I spent many years as a newspaper editor, and one of my favorite tasks during the last couple decades was picking the winning entry in our annual children’s holiday art contest – that is, a child’s drawing or painting which would become a sort of greeting card on our front page on Christmas Day. Of course, this being the United States of America, the task was soon invaded by politics. You may say that it was my own fault, because on one particular Christmas Eve a dozen or so years ago, I ordered up a tiny red caption atop a child’s sweet drawing of a Christmas tree. The caption said, “HAPPY HOLIDAYS.”
Yes, friends, I was soon impressed into combat in the War on Christmas. A foot soldier was I, alongside such leading if also unwilling warriors as Barack Obama, the CEO of Starbucks and the entire legal team at the ACLU. This is old stuff these days, because right-wing commentators have trotted out the claim for almost 20 years now — that is, that folks like newspaper editors are turning the nation away from its traditional values by not reflexively using the words “Merry Christmas” starting about December first of each year.
To me, it seemed only polite to choose a seasonal greeting that wouldn’t exclude good wishes to people who don’t celebrate Christmas — like the kind Muslim woman who sat just outside my office, whose spirit gave the newsroom its heart, or the thoughtful Jewish editor on the local news desk. I didn’t, in fact, avoid “Merry Christmas” because I’m an anti-Christian warrior, as callers to a local radio talk show and some anonymous jerks on my voicemail asserted. Have I mentioned, by the way, that I’m the son, grandson, brother, nephew and cousin of Christian clergy? I take a second seat to nobody in my connection to traditional Christianity.
But as culture wars go, this one about the supposed War on Christmas has more staying power than actual consequence. It’s not like a fight over removing books from school libraries or changing what kids are taught about American history and human sexuality – because the outcome of those battles can alter the opinions and cultural sensibilities of a generation. This is just about words, really. After all, it has been quite a while since Christmas was mainly a religious holiday in this country, and that was true long before Fox News discovered how profitable it could be to incite cultural conflict. Christmas these days is more a social event and a cultural phenomenon than a religious celebration.
That’s not to detract from the importance Christians attach to the stories of the birth of Jesus in the Gospels, nor the value the church places on celebrating that birth. You can find Christmas spiritually uplifting even if you aren’t wedded to the literal story — that is, of shepherds in the field and angels in the heavens, and a baby in a manger.
Of course, it was a clever bit of marketing by 4th century Christians to link the nativity story to a winter solstice celebration that had long been observed by pagans. And the particular rituals associated with Christmas — a decorated tree, lights, gifts, a Yule log — have no relevance to the Christian faith at all. So you could argue that Christmas was a non-religious tradition before it gained a spiritual overtone, and that the real tradition is one that isn’t tied to any dogma.
But it’s also true that a hearty “Merry Christmas” isn’t necessarily aimed at excluding anybody. What we think of as the spirit of Christmas — good will toward all, the warmth of being with those we love, a spirit of hope emerging from the notion of the almighty visiting ordinary folks — isn’t the province only of the shrinking share of Americans who say they are Christian. That spirit, in fact, belongs to everyone.
Just under two-thirds of Americans now identify as Christian, down from 90 percent a half-century ago. And in the decades to come, demographers say, Christianity will continue to shrink as other religions grow in America. There’s no indication, however, that as the religious observance of Christmas diminishes, it will shrink in its importance as a cultural phenomenon and a secular holiday.
Yet it’s hard to imagine Christmas without the story of Bethlehem, and the good news is that there’s plenty we can all celebrate in that story, whether or not we subscribe to the tenets of the faith that arose from it. Imagining the infant Jesus puts us in mind of the purity of children, creatures who are not yet tainted by the resentments and burdens we soon enough load upon them — which might make us more attentive to their needs. The story of the three magi suggests how little earthly power really matters in the context of all creation. And consider the idea of arguably the most influential person of all time being born into poverty, bedded down alongside farm animals in a stall: What does that say about wealth’s value, finally?
The joy of Christmas, then, isn’t something that belongs only to those who claim to follow the teachings of the New Testament. No, the season of peace is broad enough to encompass all people. It doesn’t depend on the words we use, but the intent ought to be clear in any seasonal greeting you choose: Joy, peace and good will toward all.
To each of you, then, here’s a season’s greeting: As Tiny Tim said in Charles Dickens’ tale of the transformative power of Christmas, God bless us, every one.
Rex Smith, the co-host of The Media Project on WAMC, is the former editor of the Times Union of Albany and The Record in Troy. His weekly digital report, The Upstate American, is published by Substack.
The views expressed by commentators are solely those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of this station or its management.