The Two Christmases
Posting Location: Family Home, Parma, OH.
So from my previous post expounding on Christmas and the surrounding traditions, one might assume that I'm a practicing Christian. That's not entirely accurate, but I'd like to focus on something that not many people like to openly admit: The fact that Christmas is no longer a strictly religious holiday. Actually, I'd like to take things one step further. I'd like to make the claim, here and now, that Christmas is no longer a single holiday.
I'm not talking about the trivial distinction between Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I'm more talking about the subtle difference between Religious Christmas and Secular Christmas. I've personally taken to distinguishing the two as (respectively) Christmas and X-mas.
I'm sure some people can see where I'm going with this already. Christmas is the holiday of Jesus Christ, while X-mas is the holiday of Santa Claus. Christmas is the holiday with songs like Joy to the World, Silent Night, The First Noel, and O Little Town of Bethlehem. X-mas is the holiday with songs like Jingle Bells, Deck The Halls, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and We Wish You A Merry Christmas.
One point in favor of this interpretation is that both government and commerce enhance the distinction. For example, think about the songs I mentioned above; which ones are more likely to create complaints if they were included in a public school holiday pageant? If they can slip a holiday song under the Separation of Church and State filter, then it's probably a X-mas song rather than a Christmas one. It's hard to picture anyone getting away with a nativity scene in a store like, say, Krogers --- but who would seriously object to a scene with Santa and Frosty?
My biggest proof of this, however, can be found in the nation of Japan. Simply put, Japan celebrates Chrismas, despite the fact that only 1-2% of the Japanese population is actually Christian. To me, that says that Christmas is no longer strictly a religious holiday.
Due to this opinion, I tend to get annoyed at two different groups of people around the holidays. The first are the people who feel that all mention of "Christmas" specifically, or anything even remotely associated (like Santa, ect.) has to be avoided in order to preserve Separation of Church and State. The second are the people who feel that any attempt to "take the Christ out of Christmas" is a crime against their religion and an attempt to suppress their faith. Both groups associate Christmas as inextricably tied with the religion of Christianity, which I really don't see as the case. I'm the kind of person who objects just as strongly to the concept of putting a nativity scene in front of City Hall as I do at the concept of removing Santa Claus from the mall (both hypotheticals where I live).
And on that note, I'll sign off for now. With the holidays coming up, I have no idea when I'll next have a chance to really post here. I'll probably get at least one more entry before New Years. Speaking of which, I've also got a few plans for the blog for the coming year, that I may go into detail on later.
Until then, Happy Holidays and Merry X-mas!
So from my previous post expounding on Christmas and the surrounding traditions, one might assume that I'm a practicing Christian. That's not entirely accurate, but I'd like to focus on something that not many people like to openly admit: The fact that Christmas is no longer a strictly religious holiday. Actually, I'd like to take things one step further. I'd like to make the claim, here and now, that Christmas is no longer a single holiday.
I'm not talking about the trivial distinction between Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I'm more talking about the subtle difference between Religious Christmas and Secular Christmas. I've personally taken to distinguishing the two as (respectively) Christmas and X-mas.
I'm sure some people can see where I'm going with this already. Christmas is the holiday of Jesus Christ, while X-mas is the holiday of Santa Claus. Christmas is the holiday with songs like Joy to the World, Silent Night, The First Noel, and O Little Town of Bethlehem. X-mas is the holiday with songs like Jingle Bells, Deck The Halls, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and We Wish You A Merry Christmas.
One point in favor of this interpretation is that both government and commerce enhance the distinction. For example, think about the songs I mentioned above; which ones are more likely to create complaints if they were included in a public school holiday pageant? If they can slip a holiday song under the Separation of Church and State filter, then it's probably a X-mas song rather than a Christmas one. It's hard to picture anyone getting away with a nativity scene in a store like, say, Krogers --- but who would seriously object to a scene with Santa and Frosty?
My biggest proof of this, however, can be found in the nation of Japan. Simply put, Japan celebrates Chrismas, despite the fact that only 1-2% of the Japanese population is actually Christian. To me, that says that Christmas is no longer strictly a religious holiday.
Due to this opinion, I tend to get annoyed at two different groups of people around the holidays. The first are the people who feel that all mention of "Christmas" specifically, or anything even remotely associated (like Santa, ect.) has to be avoided in order to preserve Separation of Church and State. The second are the people who feel that any attempt to "take the Christ out of Christmas" is a crime against their religion and an attempt to suppress their faith. Both groups associate Christmas as inextricably tied with the religion of Christianity, which I really don't see as the case. I'm the kind of person who objects just as strongly to the concept of putting a nativity scene in front of City Hall as I do at the concept of removing Santa Claus from the mall (both hypotheticals where I live).
And on that note, I'll sign off for now. With the holidays coming up, I have no idea when I'll next have a chance to really post here. I'll probably get at least one more entry before New Years. Speaking of which, I've also got a few plans for the blog for the coming year, that I may go into detail on later.
Until then, Happy Holidays and Merry X-mas!
Labels: Christmas, holiday rant, X-Mas
posted by Mithrandalf at 1:30 AM
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