The Reason for the Season

Caelan MacTavish

Merry Christmas.

There, I said it. Merry Christmas, to those of you who celebrate Christmas. 97% of you felt included in that remark, because 97% of you, my fellow American citizens, celebrate Christmas.

But 3% of you don’t. 3% of you got uncomfortable and shifty eyed as I tried to relate to you by using the majority greeting. 3% of you feel left out. And that is certainly not the reason for the season—but sometimes, it is the effect.

Last year, when the Religious Right was beginning to start the “War against Christmas” rhetoric in earnest, I decided to do an experiment. I wait tables in the Pearl District, and I interact with 10-40 strangers, quite intimately, every day for an hour or two each.

During the Christmas season, I greeted every table with a “Merry Christmas,” or, “Hello. Did you have a good Christmas?” The results were quite interesting.

At least half of the people in my section were startled at being addressed in such an informal matter. This was, I believe, because they were not accustomed to strangers identifying them as Christmas-celebrators, even if they were. They did not seem particularly relieved that I had identified them as Christmas people, but instead were suspicious.

And then there was the other 3%. I would tell them, “Merry Christmas,” and they would change the subject and ask what the special was. If I asked them directly, “Did you have a good Christmas?” they would glance around and tell me, “Well…we actually don’t celebrate Christmas.”

So I would amend my approach, and ask them if they have enjoyed their Winter Holiday. By December 28, everyone has had some sort of holiday (regardless of their faith, or lack thereof) and so they could relate to that comfortably.

When I singled out Christmas, however, it made a definitive exclusion. “Are you with me, or are you something else?” my question implied.

Is this really the reason for the Season of Giving? To determine who is on your team?

The Hypocritical Right certainly thinks so.

The Hypocritical Right are those who call themselves Christians but are more interested in their own advancement than they are in the teachings of Jesus. Much different than the Religious Right, who have a conservative interpretation of Christianity, the Hypocritical Right uses the language of Christianity in order to further their own goals, even if it means contravening the purposes of Christ.

Lars Larson is undeniably a member of the Hypocritical Right. He is planning to erect a crucifix in Pioneer Courthouse Square this holiday season, next to what is officially called the "Tree at Pioneer Courthouse Square." He is upset that the tree is not called a “Christmas Tree,” so on his symbol of torture he will inscribe the words, “Jesus is the Reason for the Season.”

He is beyond hypocritical in saying this; he is dead wrong.

The season is based around the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year, which is technically the reason there is a season. The Yuletide and the 12 day New Year festival originated in Mesopotamia, and not the Vatican.

The Asherah cult worshipped trees, especially those that did not die in winter. Consequently, Egyptians would decorate their homes with evergreen boughs during the wintertime. The reminder that green would return after winter was not part of the Nativity.

Jesus had a birthday, but it was definitely not on December 25. Describing the scene around the manger when Jesus was born, Luke 2:8 states: “And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.” Shepherds did not spend their days and nights in the fields in December, but they did in March, which is when Roman census records indicate the historical Jesus was born. This is corroborated by the De Pascha Computus, written in 243 CE.

The date December 25 was traditionally the date of the yearly birth of the Sun god Mithras, and heralded the lengthening of the days after the Solstice. Mithraism was one of Christianity’s greatest rivals in the third and fourth century CE, and was more popular with Roman soldiers than Christianity was.

The Romans celebrated the Saturnalia, a crazy festival to the god Saturn that included singing naked at strangers’ houses and screaming “Io, Saturnalia!” The first word was pronounced “yo,” related to the Latin interjection “ho,” ho ho. Their weeklong festival ended on December 25. In order to convert pagans, the Christ Mass was offered as a substitute holiday, and Mithraism grew smaller, while Christianity flourished.

In 1687, the Reverend Increase Mather of Boston said that “the early Christians who first observed the Nativity on December 25 did not do so thinking that Christ was born in that Month, but because the Heathens’ Saturnalia was at that time kept in Rome, and they were willing to have those Pagan Holidays metamorphosed into Christian ones.”

