Let’s feel free to observe Christmas
Pluralism: We honour other religions, so Christian celebration shouldn’t be taboo
’ Tis the season to check on which side is winning the “war on Christmas.” Is it the atheists and their supportive cohort of super secular multiculturalists? Or is it the Christians and their diverse allies?
The “war on Christmas” is a high- conflict media story every December in the U. S. That’s when Fox News’ pro- Christmas Bill O’Reilly earns a spike in ratings. It’s also when American Atheists admits its campaign to take “Christ” out of Christmas brings in huge donations.
But what about Canadians, who prefer lower levels of polarization about this fairly fun season? For some Canadians, Christmas is a Christian ritual. For others it’s a warm celebration of family and giving. For retailers, it’s financial survival.
Since Christmas comes in so many overlapping manifestations, perhaps it’s little wonder that Canadians also seem in a hopeless muddle about its public expressions.
A vocal minority opposes explicit Christmas references, insisting on putting Seasons’ Greetings on cards and workplace party invitations. Meanwhile, another small hardcore yearns for Christianity to have a privileged status in Canada.
And almost everyone jumps into the debate over whether a Christmas tree is a religious or pagan symbol? Or both? Or more?
Let’s see if we can sort through the Christmas confusion.
• The latest Christmas skirmish cropped up in a November news release from Simon Fraser University.
“New research from SFU’s Beedie School of Business indicates that organizations could benefit by encouraging employees to talk about their religion in the workplace. The study found employees who talk openly about their religious beliefs are more satisfied than those who hide it,” said the news release.
The study, co- authored by SFU business professor Brent Lyons, was based on in- depth surveys in the U. S. and South Korea, where it was found people who couldn’t talk about their religion at work were more dissatisfied.
It seemed the study was indirectly confirming the benefits of erecting a Christmas tree in an office setting, since that would encourage Christians, as well as non- religious people who enjoyed or were curious
When a North American travels to a predominantly Hindu, Buddhist, Shinto or Muslim country, the citizens are not going to be apologizing for public expressions of their long- held customs.
about Christmas, to discuss their traditions.
But the news release seemed to say the opposite. “During the holiday season, if your organization makes a big deal about Christmas … they could be sending the implicit message that they value Christian belief systems over other religions,” Lyons was quoted saying.
“This may inadvertently lead individuals to hide aspects of themselves, which can lead to stress and reduce employee commitment. Organizations would benefit from ensuring that they are a safe place for the expression of multiple beliefs.”
This dig at overt Christmas displays brought back here- we-go-again memories of an earlier study out of SFU psychology, which alleged that public Christmas tree displays make people feel “excluded.”
The SFU psychologists’ conclusion reflected the way North American social scientists often view anything vaguely linked to Christianity, or Europe, as colonialism.
To get to the bottom of things, I phoned Lyons. I mentioned that his group’s 27- page report never mentions Christmas displays as either negative or positive; so his quote seemed incongruous.
It turns out Lyon’s main recommendation is simply that employers avoid acting as if Christmas is the only major holiday of the year. He suggested workplaces also find ways to mark, for instance, Jewish holidays.
This sounded more like something I could embrace. It was certainly better than the harsh sounds coming out of SFU’s psychology department.
After I wrote in 2010 about the Christmas- trees- exclude study, readers told me someone in the psychology department had earlier ripped down a string of Christmas lights in the office.
The lack of Christmas spirit reminded me of the way that University of Manitoba historian Gerry Bowler, author of The Encyclopedia of Christmas, says many Canadians have a way of turning “multiculturalism” into “anti- culturalism.”
In the name of fairness, they reduce Canada’s public square to a bland homogeneity, void of spiritual expression and traditional customs. It reflects a lack of respect for the history of Canada, whose original inhabitants were aboriginals and whose next wave hailed from predominantly Christian Europe.
Many Canadians, however, haven’t figured out how to deal with our history. While aboriginal spirituality and prayer is often exhibited in Canadian educational and public settings, some Canadians believe anything vaguely Christian, or culturally European, must be erased from the public square.
It’s no wonder many religious people in North America see the process of secularization and multiculturalism as mainly one of “loss” and “subtraction.”
• It doesn’t have to be this way. As Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor puts it, secularization and multiculturalism need to leave open a “window to the transcendent.” That includes Christmas.
This would not lead to Christmas, or Christianity, dominating in Canada.
But such openness is rare. Indeed, many Canadians, particularly Christians at universities, are frightened to express their religious beliefs.
Former UBC president Stephen Toope told me this year that students and staff made it clear through anonymous surveys that they feel the campus is “ruthlessly secular.”
Religious students and staff at the University of B. C. “feel disconnected from the spiritual facets of their lives,” Toope said. Many religious people ( including many Christians who are immigrants or foreign students) believe talking about religion “would not be well- received.”
Maybe it’s worse in secular B. C. than elsewhere. Toope noted UBC is one of the few major universities that doesn’t integrate the campus’s theology schools into its broader curriculum.
At SFU, Islamic studies specialist Derryl MacLean said people on campus “bend over backwards” to show respect to Muslims who wear hijabs and Sikhs who wear turbans.
But MacLean believes an evangelical Christian would be “looked at askance” for expressing her religious views. The same, MacLean said, goes for someone like a Seventh- day Adventist.
• Instead of inadvertently silencing Christians and other religious people, then, let’s truly recognize this is a pluralistic country, with many faiths and secular world views.
That means encouraging the expression of virtually all world views, religious and secular, in the public square. ( And also being open to criticism of them.)
When it comes to publicly recognizing Christmas along with other festivals, however, the trickiest part is pragmatic.
Statistics Canada says two thirds of Canadians consider themselves Christian, onequarter consider themselves non- religious and the rest following other faiths.
It would be more than awkward to have vacation days to mark the festivals of every faith, no matter how small their membership. Chaos could reign, especially in workplaces. But other gestures can make possible diverse expressions.
Given the ethno- cultural and religious fragmentation in Canada, it’s conceivable a decorated Christmas tree display could have a unifying influence in this country.
After all, I could name countless atheists who merrily put up Christmas trees. Sikhs often do the same thing. And Muslims tell me they love Christmas lights and the focus on Jesus and Mary, since they’re important to Muslim tradition. Hindus and Buddhists, too, are pretty relaxed about spiritual diversity.
Indeed, even though B. C. has one of the world’s highest ratios of religious eclecticism and foreignborn residents, an Insights West poll last year found that British Columbians prefer to say “Merry Christmas” by a 10- to- one margin over “Happy Holidays.”
These British Columbians appear aware that, when a North American travels to a predominantly Hindu, Buddhist, Shinto or Muslim country, the citizens are not going to be apologizing for public expressions of their long- held customs.
Similarly, if we take the spirituality and tradition out of Canadian Christmas, we’ll just end up with commercialism and Jingle Bells triteness.