Don’t say the “C” word!
December 12, 2005 by Laura | Trackback URI
A couple of my recent posts might lead you to believe - if you don’t read them carefully - that I don’t think there is a serious attack on Christianity in this country. One commenter agreed with me about the Christmas tree, and further said, “But what people have to remember that there are other religions and there other religious seasons at the same time. So it is a holiday season. Everyone should just get over it and accept the fact that not everyone believes the same thing.”
Let’s be clear about this: There IS a concerted effort to remove public acknowledgement of Christianity in this country. Is anybody trying to take Allah out of Ramadan? On the contrary, Islam is being taught in public schools. Students are getting graded on memorizing the pillars of Islam and praying to Allah. That would certainly not be tolerated of Christianity - imagine a public school curricula that required memorization of the Nicene creed! You don’t see large groups of Christians demanding that people refrain from saying “Happy Kwanzaa” or insisting that schools stop displaying Santa images. Christians DO accept the fact that not everyone believes the same thing. That’s why we evangelize. 
I’m just suggesting that Christians respond to this culture war by only defending actual Christianity, not what the world calls Christianity.
The manner in which we respond to such a situation can be difficult. While it is not our responsibility as Christians to be concerned with having a “Christianized Christmas,” it is still fair to note that the re-labeling of this holiday is indeed an effort at religious tolerance and pluralism. We live in a society where the only sacrament is hyper-tolerance, and the only sin is to call someone a sinner. In essence, culture attempts to equate religions and the holidays associated with them.
However, as you have stated, it would be ridiculous to defend something that is not worth defending to begin with. As this society imposes secularism over and against Christianity, our response should be to support the Biblical thing.
My recent post on The Chronicles of Narnia, “The Real Narnian Battle: Christianity vs. Irrationalism” has had a similar tone. I do not defend this novel (which, however, I happen to greatly enjoy). What I do defend, however, is the Biblical Christianity that is so often attack.
Thanks,
Evan May
While I know that Christmas trees hold no Biblical significance, they are part of ‘our culture’. I, for one, do not idolize the tree; I just enjoy putting it up, although it hasn’t made it’s way to the place in my house yet, this season.
I do think that political correctness is going a little far, in order to appease everyone. One of these days, we are going to wake up, and there isn’t going to be a Christmas holiday, no mention of Christ or His Word - it’s going to be forbidden, if Christians don’t get off their seat of complacency and fight for our rights, just as other religions, which are in a minority here, are doing.
As Evan said, we are headed for ‘religious tolerance’ and pluralism (is it not already here?), which means our conversation is going to be policed, and there is going to be no more freedom in our America.
I agree completely that we need to fight for our rights to express our faith in a public way if we choose, and that PC is going way too far. Banning the word Christ or derivations of it is definitely something we normally should fight against. The multi-culti tolerance is extended to everyone but us. But I honestly believe that God will not grant us victory until we are fighting for the right things. We need to fight for His glory and honor His name.
If we let the world define the battlefield, we’ve already lost. By that I mean calling it a victory to maintain the use of the word Christmas in relation to a dead tree, the decorating of which has a long pagan history. We lost that time, energy, and political muscle to gain a victory that does not honor Christ. We can’t get that back or devote it to something more important - we spent it and it’s gone.
We’re not called to defend the culture. A victory in this area is just so much straw that will burn up.
“America, is like a healthy body and its resistance is threefold: its patriotism, its morality, and its spiritual life. If we can undermine these three areas, America will collapse from within.”… Joseph Stalin.
Since the collapse of the USSR, the USA has been undermined by internal enemies and now worsened by the terrorists.
The worst thing to happen to the USA is the erosion of the spiritual pillars of the USA. The fall of Christianity is the calamity of the USA.