Where’s Christmas?

Christmas is the second most important holiday on the Christian calendar, however, since about 2004, Christmas has rapidly begun to disappear in our great nation. Despite the fact that 3 out of 4 people living and breathing in the United States identify themselves as being Christian (see Teaching About Religion’s demographics map), it has suddenly become “offensive” to even mention the word Christmas in polite company.

Christmas gifts and Christmas decorations account for approximately 25-30% of total sales annually for the average retailer in the United States. Without these sales each year, many retailers would go out of business completely. Yet, most retailers have expunged the word Christmas altogether from their stores and advertising - in order to avoid hurting the feelings of the 5% of the population that doesn’t celebrate Christmas. Some retail establishments, such as Best Buy, have no hint whatsoever in their stores or in their advertising that acknowledges the existence of Christmas, and they maintain the same blue and yellow colors in their advertising year-round with little variation during Christmastime. Christmas lights, Christmas trees, Christmas wreaths, etc. are now packaged and sold as “holiday” decorations. It would seem retailers are willing to bite-off entirely the hand that feeds them.

Public schools have banished Christmas. They no longer have Christmas vacation (or, for that matter, Easter vacation). Instead, they have “winter break” (and “spring break”). This, in spite of the fact that these vacation periods originated only to accommodate the observance of Advent and the Passion week. Without them, there never would have been a need for these interruptions in the school year.

Companies now give out “year-end” bonuses instead of Christmas bonuses, and host “holiday” parties instead of Christmas parties. HR departments issue stern warnings to employees not to wish fellow employees or customers a Merry Christmas.

Each year brings more and more absurd examples of the attack on Christmas (in addition to all things Christian): HUD officials that barred residents from displaying Christmas decorations on the outside of their apartments in Florida; cities are threatened by the ACLU to remove Creches; Christmas concerts at public schools and parks that have been renamed “winter” or “holiday” concerts, and play Hanukkah songs and Kwanzaa songs (but no Christmas songs), and ban Santa, reindeer, Christmas trees, packages, ribbons, bows, the colors red and green…and these aren’t even religious symbols.

This blog is my meager attempt to stand against the tide, while providing me some release as I witness the decline of common sense in our society. I will continue to unabashedly wish my fellow man a Merry Christmas each year.

I can’t imagine a world without Christmas. But if we continue to acquiesce to political correctness, that’s exactly what we’ll soon have.