This follows a long tradition of the Christian church adopting its functions to pagan worship practices. For instance, the Sabbath (holy day of rest) was originally on Saturday, but was moved to Sunday by Christians so that they could more easily convert the pagans who already worshipped on that day. It was much easier to convince someone to go to a different temple on their day of worship than it was to ask them to change their day of worship altogether.

Christmas does not appear in the Bible, and I challenge Mr. Larson, or any other member of the Hypocritical Right, to identify a passage about Christmas or Santa Claus in the book that is “the reason for the religion.”

Considering that St. Nicholas of Myra, the Bishop on whom jolly old Saint Nick is based, was a presiding member of the Council of Nicaea and helped to craft the New Testament, Santa could have inserted himself into Christianity’s holy book. He did not, because he was not “the reason for the season,” and he knew it.

The appropriation of winter holiday by Christianity is acceptable. The claim of dominance over it is not. The winter is a time of seeking refuge, and a seasonal festival gives everyone something to look forward to when the snows come, and something to look back on fondly during the thaw.

Must we exclude others during this season, when we all weather the weather together, by demanding that everyone join the status quo? That’s not what America is about.

The Bible says, “Love thy neighbor as thyself.” (Lev. 19:18) This does not mean to love your neighbor as if they were you, but with the care and consideration that you would expect from others.

So, how would Jesus greet?

This year, I greet everyone with a “Happy Holidays,” so that every stranger I meet feels a kinship with me. How many Hypocritical Christians do the opposite, by excluding other faiths or atheists, who also need a moment of joy in a dreary winter?

Christmas is not going anywhere, and neither is Christianity. Christ himself, though, may well be forgotten this Christmas—and not because we do not use his name enough, but because we do not learn from what he taught.

  • (Show?)

    Yes, it's such a shame that Lars leaves himself in the precarious position of having to decide if he's a moron or a con man.

  • Amy (unverified)
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    Let's not forget that a camera will be placed at Margulis Jewlers displaying the crucifix around the clock on Lars website. What great fun to watch what happens to a crucifix in Pioneer Courthouse Square.

  • rolleyes (unverified)
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    I wonder if those are the same 3% you think should be able to vote? Could a christmas-celebrating christian be considered enlightened enough to participate in a democracy, or should we require them to renounce their faith completely before allowing access to a ballot box? After all, Marx did say that religion was an opiate for the masses, right?

  • Jeff Bull (unverified)
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    As much as I still believe nearly all the hype and counter-hype surrounding Christmas to be, essentially, trivia I've got to credit Caelan with one great observation: "Is this really the reason for the Season of Giving? To determine who is on your team?"

    You nailed it with that one.

  • Steve Bucknum (unverified)
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    Remember the good old days, when Christians complained about the commercialization of Christmas?

    It wasn't that long ago that Christians thought that taking Christ into the Department Store and using his birth as the basis for commercial exploitation was anti-Christian.

    Now, that has turned 180 degree around and if retailers don't use the name of Christ to sell merchandise, they are anti-Christian.

    Just goes to show how the "word" from the Bible is up for any intrepretation one wants to give it. Ironic isn't it.

    Well, Happy Holidays (which has a root word meaning of Holy days).

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    caelan

    terrific post. great job in weaving the historical roots of christmas with the contemporary crucifixion of the holiday's meaning on the HR's tree of self-interest (how's that for a tortred analogy, btw?) this is the best piece i've read on this subject; good job.

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    and did anyone else see this guy downtown: american flag for a cape, carrying a honkin' big cross entwined with christmas decorations. only caught a brief glimpse of him walking away from Pioneer Courthouse Square, but, as they say down at the nativity, damn!

    tis the season, y'all

  • BOHICA (unverified)
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    Lets all sing along

    Gods rest ye, Unitarians, let nothing you dismay; Remember there's no evidence there was a Christmas Day; When Christ was born is just not known, no matter what they say, O, Tidings of reason and fact, reason and fact, Glad tidings of reason and fact.

