Photo by timtastic at FlickrMichael Reagan, the rightwingnut son of the late B-movie actor and sleepy prezident, Ronald, writes for a rightwingnut outfit called Townhall.com. Reagan (Michael, 'cause Ron's no longer with us) rants and raves about the usual bad guys--the libs, lefties, commies and other nogoodniks who are working day and night to bring America to its collective knees.
These days Michael has jumped into the ring to join the fight which is known by luminaries like O'Reilly and Limberger as the "war" on Christmas.
And, boy, Michael is upset. "Christmas is Not a Holiday - It's a Birthday," says Michael and that's the title of a recent Reagan column. He's not happy, because "Christmas is once again upon us, and we can expect to witness countless new displays of the rampant secularization of what is meant to be a joyous celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ."
Rampant! Secularization! Omigod!
Michael reminds his readers (hopefully, very few) that this country is literally inundated with Christians but unfortunately those Christians are wimps and have allowed the miserable SOB secularists to run all over them to the extent that they're fearful of ever saying the word, Christmas!
Now, that's serious. Seriously!
Got to put Christ back in Christmas, says Mike. And the menorah back in Hannukkah. He doesn't mention other religious groups. What Hannukkah has to do with Christmas Michael doesn't say, other than Jews ought to have a right to hang their religious stuff in public places, too, just like Christians who believe Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Christ.
Michael needs to take a few history lessons. We'll quickly remind him that the accounts of Jesus' birth appear in only two of the four Gospels -- Matthew and Luke, and the accounts contradict each other. They are clearly legendary, derived from stories of other savior gods, such as Mithras, who was born of a virgin in a cave on December 25, surrounded by shepherds ... the whole bit.
Furthermore, the birth of Christ was essentially a non-issue for the Christian church as it developed over the first four centuries of the Common Era. It wasn't celebrated in most places until nearly the end of the fourth century. It was at that point, when Christianity was proclaimed the religion of the Roman Empire, that the date of the birth of Christ was set as December 25 to line up with the Winter Soltice as well as pagan rituals and celebrations. It was a nice, easy fit, for the Romans had held huge Winter Soltice celebrations and celebrations of the birth of Mithras on December 24 (Mithras Eve) and December 25 (Mithras birth) for years.
Other of the accouterments related to our celebration, like Christmas trees and holly were later additions yet.
The fact is the Christian Christmas was grafted on to a "pagan" celebration nearly 400 years after the birth of Jesus is said to have occurred. And Christians who lived at the end of the 4th century would not know what to make of our Christmas celebrations today.
Furthermore, much of what we consider as essential to the Christmas celebration has secular roots. Fat guys in red suits and drunken office parties and candy canes and egg nog and pine trees and ornaments, and the insanity of decorating one's house with millions of lights -- all of which are now very much part of our Christmas celebration, have nothing to do with the legendary birth of the legendary Jesus.
What does Michael Reagan think it proves to say "Merry Christmas" instead of "Happy Holidays"? What does he mean by "Merry Christmas"?
The birth of Jesus has very little to do with Christmas except for those Christians who believe Jesus was actually born in 4 BCE somewhere in Palestine and came to save the world from its sins. These are the people who go to church on Christmas Eve (most churches have given up Christmas Day services as the dedicated, believing faithful don't bother to show up), put stars on top of their Christmas trees -- to make the pagan tree Xtian, I guess, and parade around the neighborhood singing Xmas carols.
And in spite of the fact that a majority of people in this country confess to some form of Christianity, most of that majority do not darken the door of the church even at Xmas. They're too busy celebrating a very secular Christmas.
Thus, there is no "war" on Christmas. That "war" exists only in the frantic, oxygen-deprived minds of people like Michael Reagan. I have never, ever, heard anyone complain about being greeted with "Merry Christmas." It's true that some folks respond with "Happy Hannukah," and there are a few grinches that might say "Bah humbug!" but that doesn't mean they are engaged in a war with everyone who smiles at them and says "Merry Christmas!"
And because for a majority of people in this country, Christians included, Christmas is, in fact, a secular holiday, it should be OK, too, to say "Happy Holidays," or "Hullabaloo," of "Shove that candy cane where the sun don't shine!"
Did you get that last suggestion, Michael?
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