By Louis Avallone
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It’s just so out of wack, isn’t it? I mean, good grief. Does hearing, “Peace on earth, good will toward men” really sounds oppressive? Does “Joy to the world” bring such despair to those who hear it? Is there such a scarcity of darkness in the world that a few twinkling lights might not brighten one’s day, or where the innocence of Santa Claus might not teach us all that it is in giving, that we receive?
You see, even though Americans have celebrated Christmas for more than 200 years, there is a growing number of Americans continuing to confuse the freedom of religion (which was intended by our founding fathers), with the freedom from religion (which is something altogether different).
For those folks promoting freedom from religion, we must hear the argument each year on why a Christmas tree is a “holiday tree”, or why seemingly benign Christmas carols cannot be sung in our schools, or why Christmas decorations are not permitted to be displayed in our public squares.
For the fear that some may take offense at anything that does not harmonize with their own beliefs (or lack of thereof), these folks urge tolerance, ironically, through the intolerance of those with whom they disagree.
But poll after poll has shown, however, that this fear is misplaced. According to the polling firm Zogby, 95% of Americans are NOT offended when they hear “Merry Christmas”. In fact, even 62% of non-Christians (including Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists) all celebrate Christmas, in some form or fashion, plus more than half of self-identified atheists and almost 90% of agnostics.
Interestingly, this misplaced fear of offending others, through religion, was the reason that the CBS network executives almost cancelled A Charlie Brown Christmas, back in December 1965. You see, the executives did not want Linus reciting the story of the birth of Christ from the Gospel of Luke. It was thought that viewers would not want to be preached upon by an animated cartoon, especially from Biblical passages. Yet 15 million viewers, or one-half of the television viewing audience, tuned in to watch A Charlie Brown Christmas when it first aired in 1965 and it has become the longest-running cartoon special in history, having aired now for forty-seven (47) Christmases, and receiving an Emmy and a Peabody award along the way. Those CBS executives just got it wrong when it came to religion.
This is because, in the words of Charlie Brown’s creator, Charles Schulz, “There will always be an audience for innocence in this country”. Still, the religious celebration of Christmas faces trivialization. Just a couple of years ago, for example, even the White House was not planning to display the Nativity scene, which has been a longtime East Room tradition. Instead, according to the White House’s former social secretary Desiree Rogers, the “Obamas were planning a nonreligious Christmas.” Great. Whatever that means.
Regardless of the Christmas plans in the White House, Christmas has marked a dramatic return for retailers who have now put the “Christ” back into “Christmas”, after an experimental hiatus where many of the stores instead emphasized “Happy This” or “Happy That”, instead of simply, “Merry Christmas” in all of their advertising.
In fact, the percentage of retailers recognizing Christmas in their advertising has risen from 20% to 80% in recent years, but there are still companies that refer to Christmas, if at all, as nothing more than a tradition, such as Barnes & Noble, Old Navy, Radio Shack, and Victoria’s Secret. This just isn’t right.
After all, according to the founder of the American Family Association, “Retailers which seek to profit from Christmas, while pretending it does not exist should realize they have offended the vast majority of Americans who enjoy Christmas”. (You can check out their “Naughty and Nice” list at http://action.afa.net/)
I guess these “naughty” retailers expect you to leave the “Christ” part of Christmas in the parking lot. And no, it doesn’t necessarily mean that all is good with the world just because a store says “Merry Christmas”, instead of “Happy This” or Happy That”. The true Christmas spirit still comes from within because, Charles Schulz was right, “There will always be an audience for innocence in this country.” And that’s whether you call it a Christmas tree, or a Holiday Tree, or a Shoe Tree. As they say, Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind. Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year, everyone.