An article in the globe (link,) and the persistent chattering of O’Reilly, has got me to take a closer look into the supposed assault on Christmas. But before I present outside material, let me give you my opinion. I am not a Christian, and therefore have no great fondness for Christmas. However, I realize that it is one of the most important holidays for Christians. From what I gather, the idea of Christmas is to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, and thus the beginning of the faith. Therefore, the holiday is celebrated to mark a serious moment in Christianity. Additionally, because this is a joyous holiday, one celebrating birth and beginnings, to express that joy, people exchange gifts with each other. Therefore the holiday is effective in being both a tangible event and a teaching tool.
But then at some point, and I’m hard pressed to say when, the former notion of the holiday (as a tangible event) took precedence over its spiritual value. Instead of commemorating the birth of Christ and exchanging gifts to celebrate that moment, the holiday became one where the gift giving was the sole purpose. Instead of being a joyous and honest celebration, it morphed into an event whereby people became obligated to buy things for others. Thus the obligatory notion of participating in this gift exchange diluted the real meaning of the holiday.
Given that as my ideological background, I find it quite curious that a group, “Committee to Save Merry Christmas” (link) finds fault with businesses lack of willingness to use the word Christmas in its advertisements. Indeed right on the group’s front page, it states:
The festive atmosphere of the past that surrounded the Christmas season in department stores which energized shoppers, supported their culture and tradition, and excited them to select just the right gift for friends and family for the Christmas celebration has been severely diminished. For many, the atmosphere has become offensive and devoid of any meaning.
Although the organization’s goal is to “preserve the culture and tradition of the vast majority of Americans that celebrate and honor Christmas,” the only way it sees fit to do so it to demand that corporations further commercialize Christmas. Specifically, this group is calling for a boycott of the Federated Department Stores (Macy’s, Bloomingdales.) What they are upset with is the fact that these corporations are saying “Happy Holidays” in their advertisements while most of their profits are indeed coming from Christmas (rather than Hanukkah) shoppers.
This raises two interesting points. First, let’s take a sympathetic look at the Committee. If you will recall an earlier post (Dangerous Media) I commented on the hypocrisy surrounding gay-themed TV programming within the corporate media. The problem was that NBC and CBS would not show an ad calling for the inclusion of gays in faith based communities, calling it too controversial, while airing shows like Queer Eye and Boy Meets Boy on their subsidiary channels. It was the hypocrisy of pandering to everyone and reaping maximum profits; a perfect example of having ones cake and eating it too. Now, if I attempt to place myself in the shoes of these people, I have to figure that Christmas is something truly meaningful to me, which I don’t want to see co-opted or diluted. In this case, then perhaps I can see the anger of not being addressed truthfully. That is, Federated and all other “Happy Holidays” stores assume that Christmas shoppers will continue to patronize them even though they no longer explicitly advertise to Christmas shoppers.
If to me the far right was guilty of obstructionism in refusing to air the gay-friendly commercial, then perhaps the far left is guilty of denying observant Christians of their right to be addressed as what they are. This of course leads to what I believe is the underlying root of this crusade, which is the anti-Political Correctness mission. I’m willing to admit that this country is majority Christian, and that during this month, most people will have trees, not menorahs. Therefore, I see no harm in wishing people Merry Christmas. It is not offensive to me because I am not Christian. Perhaps this mirrors my unease with the notion of Heterosexism, as taught by the Corbers of this world. Heterosexism is a trait people are guilty of when inquiring of, say, a male co-worker, as to whether he has a girlfriend or is married. Because the question did not specifically leave room for the possibility that this person might be gay, or some other flavor of sexuality other than straight, the asker is biased. This is simply too much for me to swallow. The truth is, a question like that is simply the stuff of conversations. If we are to sensor such basic chit chat, then talking to our acquaintances and co-workers becomes way to dangerous, and we become more isolated as individuals.
By asking a single man whether he has a girlfriend or wishing a co-worker Merry Christmas, no disrespect is being done to gays, and no slights are being offered to Jews. Instead, when a network refuses to air a decent advertisement with a clearly financed message, or if a store initiates a “no-Hanukkah shopping allowed” policy, then there is a problem. It is a misunderstanding, probably among hyper sensitive, focus group type ad execs that misconstrues this vital difference.
Well we’ve covered more than two interesting points, or so I hope, but I did want to come back to my original second point and take a less sympathetic look at the Committee. Given what I’ve already said, it is interesting to see how this battle is being fought. That is, to honor what is a sacred holiday, the Committee is begging corporations to use this holy day as fodder for advertisements. Instead of calling for a greater revival of, say, church attendance, or community events, such a caroling or pot luck suppers, it has decided that good Christians should have the right to be advertised upon so that they can be proper consumers. Needless to say, this is a troubling concept.
Remember the Committee’s stated goal to, “preserve the culture and tradition of the vast majority of Americans that celebrate and honor Christmas,”? Well if the culture and tradition can be summed up in TV ads from Macys, then perhaps it is the culture and tradition of this vast majority of Americans who celebrate and honor Christmas that should be examined. Simply, exploitative advertising seems the furthest thing from honest cultural affirmations. Perhaps if individuals who compromise the Committee believe that the far left has gone too far in removing explicit religious references from the public square (as perhaps it has,) it should fight for what it truly sees as lost, not others’ bottom line.
