But my question is this - shouldn't our focus be on living out the true meaning of Christmas instead of campaigning to force people to use the right terminology? What good is it to force compliance in the words people say? Saying "Merry Christmas" is easy. It's living like Jesus that's the greater challenge in this season of materialistic consumerism. I like the words of Bob Robinson from Vanguard Church. (Caution - If you read the whole blog Bob may be a little overly critical of James Dobson, but he makes a very valid point) He writes...
"Having cashiers say 'Merry Christmas' at retail stores will not make Christmas any more Christian. In my opinion, perhaps cashiers should be saying 'Happy Holidays,' because very little about consumerism has to do with the meaning of Christmas.
In fact, I contend that consumerism is one of the top cancers for evangelical Christianity in today's America. American Christians have participated in and are equally to blame for how consumerism has taken over the celebration of the birth of Christ.
Instead of spending so much time, energy and money on fighting against retailers saying 'Happy Holidays,' maybe we should spend it more on creating a body of believers who would be so Kingdom-minded and so counter-cultural that they would recognize how their voracious appetites for consumer goods are corroding their spiritual lives.
And, maybe, instead of being a bunch of angry Christians demanding that people say 'Merry Christmas,' we should joyfully proclaim the Good News that God came in the flesh in order to free us from such truly insidious powers such as consumerism and materialism."
It's food for thought. Maybe if we had lived out the teachings of that baby in the manger then the world wouldn't be so quick to throw away the phrase "Merry Christmas". My deepest belief is that speaking out against a problem is often easier than confronting what is within us that contributes to the problem in the first place. May we be a people who seek to live what we long to speak - and may our living give substance to our words.
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I agree with you in principle. The body of Christ has much more troubling issues to confront. However, I truly feel that we cannot simply roll over on this issue and act like it doesn't exist. The "Happy Holidays or Merry Christmas" controversy is but another attempt of the secular world to further the dichotomy between Christ and society. I agree that this may be a moot point, however, the fact still remains that slowly but surely the name of Christ is being stripped from every public element of life. My question is when is the church going to say no more? This is but a minor battle in a war that is being fought. However, if we keep conceding these battles what's to say that we can win the war? "The only thing necessary for evil to prosper is for good men to do nothing." --edmund burke
What is the war that we are fighting? Is it the freedom to force people to say Christian phrases? To have governments enforce Christian laws? I think the war that we are fighting is for the souls of men and women. I don't think that winning these "cultural" battles necessarily furthers our cause. In fact, is you look the world over, it's when the church is on the margins of society that it usually grows the best. Places where there is tremendous freedom to be a Christian - or where society embraces Christian ideals - are often the places where the church grows complacent, content that we are living in a Christian "society".
When Jesus had an opportunity to interact with Pilate he didn't seem threatened by the "state" at all. He knew that His Kingdom had a type and source of power that no government could ever touch.
And Paul spent no time worrying about the fact that Roman culture didn't conform to Christian principles. At least if he did the Spirit never compelled him to write about it. He sought to be a vehicle for the Spirit to change the hearts of people.
Somehow I just don't think you can equate Wal-Mart making their employees say "Happy Holidays" with a serious setback to the progression of the Kingdom of God.
I think that in one sense it gives the church the opportunity to live in such a way that says what we celebrate is more than just "Happy Holidays". You can't just be considered a "Christian" because you buy Christmas gifts at Wal-Mart. Your life should show your allegiance to Jesus.
So I stand by my original post. And I'm not "rolling over on this issue and pretending it doesn't exist". I'm just saying rather than fighting to force employers to do what we want, let's live in such a way that proclaims the true meaning of Christmas - Jesus coming to change the world - for all to see.
Uncle Jeff,
Interesting post battle...I hope you don't mind if I join in on the fun. I actually had this discussion with a professor earlier this week so I'll try to add a new perspective to things.
