It Isn’t Just About Christmas

John F. Schmidt

December 1, 2005

Again this year we are bombarded with attempts to re-define the Christmas celebration into something denuded of references to Christ or religion. It can be “Happy Hanukka” or “Kwanzaa”, anything but “Christmas.” Perhaps to be politically correct, and hoping to garner more bucks by not offending non-Christians, many stores like Kmart, Best Buy, Macy’s, Wal-Mart and others have studiously avoided the word “Christmas” in their advertising that begins just after Thanksgiving, the traditional “Christmas” season for shopping.

If it were just a few store chains, or an occasional advertisement featuring some innocuous substitute for the C-word, then no one would have any cause to take note. But this phenomenon is everywhere, and it is gaining steam. In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania the Christmas season was officially renamed “Sparkle Season” several years ago to specifically sidestep the word “Christmas.” Moves are underway to correct the trend and some protests are bringing temporary success.

Certainly some people are offended by the use of the word because it is associated with the Christian religion, and more particularly with the God of the Bible. Their hatred of the Almighty is so intense that they are liable to explode in wrath at anything that even suggests the idea of God. But such people are in a very tiny minority.

Jews and Muslims might mind. But unlike the American liberals, even these religious groups seem to understand that the American culture is still predominantly Christian, and such seasonal celebrations are part of who we are. It is rare to find protests against public use of “Christmas” by these groups.

But there is definitely something afoot, and it isn’t just Christmas that is the target. If you will take note of other trends occurring in our society, you will quickly see that the “free exercise” of Christianity in any public area outside of the space between your ears is rapidly being eliminated. When was the last time a government school hosted a “Christmas” celebration, or encouraged students to send “Christmas” cards or greetings to one another? How about “Christmas” drawings posted in the classroom by proud teachers of Art? What happened to the Crèche on the courthouse lawn? In Washington, DC, is it still the National “Christmas” Tree, or the National “Holiday” Tree? The Ten Commandments displays, and even in some cases our national historical documents, are being shuffled out of the public’s view because of specious and unconstitutional arguments based on the “separation of church and state.” Why? Because they make explicit and reverential references to “God,” or (horrors!) “Jesus Christ.” Even though it is real history, it is a bit too real for the “Christmas” bashers.

These are all strange and unsettling hints that something that many of us have taken for granted is being driven underground and being stamped out. And they represent much more than simply a few isolated incidents, but are sure signs of a well-entrenched and increasingly arrogant spirit in the governing elites of our society.

It isn’t just the word “Christmas” being eliminated. It is the entire worldview that says “there is a God, and we are not Him.” (A quote from Alan Keyes) A rival god has arisen in the form of the Humanist State, and it will not tolerate any competitor.

The proclamations emanating from the creatures of this State bear the unmistakable stamp of an arrogant usurpation of sovereign authority. Since when does any human institution have the authority to declare that a woman has a “right” to kill her unborn baby? Since when can any human institution re-define marriage as a union between two people of the same sex? Since when does the Supreme Court of the United States get away with acting as if it’s pronouncements trump the will of the other two branches of our government, and in effect say that they are sovereign over even the Constitution?

We have seen such high-handedness many times throughout history, but we Americans have not experienced it since we refused to allow the British King and Parliament to act as if they were the ultimate authority over us. Most of the people who founded this country came here to get away from such pretensions. They fashioned a government that explicitly recognized that men are not gods walking on earth. They knew, although we modern Americans have largely forgotten, that no man or collection of men is sovereign. Only God is Sovereign: He answers to no one, but all answer to Him. The founders separated the governing powers into several branches to offset the tendency of sinful men to usurp the place of God over the rest of us. Yet men at all levels of our government are ignoring that protective constitutional system. The result is seen in the increasing usurpation of power over us, a once-free people, even to promoting the banishment of public use of Christian words and symbols.

Did the commercial stores banish “Christmas” because they were forced to by legal means? No, they didn’t have to. The cultural shift has reached such a point that almost everyone instinctively winces when they hear a public mention of “Christ” or “Christmas” or even the word “God.” That reaction is the work of the ACLU and groups like the so-called “People for the American Way.” They have relentlessly attacked Christianity through the courts, in the government schools, and in the colleges and wherever they can threaten or bully someone in authority to abandon mention of Christianity and its symbols. The stores are simply reflecting that unconscious mental sensitivity to the things that are now verboten in our public life. Most people in authority are now self-censoring, even though there is no threat of legal force.

It is most significant that no banishment of Christmas could have occurred without a deliberate subduing of the majority of the population. America began as an emphatically Christian county, and it still largely exists. Observing the voting patterns on the political map, where the “Red” counties greatly outnumber the “Blue” counties, we may witness the present Christian majority.

Then how could a minority pull off such a thing? By usurpation on the part of some with a vendetta against God, and by an abdication on the part of the Christians, who don’t know their God. (Daniel 11:32.)

We are in the midst of a religious war to the death: Humanism versus Judeo-Christianity. The Humanists seem to be winning because most believers don’t even know there is a war going on. Despite that, this is an excellent time to “do exploits.” If you will think these things through, you will understand that it isn’t just about Christmas.