As ‘the war on Christmas’ rages on, where is our ‘goodwill to men’?
December is the last hurrah of the calendar year, the month we drink too much, eat what we shouldn’t and sometimes spend what we don’t have. We fittingly usher it out with fireworks and sappy rituals. It also marks the season when two words — innocuous on their own but powerful when strung together — become something more than a salutation.
Yes, I’m referring to that decades-old argument about which is better: the traditional “Merry Christmas” or the inclusive “Happy Holidays.”
How you greet people at this time of year, many say, reflects how you see the world and what you believe in. defining not only your political ideology, but also your gender and age, even where you live. I’m not making this up, either.
A 2016 survey by the non-partisan Public Religion Research Institute found that 67% of Republicans didn’t think stores and businesses should greet customers with “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas.” On the other hand, 66% of Democrats said yes.
Some consider the struggle between “Merry Christmas” and “Happy Holidays” emblematic of something bigger, something more nefarious: The War on Christmas. According to that narrative, forces are undermining the holiday, and that iniquitous effort predates Twitter, tinsel and pine-scented candles. Even MAGA.
Me, I believe the assault on Christmas began the year 336, the minute December 25th was randomly picked to mark the birth of Jesus Christ by the emperor Constantine. Before then the Roman Empire celebrated that day as Sol Invictus, the rebirth of the Unconquered Sun, which combined the holiday winter solstice and Saturnalia. One imperial act sowed the seeds of conflict between heathens and new Christians.
Now hop through several centuries for a reprise: The first commercially printed Christmas card — currently up for auction — scandalized the public in 1843. It featured an English family toasting with wine goblets, an image that was considered offensive at the time but is now likely to fetch a pretty penny.
Over the years this socalled war only grew more heated. In the 1920s Henry Ford, carmaker and known anti-Semite, wrote a manifesto that included this spine-chilling gem: “The whole record of the Jewish opposition to Christmas…shows the venom and directness of [their] attack.” That battle cry was taken up by the ultra-right John Birch Society in the 1950s, when it alerted the nation to an “assault on Christmas” by United Nations fanatics.
Then in 2004 former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly sounded the trumpet of battle yet again. During a segment of his “The O’Reilly Factor” he claimed Christmas was under siege. From whom? The usual suspects, of course. The warning worked for him. Fear has always been good for ratings.
Just a few days ago another Fox News celebrity,
Tucker Carlson, took up this well-worn weapon and gave it a pandemic spin. As public health experts asked Americans to avoid travel and limit gatherings during the season, Carlson accused them of trying to cancel Christmas. Never mind the soaring COVID-19 infection and death rates. Never mind that hospitals are filled with the sick and stricken.
Apparently “fighting” for Christmas now means putting yourself and others in danger. I don’t get it. Why is irresponsible behavior considered Christian? When did gifts and glazed ham supersede common sense?
It’s time we face the undeniable: Christmastime’s slow but steady slide into the secular has nothing to do with pandemic restrictions — or any kind of war, for that matter. Sadly, the reason for the season has become about the weeks-long sales extravaganza. And all of us are to blame.
Nowhere is this more evident than on the lawns of my neighborhood. Inflatable polar bears and elves greatly outnumber nativity scenes. Same is true in store aisles.
I’ve often thought of the verbal tug between “Merry Christmas” and Happy Holidays” as a harmless debate. I, for one, prefer Merry Christmas but don’t get offended if someone wishes me Happy Holidays. But what truly worries me, what should concern us all, is the chiseling away of the holiday’s “goodwill to men.”
Who will fight for that?