    Our current Christmas Customs come from Persia and from Greece, From solstice celebrations of the ancient Middle East. This whole darn Christmas spiel is just another pagan feast, O, Tidings of reason and fact, reason and fact, Glad tidings of reason and fact.

    There was no star of Bethlehem, there was no angels' song; There couldn't have been wise men for the trip would take too long. The stories in the Bible are historically wrong, O, Tidings of reason and fact, reason and fact, Glad tidings of reason and fact!

  • PanchoPdx (unverified)
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    Great post.

    I often tell Christians that these efforts to spread religious symbolism or messages through government resources is a likely affront to God.

    Fiscal conservatives traditionally embrace the free market for individual decisions in trade and spurn attempts to assist certain businesses through corporate welfare.

    I view the use of government resources to reflect religious messages as the equivalent of spiritual welfare.

    Any God seeking to compete in the free market of religious messages should be ashamed to accept spiritual welfare.

    For Christians to insist upon government assistance in delivering their spiritual message, makes that message appear weak.

  • Becky (unverified)
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    This "Merry Christmas" hullaballoo is really being stirred up by (un)Christian leaders who are working overtime to convince all those true-believer Christians that the long-prophesied Great Tribulation is finally upon us. They've been taught all their lives that Christians would be persecuted at the end of days as Satan (also seasonally known as "Santa," they're told - I kid you not) sees his end is near and desperately tries to wipe them out to get even with Jesus for throwing him out of Heaven way back when before Eve ate that apple and condemned women to second-class status. Persecution is what they're expecting - so that's what their politically-motivated religious leaders, who all know the truth about the whole man-made Christian religion, are giving them. It's a great way to manipulate, unify and motivate a voting block.

    For the Santa-believers among us (meaning those who look forward each year to the coming of the chubby red-clothed present-giving guy, not Satan - though is that red just a coincidence? Hmmm...), the whole thing is silly. How can you not wish someone a Merry Christmas when good-ol' Saint Nick is giving out presents and everything is decorated so festively and we're all singing and eating turkey and helping the needy among us? Christians are not concerned with any of this, however; top on their list of priorities is that by not saying "Merry Christmas" the world is at last rejecting them. Time is running out - Jesus is coming soon - there are souls to save! If we stop saying Merry Christmas, people will burn in hell! Apparently we're living in the age of fundamentalist whack jobs.

    I say let's ignore these hyper-sensitive people's phsychosis and just enjoy the season - the egg nogg, the parties, the shopping, the giving, the singing, the cookies, and the lights. There's plenty of room in this celebratory season for mangers, wise men, dreidles, menorahs, and all the other stuff I haven't learned enough about yet to remember, too.

  • sr (unverified)
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    I write as one of that 3%. Christmas is not now nor has it ever been of any importance to me at all. I have, however, read the Gospels and think highly of what Jesus had to say there. Too bad he got turned into a god and the church into an institution.

    The basic problem that nobody is talking about here is the bogus multiculturalism embedded in the "Happy Holiday" approach. It's a silly, insincere sop thrown to the minority by the majority--a majority that "celebrates diversity" and pats itself on the back in the deluded belief that saying "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas" is equivalent to actually making an effort to learn about what the minority thinks, what holidays the minority observes, and so on.

  • Tradition Bound (unverified)
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    I frankly am appalled that anyone is trying to turn saying Merry Christmas or Happy Holiday into a political statement. These pseudo-Christians are just plain mean-spirited scrooges. Lars should get a life. Why doesn't he do something about adults who wear Halloween costumes if he wants to make a statement by spoiling other people's holidays.

  • Reed (unverified)
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    I think you are wrong when you say that, when people say "Merry Christmas" that "3% of you got uncomfortable and shifty eyed as I tried to relate to you by using the majority greeting. 3% of you feel left out." When I hear "Happy Hanukkah!" or mention of Ramadan, I don't get uncomfortable and left out. Let's hear "Merry Christmas!" "Happy Hanukkah!" and whatever else. Having a one-size-fits-all "Happy Holidays!" is pretty lame compared to the real thing.

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