Well, Christmas came and went yesterday in the United States of America, with nary a shot fired (well, except for that horrible shooting in Dallas, and violence in Nigeria and other places that marred the holiday). I’m not aware of any of the faithful here who were denied their rights to celebrate it openly (we attended a Catholic mass Saturday afternoon and it was standing-room only), and the far larger legions of folks committed to junking up the outsides of their houses with lights seemed undaunted. Anybody who wanted simply to swap gifts on Christmas morning without any conscious reference to religion was free to do so.
So what happened to the War on Christmas?
There never was one, of course. It was the invention of a few Christian activist groups and Fox News, mostly, living up (or down) to the adage that nothing rallies the troops more than the threat of immediate danger. The conceit was that there’s a widespread and loosely organized conspiracy of atheists, pagans, anti-consumerists and political democrats intent on denying public acknowledgment of the holiday, and thereby ruining its private celebration. It fit into a larger narrative of an attack on Christian values overall, as if the occasional spat over nativity scenes or decorated trees on public grounds meant that the faithful were suppressed and their beliefs in danger.
It might have been good for fundraising and viewership, but nothing could be further from the truth. And we should be thankful for the facts that back it up.
First, separation of church and state works and is particularly friendly to the religious. America is the most overtly religious nation on the planet, and by a long shot: a whopping 83% belong to a religious denomination and the lion’s share are Christians. 40% go to a church service every day and more than half say that they pray weekly. One poll has nearly 8 in 10 Americans believing that angels walk among us, and a recent Baylor University survey said that almost three-fourths of its respondents believed that God not only has a personal plan for them, but takes an active role in guiding the future of the country.
Talk about fixing something that isn’t broken.
Many theories have been offered for why the U.S. has vastly more religious citizens than any other country, including those that mandate membership in a state religion upon birth (Brits and Swedes belong to a church by default). Choice is one of them, in that Americans are free to shop around for a religion they prefer, which makes them better “consumers.” Another possibility is that the utter absence of religiously-related actions by our government means that our religions stay untainted by the temporal machinations of our best and worst inclinations. Governments have the strange ability to sap the spirit out of everything they touch.
In other words, we’re religious because our public institutions assiduously avoid being so.
Second, if there ever was a War on Christmas, the Christians were the ones fighting it with one another. The issues were cultural, with Catholics choosing to sing carols and exchange gifts while Protestants chose to be a bit more somber about the whole affair, but things got pretty serious for long stretches of time. In fact, Oliver Cromwell’s Puritans cancelled Christmas when they came to power in England in 1645 (fining people for singing and gift-giving), and Pilgrims who settled America felt the same way. Christmas wasn’t celebrated in Boston from 1659 to 1681. Many “English” customs fell out of favor after the Revolution, including Christmas, so Congress met on the 25th like any other day once the Constitution was created in 1789. Christmas wasn’t even made a federal holiday until 1870. Non-believers had nothing to do with these battles.
Thankfully, the faithful no longer bicker over the appropriateness of decorated trees or the proper order of church services. They don't throw each other into prison, either. Yesterday, Americans were utterly free to commemorate the day in any way they chose, which included not commemorating it at all (going to see a movie instead, getting a jump on today’s work). We’ve had great divisions in our country that have often arose along religious dividing lines -- for centuries, the issues over which Protestants and Catholics were at bitter odds with one another spilled into economics and culture -- and we have them still.
But American Christians no longer fight over Christmas. I say that’s not just a cessation of hostilities but a true peace befitting the day’s meaning.
Third, how could there be a War on Christmas when so many of us depend on it? The American economy is dependent on consumers buying stuff, and there’s no more reliable time for them to do it than in anticipation of Christmas Day. Most retailers rely on holiday gift-buying to make their annual numbers -- the “Black Friday” sales day is named because it’s when they hope to shift their accounting ledgers from the red of losses to the black of profits -- just as most school kids and their families rely on two-weeks’ worth of mid-winter vacation to recharge their batteries.
So all Americans “celebrate” Christmas even if they do so begrudgingly or otherwise unconsciously. It doesn’t matter what the store signs say, or whether we choose to wish one another “merry Christmas,” “happy holidays,” or “glorious Festivus.” The outcome is the same and stays so year after year, probably because of the very facts that we don’t reply on official or overt recognition of the event, whether dictated by government or religious institution.
Yesterday was a chance to skip all the noise that sets we Americans at odds with one another, and overcome our fears of being embattled or disenfranchised. There are many wars underway in the world, and many of them affect us here at home in ways that are truly dangerous and frightening.
A War on Christmas isn’t one of them, and we sure don’t need to invent one. I hope everyone was able to see that yesterday, and perhaps enjoy at least one day of peace.
(Image credit: Back when the war was real)
