Why Christmas Matters

Warning: this column contains overt religious messages. Those who are offended by Christianity might want to avoid reading further.

I cannot believe that any mention of Christmas, or the celebration of the birth of Jesus, the Christ, would require a warning similar to a cigarette pack. It seems though, that there is a very small but vocal minority that has skin so thin, it can be paper-cut to the bone with a page out of the Bible.

Let me try to make the case of why Christmas is more than just another holiday. Christianity is the largest religion worldwide, with roughly 2.1 billion adherents. In America today, the number of people who, self identify as Christians to census takers is 224,457,000 people, or about 75 % of the US population. Yes, this includes everyone, from full time clergy to folks who only attend Church once in a while, but consider themselves Christian. To us Christians, Christmas and Easter are the two most significant religious events, Christmas celebrating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, and Easter celebrating the resurrection of Jesus, where he was able to overcome death and fulfill his mission on Earth as the Savior of mankind.

When I was young I remember what I think was the Catholic Church running a campaign that simply stated “Keep Christ in Christmas”. This simple message is as important today as we seem to be driving the real meaning of Christmas out of the Christmas season. It is a religious holiday, not a secular winter festival, not a key performance metric for retailers, not a combination of all other important non-Christian religious holidays that occur in December. It is meant to be a time when we, as Christians, get on our knees in prayer and thank our Heavenly Father for his providing a Savior for mankind, thus allowing a way for all of us to return to his presence.

Americans are incredibly tolerant people, and we have incorporated the secular winter holiday take on Christmas, in the form of Santa Claus, Reindeer, Christmas consumerism, Christmas parties and a host of other activities. Not to take away anything from the fun and merriment of the season, but since 75 % of us identify ourselves as Christians, we may want to tie our celebrations back to the real meaning of Christmas. We should perhaps be teaching our children, in both words and in actions, that we are celebrating the birth of the central figure of our Religion and that the meaning of gift giving is meant to represent our Heavenly Fathers gift to mankind of his only begotten son, Jesus, as the Messiah.

The Founding Fathers, from the Declaration of Independence to the Constitution, made clear that they welcomed into the public sphere the broad principles expressed in the Judeo Christian Bible. They affirmed and reaffirmed a societal need to live with the cognizance of a Creator, God. They wrote in the Declaration of Independence that our rights derive not from the government or state but from God himself when they announced a political philosophy that "We hold these truths to be self-evident…. that men are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

I recently traveled to Washington DC for work, and had a few hours to sightsee. I noticed on a walk through the monuments of the Capitol, many carved inscriptions by US Presidents proclaiming God and morality as cornerstones for the nation’s survival. Unlike so many other countries, ours is a nation comfortable with the notion of an Almighty. It is evidenced by the invocation of His guidance and favor repeatedly in orations delivered by our leaders. Yet, as a counterpoint, I know of no leader who wants to impose a Theocracy in place of our democratically elected form of representative Government, or restrain the first amendments freedom of religion clause.

We as Americans strive to be tolerant of all religions and faiths, and seek to accommodate even the secular non-religious citizenry who do not celebrate any of the religious aspects of Christmas. What we ask in return, is for these same folks to understand the significance that Christmas is first and foremost, a deeply spiritual celebration for Christians. So as we all go about our Christmas activities, basking in the warmth of our family gatherings, our frenzied shopping and our winter sports (hopefully, if the snow falls) we need to remember that there is a “reason for the season”.