Is Christmas Too Middle-Eastern?
Compared with my childhood, Christmas has almost disappeared from view.
In Britain, Birmingham City Council celebrates “Winterval” instead of the usual “Xmas”? That line is being followed up and down the country, egged on by laws emanating from central government. Is political correctness once again attacking the bedrock of our values and culture?
The answer is, yes, of course, because the PC agenda is basically Marxist and seeks to destroy every vestige of “bourgeois” existence. Western governments, particularly in Europe, are now dominated by Marxoid genuflectors whose every impulse is to root out the middle-classes and their way of life.
But is it more complex than that? Take this year as an example and using old-time language for better comparison :
In 2006 we’ve had a vicious war in the Holy Land, plus a Mahdi uprising in Mesopotamia. Sunni rebels have been fighting a bitter civil war against a dispersed Shia army in the lands between the Tigris and the Euphrates, with British and American troops caught in between. Meanwhile, in a resurgent Persia, a wild dictator is building a doomsday weapon to wipe an entire nation from the face of the earth. John Buchan or the Bible, take your pick.
Why then would we want to be reminded of the Middle East during Christmas?
And yet, remember those old-fashioned Christmas cards with the three wise men in their long robes and beards? Nowadays we see them as Osama bin Laden lookalikes. The timeless Biblical scenes of our youth, once so popular, remind us of the mujahideen rather than peaceful spirituality.
All over the Western world there’s a major retreat from Christianity. In America, probably the most ardently Christian nation on earth, you’ll only hear “happy holidays” these days, with scarcely a mention of Christmas.
Is it that we are shying away from the whole Middle East ethos? Has 9/11 changed the very nature of who we think we are? It may be that we no longer see the deserts south and east of the Med as benign. They never were, of course. But where does that flight from religious romanticism leave us?
Well, we could easily develop a Christianity without a Middle-Eastern favour, if only our Church leaders and others would recognize the problem.
Many of the early Gnostics, for example, like the Essenes and the Therapeutae, were “Christians” before the time of the historical Jesus — if he was a person rather than an archetype. Their ideas derived more from ancient Egypt and Greece than what we once called the Holy Land. It was the Roman Empire that stamped an ersatz “Christianity” on the rest of us to bolster its own power.
Rather than throw out the baby Jesus with the holy bathwater by adopting contrived festivities, like Winterval, a Christianized version of the Scandinavian Yuletide would be far more preferable, with European and American traditions overlaying a Gnostic, Christian spirituality.
Of course, the merry, Dickensian, English Christmas as imported by Prince Albert is the best of the lot. It’s a subtle blend of Celtic holly and mistletoe, with a big German fir tree, ample wine and ale, and boards groaning with non-vegetarian roasts and bakes. I’ll settle for that.
A very Merry Christmas — with a bit of Gnostic nostlagia thrown in — and a Happy New Year to all Syntagma readers.
Agree totally. Seems Christianity is cowering under the weight of political correctness - during the Christmas festivities I don’t want to be reminded of the Middle East - it’s not my religion, Christianity is!
“we could easily develop a Christianity without a Middle-Eastern stamp” - sounds good to me.
My view is simple: Australia is very much a Christian country - you come here and you have to respect that (many don’t). Don’t demand a change - respect the traditions.
As America seems to be cowering to Political Correctnesses, I sense in Australia a real shift lately to a Christmas that I remember in my youth. It’s almost like we’ve had enough of the BS and have said where going back to our traditions.
Any way, good post John.
Happy Holidays, MERRY CHRISTMAS, John.
By Martin Neumann on December 14th, 2006 at 3:02 pm
And a very merry Christmas to you, Martin.
Looks like Boxing Day at the MCG will be good too, after Monty and Harmison did their jobs — although I hate to think what Warnie will do on that wicket.
By John Evans on December 14th, 2006 at 3:09 pm
I can’t say that I agree with your solution, but I certainly believe you have hit the nail on the head with your assessment of the PC movement. I find it amusing that so many people in America believe that hearing “Merry Christmas” is offensive if they don’t happen to celebrate it. If I were to mistakenly wish you a happy birthday, thinking wrongly that today is the day, would you be offended? Of course not! I’m wishing good things for you based upon my beliefs. If a believer wishes a non-believer a Merry Christmas, he is wishing good things for that person.
Wow, how offensive!
OK, I just want to go on notice that anyone can wish me a happy or merry anything, whether I celebrate it or not, as long as the purpose is to wish *good things* for me! You can even wish me a Merry Gnostic Christmas, and I will reply “Thank you!”
By Cyndi L on December 14th, 2006 at 3:27 pm
Agree heartily, John.
Give me a good dollop of men smoking pipes and drinking porter by firesides in coaching Inns with six foot snowdrifts outside.
Charles Dickens had it about right.
