symbolic values of Christmas into an excuse to convince people to buy and buy and buy," he says. "Christians are right to feel spiritual values are under assault; they are responding to a very real problem. But secularists are not to blame."

Amen!

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Media Matters reports that Bill O'Reilly shared the following thoughts during this advent season:

On the December 2 broadcast of Fox News' The Radio Factor with Bill O'Reilly, host Bill O'Reilly stated that he would "use all the power that I have on radio and television to bring horror into the world of people" who "diminish and denigrate the [Christmas] holiday." O'Reilly singled out "oppressive, totalitarian, anti-Christian forces in this country" as those who seek to undermine Christmas, asserting that these "forces" are "on the run, because I will put their face and their name on television and I will talk about them on the radio if they do it." He later added: "There is no reason on this earth that all of us can not celebrate a public holiday devoted to generosity, peace, and love together," cautioning that "anyone who tries to stop us from doing it is gonna face me."

Horror into the world? I don't even know where to start commenting on this.

Thanks to Lovely Salome for alerting me to a video of Jon Stewart responding to Bill O'Reilly's attack on a year-old clip from The Daily Show.

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And finally, in the spirit of Christmas unity, let me share a sign I saw at Walgreens that Jerry Falwell, Bill O'Reilly, and I can all condemn:

Happy Holiday's

I'll admit it: I'm evangelical about correct apostrophe usage.

Photo of Madonna of the Flowers by Lady-Bug on flickr.com.