Happy Holidays

The BBC has run two interesting articles recently about Christmas which have, yet again, made me question 'organised religion'.

(Note: I must make it clear that I do respect people who have a religious belief and try to live a good life that is compatible with their faith but I have an issue with some of the stuff that occurs because of and around organised religion).


In the first article, intriguingly titled Lines drawn in battle over Christmas:

'An increasingly vocal number of Christians are attacking what they say is a "war on Christmas" by those determined to enforce a rigorously neutral holiday season reflecting America's constitutional separation of church and state. ... The AFA [American family Association] and other groups are urging members to petition dozens of other major retailers that they accuse of stripping Christ from Christmas with phrases like "happy winter". ... Meanwhile, at least 1,500 lawyers have volunteered to sue any town that tries to keep nativity scenes out of its holiday displays. ... Such moves reflect the 1985 US Supreme Court "reindeer ruling". It said that town-square nativity scenes and the like were constitutional if balanced with secular symbols like Santa Claus, thus avoiding the appearance of state-endorsed religion.'

Whilst I think that it's a bit daft to need a legal ruling on town decorations, I suppose I can understand the logic behind it.

In a similar vein, the Archbishop said:
"What makes some people suspicious of Christmas these days is that it's too religious.This year there seems to have been even more stories about the banning of Christian images and words by silly bureaucrats. It's all because of the idea that our neighbours from other religious traditions will be offended by Christian symbols. The truth is they're usually much happier with the idea of a Christian festival than with some general excuse to have a good time in midwinter."

Now, I was with him until the last sentence - why can't I have a good time in midwinter?

Many of the symbols and traditions of christmas (such as Holiday Trees!) aren't anything to do with Christianity. We've only had christmas trees as we know them today since Victorian times but the practice of bringing greenery into the home has been going on for much, much longer:

'Holly, Ivy and other greenery such as Mistletoe were originally used in the pre-Christian times to help celebrate the Winter Solstice Festival and ward off evil spirits and celebrate new growth. ... Pagans used branches of it [evergreen fir tree] to decorate their homes during the winter solstice as it made them think of the spring to come. The Romans used Fir Trees to decorate their temples at the festival of Saturnalia.'
[With thanks to www.whychristmas.com]

I do not celebrate the birth of Jesus therefore there is no religious symbolism in our house. But it is decorated like homes have been decorated in the dark winter months for thousands of years.

I think the vastly over-commercialisation of Christmas is sad but I also understand our need for a mid-winter festival. I fully agree that Christians should be able to celebrate Christmas in the same way that other faiths can celebrate their major festivals. I also think that in our multi-cultural society, far from hiding or apologising for our festivals (religious and otherwise), they should be celebrated openly and without apology as they form part of our culture.

Perhaps people could also think about the very basic need within us all to lighten the dark days of winter with a little cheer.

So I wish you all a Joyful Winter Solstice, a Merry Christmas, a Happy Hanukkah and Seasons Greetings!