OK, so conservative Christians are claiming that there's a "war on Christmas" because we all say "Happy Holidays." Of course, I remember saying Happy Holidays way back before I knew much about Hanukkah or Kwanzaa; it was a more succinct way to say, "Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!" And now that "The Holidays" start with Thanksgiving, the shorthand makes even more sense for retailers. Increasingly, "Happy Holidays" has a Labor Day flair.
But I digress. These same conservative Christians often belong to "mega-churches" with thousands of members. And several of these mega-churches have decided not to hold services on Sunday morning, December 25th. Christmas!
These are the people who want to tell the rest of us that they have a lock on what it means to be Christian, but they think that there's nothing wrong with canceling church on one of the biggest religious holidays of the year in order to stay home and open presents?
I listened to an irate preacher defend his church's decision on NPR, which did its best to create a "balanced" piece on the issue, offering sympathy to the plight of these poor, poor megachurches. After all, it takes dozens of staff and volunteers to run each service. That excuse almost got me for a moment.
But wait. This is a church. Surely some volunteers are likely to come forward, if the usual cast wants to take this Sunday off. And if not, well, who says that you *have* to have all the flash?
Why not turn off the complicated A/V equipment and leave a stack of bulletins on the back pew? Or, better yet, skip the bulletin and let the minister announce the hymns and readings from the pulpit.
Surely a modified service is better than no service at all.
As the daughter of a minister, I have little sympathy for them.
The closures stand in stark contrast to . . . Mainline Protestant congregations such as the Episcopal, Methodist and Lutheran churches, where Sunday services are rarely if ever canceled.Well, yeah. As a Presbyterian, the idea of a church taking a Sunday off because not enough people might come is just totally foreign. And wrong. In my opinion, if only "two or three gather," it's worthwhile. Perhaps those who show up on holidays are the ones who need to hear the message the most. And what message are you sending if you close your doors to them?
If there's a real "war on Christmas," I don't think it's being waged by the "liberal PC-police." Quite to the contrary. I think that the real "war on Christmas" is the commercialized, secularized pop culture spectacle that we've created. And there are an awful lot of liberals who detest that too.
That said, I do think that "holiday tree" is ridiculous.
4 comments:
I could not agree with you more. Santa Claus is by far the bigger threat to the Christian Christmas than the ACLU will ever be.
The birth of Jesus is not about saying "Happy Holidays" or "Merry Christmas" and it certainly isn't about whether or not a store uses the word Christmas in their advertisements.
As you pointed out, "holidays" has been around for a long time. The word didn't just appear this year. When I was little it was winter break and the play had elves and reindeer, not angels or shepherds.
As for the church being closed on Christmas, well they should be ashamed of themselves for cutting the service on the most important Christian day. Will they skip Easter, too so that people can stay home and eat peeps?
Hah! the guy I heard on the radio was talking about the plight of the stressed out mothers who would have to get their kids up and dressed for church in the morning, while simultaneously trying to prepare Christmas dinner. And the fathers who have to be at church early to usher.
A-ha! So the real problem isn't church, it's a shitty distribution of labor!
When I was a kid and Christmas fell on a Sunday, we got up, snacked while opening our stockings, got dressed and went to church, then came home for dinner and presents. We were bummed to have to wait a couple of hours to open presents, but, um, the day is supposed to be more about the church than the presents, duh.
Heh on the lipstick. That's *so* Presbyterian! :) I hope that your parents' church has at least 7 ministers! They must be *exhausted* after Christmas. I know that the one Sunday all year my dad is likely to take off is the one after Christmas. Isn't that pretty typical?
I like the "dress down" option. (Going in your PJs might be so rare as to make it seem even more special than dressing up.) I'm even OK with having fewer services, if a much smaller number of attendees are expected. As long as we're not cutting the church part out entirely!
I heard about one mega-church that sent home a DVD for the family to watch together, in lieu of church. Nice idea . . . but not quite the same thing.
Amen, Sister SarahLynn. You rock. The holiday tree sucks, but I have been known to say a few "Happy Holidays" just because I'm too lazy to cover all the bases and not because I want to rid the world of Christmas (and the birth of Christ). My Jewish friend from college went to U City where they always had a Christmas tree and sang Christmas carols while growing up. Let's get over ourselves and celebrate everything.
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