Christmas Conspiracy Theory

Spirituality Column #4
December 5, 2006
Current in Carmel (IN) Newspaper

Christmas Conspiracy Theory
By Bob Walters

My favorite argument against “Merry Christmas” is that since “Christmas” is a government holiday, we shouldn’t call it “Christmas.”

Follow along, please.

Christmas implies Christ, which, as everyone knows, implies big “G” God, which can no longer be tolerated as a government-endorsed concept. Small “g” god – the one/several flavor-of-the-month deity (small “d”) made in our image that can be anything – is permissible because it/they is/are the fruit of the selfish and small minded. This is a god government understands.

Weighty issues like eternal salvation, oneness with God the Father in Heaven, the incarnation of Christ, the Peace of all mankind, etc., mustn’t be intoned in the public arena.

All this is in the name of tolerance, of course.

We throw flawed human concepts atop perfect divine truths and, presto!, a fight breaks out over saying “Merry Christmas.”

Not that “Merry Christmas,” per se, is a divine truth. “Merry” and “Christmas” are tradition, not scripture. There is no indication of another celebration of Christ’s birth in the Bible after “Behold I bring you glad tidings of great joy …” (Luke 2:10). You might also note the absence of Christian religious festivals in the Bible … all the holidays originate in the Old Testament, not the new.

Then there is the crowd that denies Christmas altogether, often non-believers, who are the first ones to point out that the actual birth of Christ (assuming that part of the Bible is correct) couldn’t have been in December (not when taxes were collected, too cold for shepherds to be tending their flocks by night, etc.). So Christmas must be a big northern hemisphere winter solstice pagan holiday conspiracy.

At the very least, Christmas is the greatest PR stunt of all time for God. What could be better than co-opting the ages-old biggest party of the year for Jesus?

Specifically when or where Baby Jesus was born isn’t the key point; Christ came for all mankind for all eternity. December 25 seems to work just fine. Plastic reindeer in the front yard are harmless enough, but they do seem more to say we love ourselves and in fact miss the larger “Christmas” point that God loves us.

So if you really care about someone, say “Merry Christmas” because beyond “peace on Earth, good will toward men” (Luke 2:14), the reason for the season is the incarnation of God in human form to cement our divine-human relationship, to work out our salvation, secure eternal life in the company of God and prove the primacy of love among God and man.

If that scares you, say Happy Holidays.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com), a Carmel resident, loves Christmas.