Recon’s Black Ops

11/25/2005: Now that Thanksgiving 2005 has come and gone, we are in the homestretch toward Christmas.

‘Tis the time for more spending, more fruitcake (on second thought, strike that thought), more fat men in red suits, Christmas plays, and other festivities associated with Christmas. The ACLU will also have a field day, pontificating what is–and is not–proper expression of Christmas holiday sentiment.

Some conservative writers have railed against the secularization of America by the likes of the ACLU. Other writers–correctly–point out that the secularization of Christmas and the promotion of pseudo-holidays (Kwaanza) are efforts to undermine Christianity and Western culture. Many Christians have reacted by taking the fight to the leftist establishment and demanding reform in the judiciary. Ergo, many right-leaning Christians are lining up to defend Christmas.

I see two issues here:

(1) Left-wing secularists undermining Christianity and Western culture in America and
(2) Is it really worth defending Christmas?

To the first, Americans should be rightly concerned. The very notion of freedom from a Constitutional/Declaration of Independence standpoint is Western all the way. Denying the Christian influence of American culture would be a grand mistake. Christians drove the move to free slaves. It was Christian influence that made post-civil war reconciliation between North and South possible. Christians are leading the global fight against human trafficking. While Christians have many negative contributions to history, far more is their positive contribution. The Academic/Secular Left seeks to blot out these contributions through revisionist history. In addition, many in the left wish to turn America into a Third World country and destroy all semblance of free markets. On top of that, many of them undermine Christianity because that stands in the way of their social agendas.

Christians should rightly oppose these elements, realizing that no political party will provide all the necessary solutions. The hope of the Christian lies in the crucified–and resurrected–Messiah.

However, I don’t have a dog in the fight over Christmas. It is not a Biblical holy day; it is in fact a Pagan holiday with Pagan symbolism with a veneer of Christianity. Mistletoe and Christmas trees are hardly Christian in their origin. Taking Pagan elements and proclaming them Christian makes no sense to me. Christians should pick their battles wisely, and I am not about to defend a Pagan holiday in order to advance Christianity. That does not strike me as a Biblically wise thing to do.

That said, I am amused by civil libertarians who are offended at Nativity scenes on city/state/federal properties. They have a special phobia for Christians that borders on pathological.

ReconsDad Christian Life, Politics