I am a practicing Jew who enjoys the Christmas season. I like the decorations, the parties, the exchange of cards and gifts and the general spirit of camaraderie. I do not feel “excluded” and suspect most non-Christians don’t. With about 17% of Jews, 39% of Buddhists and 21% of Muslims in America living in mixed-religion families, true religious exclusion doesn’t seem common. At this time of year, many non-Christians are purchasing Christmas gifts for friends and relatives. They are unlikely to be offended if retailers use the word Christmas in advertising or displays. I do not view displays with crèches and other religious or secular Christmas symbols as attempts to proselytize. I view such displays on commercial or public property as courtesy toward the religion that most Americans believe in rather than as the establishment of religion or an attempt to offend those of other faiths.
In his December 10, 2005 Washington Post column, Colbert I. King responded to Pat Buchanan’s 2004 “Christianophobia” column with, “News flash, Pat: Stores sell stuff. To everyone. That’s what they do. They’re not churches. They are stores.” Here’s a news flash for Mr. King. People who do not support a retailer’s views, displays, etc. have the right to not shop there. If King believes that the use of the word Christmas in a store turns it into a church, he must not know much about worship in any religion.
Later in that column, King asked, “How does a retailer’s decision not to make any customer feel like an outsider take Christmas away from me?” While it may not take anything from him personally, refusal to acknowledge name of the day gives the impression that Christmas and Christianity are not quite socially acceptable.
The idea that acknowledging Christmas makes some feel like outsiders falls apart when the same retailers use the names Hanukkah and Kwanzaa on displays of products for those holidays. Why advertise “Hanukkah menorah candles” while calling Christmas trees “holiday trees.” What other holiday involves the use of a decorated evergreen? Presidents Day?
Some, who don’t object to Christmas on the grounds that it excludes non-Christians, object to commercialization and materialism. A Manhattan resident who put up an outdoor display of a knife-wielding Santa next to a tree festooned with severed doll heads said, “it would be a fun way to make a comment about the commercialization and secularization of Christmas.” I wonder if it was fun for passing children and their parents. In Orlando, a homeowner created a display in lights of a field-dressed Rudolph with red lights to represent draining blood. According to the WFTV.com site, the homeowner declined to comment, so we can only guess whether the display is anti-hunting, anti-commercialization, anti-Christmas or anti-everything.
It is understandable that some people want the religious significance of Christmas to take precedence over gifts. However, many who gripe about commercialization do so while requesting and giving high-ticket items. Is it too cynical to wonder if such individuals are motivated more by envy than religiosity? The best way to combat the commercialization of holidays is not to contribute to it. If you feel as Colbert I. King does, that “spending and making loads of money in a crowded store with ‘Silent Night’ floating in the background hardly strikes me as the way to celebrate what happened in Bethlehem more than 2,000 years ago,” don’t. Those who feel that way are free to exchange minimal or no gifts and/or to donate to charity instead.
Christmas isn’t the only holiday that brings out the Grinch in some people. Thanksgiving brings condemnations of imperialism and mistreatment of the natives of this land as well as pro-vegan children’s books. On one hand, Halloween has been condemned as pagan or satanic. On the other hand, it has been criticized for being disrespectful to Wiccans. Additionally, some costumes are politically incorrect and sweets encourage obesity. What other holidays will people object to? Hanukkah commemorates not only the miracle of the oil, but a military victory. That could be upsetting to pacifists as could Memorial Day and Veterans’ Day. New Years Eve offends those who think people shouldn’t drink alcoholic beverages. Valentine’s Day excludes those who do not have spouses, boyfriends or girlfriends. As with Christmas, Easter excludes non-Christians and has been commercialized. Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are insensitive to children who don’t have mothers and/or fathers. Flag Day and Independence Day could be judged as too ethnocentric and nationalistic. Labor Day may be insensitive to the unemployed.
If we stop observing all holidays, will politically correct types be happy? No. They will just find other things to complain about. What happened to fun? The Christmas season was a happier time when it was about tidings of comfort and joy rather than whining about exclusivity and commercialization.
Copyright Eva Ellsworth, 12/18/05, all rights reserved
3 Comments:
I am a real Jew and find your column strange. Jews don't hate Christmas, but we are very wary of people who pretend to be Jewish.
The only thing worse than politically correct types are people who live liberal values and then preach tradition and conservatism.
As I was raised as a Jew, I always get a little irked when I hear people claim to be 'real' Jews.
Maybe a practising jew or an observant jew. But not a 'real' jew.
It was 'real' jews that raised a headstone to me when I married out of the faith and cut me off from my family.
Now that last paragraph is my problem but point out my ire with your deliniation. As a 'real' jew you must then be thrilled when you see a joyous season such as Christmas dismantled year by year law suit after lawsuit.
My take on all this Christmas bashing is, that the complainers are constantly reminded of their shaky belief system and are envious of those who can unabashedly celebrate their beliefs.
As for me, I am a descendant of Abraham. Thankfully in a covenant with G-d thanks to my Father. My community shunned me and my sons, but not my G-d. Christmas is fun. I doesn't make me anyless a 'Jew'. But trying to take it away from others makes me less of an american.
It's sad to see people quibble about a phrase used in an article and completly blow by the content. It's not really about whether it's politically or personally correct to say that you are a 'real' Jew or a 'practising' Jew or a Jew by birth or choice. I understand that you wanted simply to be clear that you are a Jew that attends to your faith rather than in name only, and that you are not a Christian.
God forbid that a Christian stand up and defend his own faith. That would be completely discounted.
Christianity is the number one religion in the nation and the number one religion of the men that designed its government. And while it has not always beeen tolerant, it was at the defining and is as tolerant of other religions as any other religion in the world. And as such, the government designed by it is tolerant by extension. Today, we see the attacks on Christian symbology spreading across the land and we fail to ask "Where is this going?"
The best answer comes from "Inherit the Wind", a warped reflection of the Scopes Monkey Trial. Today you can't teech it in schools. You can't talk about it in schools. Soon you won't be able to talk about it on the streets. And finally, you won't be able to speak of it in church. Not exact, but close enough. He was talking about evolution. Now his words ring truer about Christianity and even God.
Congress shall make no law ...
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