Peter Brimelow was among the first to document, at least on the web, the Left’s relentless attack on Christmas, the most visible if not the most important Christian holiday. Horror stories abound, of course, from the outright banning of Christmas carols and Nativity displays, to the uber-PC self-correction of nominal Christians to utter “Happy Holidays,” rather than “Merry Christmas,” even when in church.
No doubt, people of good will, from all religious traditions, are feeling bad about how this joyous holiday has been suppressed in public life, so let me take away the pain!
Although many of us, myself included, would prefer to see the old-fashioned trappings of Christmas all around, ultimately, the way we choose to celebrate—on our own—the Feast of the Nativity, commemorating the Incarnation of Our Lord, should not in any way be affected by the popular culture, or the State, for that matter. After all, we are free to practice our religion in our homes and in our churches.
As was made abundantly clear in the last presidential election, and would have been even more clear were it not for stupid tribalistic voting by minorities, promoting atheism, abortion, and homosexuality served mainly to turn off large numbers of voters. But that’s only the tip of the iceberg. Since those wildly in favor of abortion will tend to have fewer or no offspring to influence, and homosexuals don’t reproduce, a bizarre type of natural selection, whereby a particular cohort voluntary selects itself out of the equation, is very much in play here. As for true atheists, as opposed to “agnostics,” they tend to be miserable individuals (and thus not influential), who nearly always are extremely greedy, and that’s also good news, since they’re against higher taxes and liberalism.
Put another way, the pendulum will swing, and sooner than most think. We experimented with taking values and religion out of the culture, and it didn’t work. Watch for them to return—coming to a public school near you!
Finally, it is well to remind ourselves that Jesus warned us about how Christians would be treated in the world.
In this passage (John 15:18-24), Jesus is addressing his disciples, after the Last Supper…
If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first.
If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you.
Remember the word I spoke to you, “No slave is greater than his master.” If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.
And they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know the one who sent me.
If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin; but as it is they have no excuse for their sin.
Whoever hates me also hates my Father.
If I had not done works among them that no one else ever did, they would not have sin; but as it is, they have seen and hated both me and my Father.
There you have it: The world will always be in opposition to the disciples of Jesus, even if it occasionally lets us be a bit more public about our faith.
My advice to the heralds of encroaching secularism is to spend more time on their own Christmas, and less time worrying about what how our public institutions “honor” it.