By Steve Newman on December 14th, 2006 at 5:33 pm
I agree with you, John. Christmas has definitely changed from my generation to the next, and not in a good way. My youngest son was fortunate enough to sing in a Christmas program before the parents started complaining about the religious aspects. I find it odd that the majority of my country is still Christian-based and yet tolerant of the political BS involving this special holiday.
By Deborah on December 15th, 2006 at 2:36 am
HeHe, John - your batsmen are doing you proud … again,
This could (should) be a really close match.
By Martin Neumann on December 15th, 2006 at 6:46 am
Enough said, Martin. Well done on regaining the Ashes., though you have been helped by England losing them.
By John Evans on December 15th, 2006 at 11:29 am
You’re right, Deborah. It’s amazing what’s going on in the West now. It’s as if we’ve collectively given up on our culture and adopted a version of the one we fought and defeated in the 20th century. It doesn’t make sense on any level.
By John Evans on December 15th, 2006 at 11:31 am
A Merry Gnostic Christmas to you, Cyndi, and a great Yuletide as well.
By John Evans on December 15th, 2006 at 12:09 pm
Ahh, Charles Dickens! I’ve always fancied myself as a bit of a Scrooge, Steve.
By John Evans on December 15th, 2006 at 12:11 pm
Thank you John! Happy Hanukkah to you, Merry (traditional) Christmas, and Happy New Year!!
By Cyndi L on December 15th, 2006 at 1:34 pm
[...] Read More in Syntagma [...]
By LifeTimes » Christmas and the Middle East on December 15th, 2006 at 5:18 pm
I stopped reading half-way through because I had to look up too many words in the dictionary at http://M-W.com .. but, seasons greetings to you too~
By HART (1-800-HART) on December 15th, 2006 at 7:45 pm
Thank you, HART .. but the best bit is at the end.
I hope you have a great time between December 24 and January 2.
By John Evans on December 15th, 2006 at 10:56 pm
In the United States, Christmas was made a national holiday by President Ulysses S. Grant in 1870. It’s a Federal holiday which means everyone gets the day off from work regardless of religion or whether they celebrate the religious aspect of the holiday. In essence, it is a secular holiday. But it’s a secular holiday whose name is legally “Christmas”. I doubt very much that anyone objecting to being wished a “Merry Christmas” would be willing to give up their day off.
The real problem is that we don’t allow any Christian symbols at all in society. You may celebrate diversity as much as you like as long as you aren’t diverse enough to include Christianity.
Christmas has religious meaning for some and it’s a gift-giving celebration of family and friends for others. Santa Claus, Father Christmas, the tree, the yule log - none of these really has much to do with the birth of Christ. It doesn’t matter to me if people celebrate these things if they wish to. The only problem is that those on the other side of the fence are not as easy-going as we Christians are - they don’t want us to celebrate the religious aspect at all.
The real problem is tolerance, which in these PC times is only for some and not for others. A Christian who celebrates the religious aspect of Christmas believing it to be the celebration of the birth of the saviour of mankind, is not allowed tolerance in the modern world. Maybe the real problem is that unless someone, somewhere has even an inkling of what Christmas is supposed to be, it loses ALL meaning and becomes the very disappointing season you lament.
By Andrea on December 16th, 2006 at 12:26 am
Good analysis, Andrea. Of course, in the U.S there’s a constitutional separation between politics and religion. On the surface that seems fair, given the antagonisms that religions often cause.
The problem arises when there’s a de facto national religion, as there is in the States and also here in Britain. The constitutional separation amounts to an enforced negative discrimination against the large majority of the population who call themselves Christians.
In Britain we’ve managed our usual Heath Robinson way round that by having an “established” church — the Church of England — rather than a religion, which has ceremonial sway only over matters of state. It’s also so mild and liberal that no other religion objects to it. In fact, the Chief Rabbi wants the CofE to remain established on the grounds that any other alternative would be infinitely worse. Typical British nuanced thinking.
However, the fly in the ointment is that our 3pc Muslim population is starting to get aggressively political, as is its nature, and demanding equal status (and funding) with the other churches. Blair’s so-called Human Rights Act gives them this on a plate, so the delicate, working arrangements we’ve had since around 1800 are beginning to break down. That’s the cause of our head-banging political “correctness” where Christmas is concerned.
Anyway, I hope you and Clive have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
By John Evans on December 16th, 2006 at 11:38 am
[...] John Evans wrote a great post about how Christmas and its religious basis has all but diminished in favor of Political Correctness, especially here in America. The article I found this morning struck a strange chord in me. I found it funny, and yet not because of everything that’s been going on in my country and in the world. [...]
By Deborah Woehr » Blog Archive » Drive-By Nativitising and the War on Christmas on December 18th, 2006 at 7:21 pm