"Merry Christmas" or "Bah! Humbug!"?

A family in Nova, Michigan was threatened with fines when they placed a nativity scene in their front yard. A letter from the Thomas More Law Center led the property management firm to back down.

The Jackson County (Georgia) School District forbade a wide variety of religious expressions--teachers wearing pins, angels or clothing with religious connotations or some songs with religious content in a "Winter" concert. An attorney for the Alliance Defense fund says, "Many school districts aren't trying to be difficult; they simply don't know the facts about the law." (Source: Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse writing in "Toothsource," a free e-mail with informed opinion on current cultural issues)

I for one am responding to "Happy Holidays" with the words, "And the 'holiday' is Christmas, when we remember Jesus' birth." Please read on:

"Holiday" is defined by the Random House dictionary as "a day fixed by law or custom on which ordinary business is suspended in commemoration of some event or in honor of some person."

So, "holiday" is a generic word covering all such commemorations. When we want to get specific we ask what event or person is remembered on a particular holiday such as Independence Day or Presidents' Day. Or
Christmas.

We would never call a parade on Labor Day, Veterans' Day or Martin Luther King's birthday a "Holiday Parade." This generic designation would degrade the special day and insult those who observe it. And so it is with calling a Christmas event a "holiday" event or Christmas Day "the holiday."

Christmas Day at its heart commemorates the birth of Jesus-nothing else, nothing less. Since the 4th century most of Christianity has observed December 25 this way. We should either regard it as such or eliminate it as a holiday. Business and government could then operate as usual on December 25; Christians who wish to observe Christmas could take a personal vacation day.

But neither will happen, for our culture wants to bask in the benefits of this day even while pretending it has no heart. I for one will celebrate Jesus' birth and extend a prayer for peace and good will to all, be they Christian or not. Merry Christmas!