To start with I read the Vanguard website and I really think that he completely misconstrued the current controversy over "Merry Christmas" vs. "Happy Holidays." The real issue is not us forcing employees of Wal-Mart to say "Merry Christmas" but rather ensuring them the right that they can say that if they so choose. If Wal-Mart were to force employees to say "Merry Christmas" (as Vanguard was writing about) then I would be fighting against it. It violates an individual's first amendment rights and should thus not be allowed.
I personally believe that any employee should be allowed to choose what they want to say to customers, be it “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Holidays.” However, that’s the issue right now. There are several court cases coming up through district and federal courts trying to strip from Americans the right to say “Merry Christmas” in public; the argument being that it unfairly prejudices those who do not celebrate Christmas. That’s the issue as I understand it. There was an article in the New York Times about this subject recently talking about the upcoming cases. The article was about the new nominee for the Supreme Court, Sam Alito, but it also framed the legal discussion that I just wrote about.
If that’s the issue, then I would argue that we as Christians in a democracy have the duty to make sure that these cases are not ruled on unfavorably. If they are then this is but another ruling that will continue to push the Church to the margins of society. I agree with your rebuttal to the anonymous poster that the Church can and historically has prospered on the margins of society. However, I would argue that the American church is now already on the margins of society and thus we can’t approach this issue with complacency. I argue that we are already on the margins of society because no longer can a religious belief be used to justify a public position because it is based on a personal belief and not on something scientific and testable. My philosophy professor told me the other day to write a paper on how we view the “happy life.” When I questioned him about the specifics after class he told me that this paper should be devoid of religious references because they hold no weight in the field of philosophy.
Now I understand that engaging in such a “cultural war” is not what the church is to do. I agree with that point. So I’m not advocating that the church try to interject itself into the public circle to argue first amendment rights (that’s what Dobson wants thought). The Church is to be outside of the issues focusing on furthering the work of Christ.
However, one of the fundamental elements of American democracy is keeping the government in check and respecting the rights of all Americans. This means that if we want to keep this democracy (and not lose it) then we can’t allow our government to bulldoze over our inherent rights. So we have a responsibility not to the Church, but to our government to fight this calculated marginalization and stripping of fundamental American rights.
Obviously, I need to think about this much more but that's where I am now...I definitely want to discuss this over Christmas at the beach.
Hey Matt,
I welcome your comments. And you write with alot of insight. I agree that the Vanguard church blog doesn't frame the actual problem well. And I do agree that people should have free speech. That's important and worth lobbying for. You might disagree with me on this, but I also think that employers have the right to script what their employees say to their customers in a work relationship. That could be as simple as McDonald's requiring cashiers to ask "Would you like fries with that?" or as conflict ridden as a major retailer saying "You need to say Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas." An employer has to have rights in regards to what their employees say, because the employees are functioning as an extension of the company itself. It gets complicated doesn't it? The flip side is also true. If I run a store and one of my employees decides to spread anti-semitic sentiment to my customers I expect that I have the right to stop his comments or move him quickly to the ranks of the unemployed.
What has frustrated me so much about the Church lately is that we seem to have the need to force our ideas onto the culture. If we just legislate acceptance of Christianity then we'll all be fine. Not sure that this is helpful. Wal-Mart is not saying that people can't say Merry Christmas (how would they ever enforce that), just that they can't say it on behalf of Wal-Mart. When we as a church get upset about them exercising their right to conduct business in the way they see fit it looks a little silly to me. It would be akin to a Jewish organization trying to force a supermarket chain to stop seling non-Kosher foods. There are avenues to express our views. We have the right to not shop there. We have the right to express our displeasure with their decision to others. Wal-Mart employees have the right to seek employment with a company that better reflects their own spiritual beliefs. But when we focus on this as a key battle for the Kingdom I think we are wasting resources that could be better served elsewhere.
I'm rambling now. Sorry about that, it's late. I look forward to our discussions over Christmas. I have much to learn and am excited about hearing your ideas.
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