The Phony War on Christmas

By Keith Boykin, in politics
Wednesday, December 19 2007, 1:07PM

I got a call this morning from a producer at a TV news show asking me if I would come on to talk about Mike Huckabee's new "Christmas ad" that features the Republican presidential candidate discussing "the birth of Christ" in front of what some believe to be a Christian cross in the background. The host wanted to use the ad as a segue to discuss whether it was still acceptable to say "Merry Christmas" anymore.

Of course it's acceptable, I responded to the producer, who was actually looking for someone to go on TV and say that it's not okay to say "Merry Christmas." I'm not the right guy for that show, I explained. The producer asked if I could think of someone else who might object to "Merry Christmas" wishes, and then it occurred to me that I really couldn't. All of which led me to question the phony belief that there is some sort of liberal "war on Christmas" being plotted by left-wing activists and academics with a politically correct agenda to secularize the holiday and deprive young kids of their Nintendo Wiis.

Believe it or not, it's the conservatives who are all bent out of shape about Huckabee's Christmas ad. Some Republicans are complaining that he's portraying himself as the only real Christian in the race. That's funny, I never saw that in the ad. I think they're just jealous because they didn't think of it themselves. I'm no fan of Mike Huckabee, but he has every right to appeal to the evangelical base of the Republican Party as he seeks the GOP nomination.

The Business of Christmas

Like most Americans, I celebrate Christmas. I refuse to go into debt to buy presents for everybody under the sun, but I do observe the holiday and exchange gifts with a few people who are closest to me. Back in the 1990s, I stopped buying gifts for everybody in my family and told them not to spend all their money buying gifts for me either.

What happened every year is that I would receive some nice gifts that they really couldn't afford and then I would get the bill, so to speak. Some time around February I would get a call from the people who gave me nice gifts who wanted a loan to pay back their bills. After years of going through this routine, I made a suggestion. Instead of spending your money on buying me a Christmas gift, do me a favor and spend it paying your bills instead. I don't need a Christmas gift anyway, especially if you have to go into debt to buy it for me.

Which leads me to the real villains of Christmas. Maybe villain is too strong a word, but it's not the liberal lefties who have secularized Christmas, as the conservatives charge. Instead, it's American business that has secularized the holiday. Blame it on capitalism. Business people have used Christmas to sell everything from screwdrivers to automobiles. They market clothing, colognes, perfumes, diamonds, furs, video games, TVs, VCRs, Ipods and Lexuses specifically for Christmas holiday sales.

The markets expect consumers to buy during the holiday season. If they don't buy, then businesses fail, the economy shrinks, and Wall Street loses money. Many retailers earn a significant portion of their annual income during the 6-week holiday stretch from Thanksgiving to New Year's Day. It's no wonder, then, that businesses have tried to inch up Christmas earlier and earlier, to the point where you see garland and wreaths showing up in shopping malls right after Halloween. Our whole economic system is built, in part, on the commercialization of Christmas.

The Language of Christmas

But the problem, according to the conservative argument, is that people don't say "Christmas" anymore. It's all been watered down by generic all-purpose language like "season's greetings" and "happy holidays," they complain. True, the word "Christmas" has been used less and less throughout my lifetime, but that's largely because Americans (including American businesses) finally realized that Christians aren't the only ones who live here.

Jews celebrated Hannukah from December 4-12 this year. Muslims observe Eid al-Adha from December 19-22 this year. African Americans observe Kwanzaa from December 26-January 1. Some people commemorate winter solstice on December 22, 2007. And most Americans celebrate New Year's Eve and New Year's Day on December 31 and January 1, respectively.

With all those events going on at the same time, people realized it was sometimes easier just to say happy holidays. But to say "happy holidays" is not necessarily anti-Christian, although it is quintessentially American. It reflects the wonderful diversity in American life. America was founded on the principle of religious freedom. That means freedom to choose your own religion or freedom not to choose a religion at all.

But what about Jesus Christ? Certainly, Christmas is still a holiday to celebrate the birth of Jesus, even though most of us have already secularized the holiday with the introduction of Santa Claus and the exchange of gifts. But even people who aren't Christians can see that Christ is still front and center. The lighted manger scenes may have been removed from the public spaces of the city halls, but they haven't disappeared from the private spaces of the suburban front yards. Television statons across the country even broadcast live Christmas services from St. Patrick's Cathedral in Rome. Trust me, they don't do that for Yom Kippur or Ramadan.

People often use the phrase "happy holidays," but it's pretty clear what the biggest holiday is during the season. It ain't Hanukkah or Kwanzaa either. Every year stores all across America close down on Christmas Day. Businesses close down. The entire American government closes down on this day too. As someone who has spent Christmas alone in years past, I can tell you that about the only things open on Christmas Day are Chinese restaurants.

The day after Thanksgiving, Americans flock to the stores to begin buying their Christmas gifts on "Black Friday." The day after Christmas, Americans again flood the Wal-Marts, department stores and shopping malls for the low prices of the "After Christmas Sales." Christmas is clearly the focal point of the entire holiday season. So please don't tell me that there is some big war on Christmas going on. There isn't.

The whole idea of a "war on Christmas" comes right out of the conservative right-wing playbook, which is constantly seeking to demonize someone or something as an enemy. First, it was the Soviets and the cold war, then the drug dealers in the war on drugs, followed by the Islamic extremists in the war on terror, and now the secular liberals who are supposedly responsible for the war on Christmas.

Give it a rest, already. Let's just sit back and enjoy Christmas, Hanukkah, Eid al-Adha, winter solstice, Kwanzaa the holidays without all the hyped up fear and nonsense about some left-wing Grinch coming to steal little Bobby's train set.

So here it is, I'm going to say it. From liberal left-wing secular New York City, I wish you a Merry Christmas everybody. And to those who don't celebrate Christmas, Happy Holidays!

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