More and more you hear people saying, “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas.” When I was in school, the vacation that we had around Christmas time was called the Christmas vacation – today it’s called the winter recess. Yesterday I got an invitation to attend a Christmas party, but nowhere on the invitation does the word Christmas appear – it says Holiday party. It’s getting out of hand when a commotion arises over what to call a spruce tree donated annually to the city of Boston by the wonderful people of Nova Scotia. Some don’t want it called a Christmas tree, so the city of Boston’s official site succumbs and calls it a Holiday tree.
The last time I checked, the majority of this country’s population is made up of Christians, who celebrate Christmas, yet we are forced to be “sensitive” and make sure that we include everyone and to be politically correct. So now when the City of Boston announces the lighting of its tree, it refers to it not as the Christmas tree but the holiday tree.
Why does the word Christmas bother some people? I can’t figure it out. The only thing I can think of is because Christ makes up part of the word Christmas. Christ bothers some people because they don’t believe in Christ, I guess. Christ warned his disciples as is mentioned in Matthew Chapter 10 Verse 22 “.and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake.”
Isn’t it interesting that many people who originally came to this country, your parents, grandparents or great grandparents, came because this country had much to offer including the freedom of speech and worship. What’s happening to our freedom of speech? There’s a book out on the market written by a nationally syndicated radio talk show host, called “The Enemy Within” that we I first heard about it wrote it off as someone wanting to profit from his stature in life. Now the more I see things like the de-Christmasing of Christmas, I’m starting to believe in this man’s opinion that the enemy we face in this country is not external but right here among us. The enemy within will bring this country down if we let them.
Don’t be surprised if the book, “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas” is changed to “The Grinch Who Stole the Holidays.” You better tell anyone you know that's named Natale (Christmas) to be on guard.
I thought I was starting to lose it until I read an op-ed piece in yesterday’s Boston Globe written by a Jewish man named Jeff Jacoby and this is how he summarizes his column:
As a practicing Jew, I don't celebrate Christmas. There is no Christmas tree in my home, my kids don't write letters to Santa Claus, and I don't attend church on Dec. 25 (or any other date). Does the knowledge that scores of millions of my fellow Americans do all those things make me feel excluded or offended? On the contrary: It makes me feel grateful -- to live in a land where freedom of religion shelters the Hanukkah menorah in my window no less than the Christmas tree in my neighbor's. That freedom is a reflection of America's Judeo-Christian culture, and a principal reason why, in this overwhelmingly Christian country, it isn't only Christians for whom Christmas is a season of joy. And why it isn't only Christians who should make a point of saying so
Sometimes people offer opinions and for whatever reason for me they take time to settle and make sense. A woman had responded to an e-mail on the above subject matter and mentioned that maybe all this attempted neutering of Christmas is what the Lord wants. The reason she presented was that this country has lost the true meaning of Christmas. Too much is spent on the materialistic side of the Christmas holiday and very little is spent on reflecting on the true meaning of an event that occurred 2000 plus years ago.
I hope you don’t get too caught up with Santa Claus that you forget to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Don't be afraid to say Merry Christmas, or Buon Natale
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