What "War on Christmas"?
*PLEASE NOTE*
This article was written as the latest edition of my column, The Webster Retort. The Dec. 9, 2005 edition of The News Connection does not have this article. Space for copy in the paper was limited this week, so it was passed over. However, upon further review of the article, my editor said he was going to cut portions of it for the Dec. 16th edition. I greatly appreciate the notice of censorship, and his reasons are as sound as any other reason for intrusive edits. It is his right as Executive Editor of The News Connection, and I have great respect for him and his authority on the matter.
However, I really did not want to see the limbs hacked off what I consider to be my art. I've opted to write an entirely new column for next week. That is why this article is not hosted on The News Connection's servers. And, if requested, the link to this OP-ED on TheNewsConnection.com will be removed. I'll justify the link's existence for the sake of continuity. I do, after all, write a weekly column. In the mean time, please enjoy this disowned truth-out on my favorite holiday, Christmas.
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Every time I hear the argument that Liberals are “Stealing Christmas,” I cannot help but shake my head. I am an Independent Liberal, and I love Christmas! I celebrate it every year, without fail. I’m a white male, and I was raised in a charismatic Christian home. The real story of Christmas is, on the other hand, not very well known. Indeed, many are willfully ignorant to how this holiday came to be.
Consider the Christmas Tree. The use of a tree to symbolize the spirit of the season is a Pagan tradition. Some argue the tree is actually a phallic symbol, as it was considered to be by the Romans during the December 17-25 tradition of Saturnalia, a week long celebration of lawlessness and sexual indulgence which culminated in the sacrifice of an innocent human. Knowing this, the Puritans outlawed the celebration of Christmas and none of the Founding Fathers participated.
Or take the popular tradition of kissing under the mistletoe. Druids used mistletoe to poison their human sacrifices. The Christian tradition of kissing under the mistletoe is a combination of the sexual license granted to Romans during Saturnalia and the murderous Druidic cult.
Some of the most obscene practices of Saturnalia were intentionally revived by the Catholic Church in 1466 by Pope Paul II for the amusement of Romans. Guards would gather those of Jewish descent, stuff them with food and wine, and force them to run drunk and naked through the streets.
Christmas Caroling is also a tradition taken from Saturnalia. Lucian, a Greek historian and poet, wrote that everyone would drink wine and roam from house to house singing songs in the nude. He also mentions the practice of eating human-shaped biscuits – I.E., ginger bread men.
As for Santa Clause, novelist Washington Irving (remember Sleepy Hollow?) wrote a parody of Druidic Dutch culture entitled Knickerbocker History. He referenced a fat man with a beard as a joke, using the Dutch name “Santa Clause.” Years later, Dr. Clement Moore, a seminary professor, read Knickerbocker and published a poem based on Clause – “T’was the night before Christmas, and all through the town …” A further innovation to the Clause figure was made by Bavarian illustrator Thomas Nast in 1862. He drew cartoon images of Clause as a joke for the newspaper Harper’s Weekly.
In 1932, the image of Santa was cemented by the Coca-Cola Corporation, which hired Swedish artist Haddon Sundblom. The face and figure were based on Sundblom’s friend Lou Prentice. The red coat was one of Coke’s stipulations. In all truth, the popular character is nothing more than the worship of a Corporate Golden Calf at brazen alters of commercialization.
Many orthodox Christians believe that Christ was not born in the winter. The principal argument behind this is found in the New Testament, specifically Luke 2:8 which, in part, reads, “And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night." In
Summarily, there is no “War on Christmas.” If there ever was, it was the church absorbing the traditions of other beliefs into an all-encompassing bonanza under the mistaken guise of seasonal holiness. Today, O’Reilly is trying to play the role of Pope Paul II, whipping the masses into an Anti-Semitic Frenzy that results in the belittlement of Jews and people of other faiths. It is, in part, the need of the Right-Wing press (really just Faux News and Radio Republican) to manufacture a new debate that takes heat off their favorite politicians at a time when so many of the GOP’s Federal Elite are under indictment or investigation.
I could go on and on and on about the torrid history of this year-end tradition, but there is not enough room in fifty newspapers to cover it all. Christmas is a day of no more or less significance than whatever you wish to imbue it. So celebrate Christ’s birth! Or celebrate Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Solstice, or any other special observance you wish. The argument is pure semantics. It is pointless to boycott any retailer, but if you really want to, be my guest. It’s a free country, and you only do yourself harm through undue stress. Nobody wants to take “Christ out of Christmas,” okay? Why not get informed about the real controversies of the day?
As George W. Bush’s most recent “Holiday Card” closes, “Have a Happy Holiday Season.”
Stephen Webster is an Investigative Reporter and Syndicated Columnist with North Texas weekly, The News Connection, a Staff Writer with George W. Bush’s hometown weekly, The Lone Star Iconoclast, and a former Science & Technology Contributor with The Dallas Morning News.
