There are a lot of people now days in the United States that believe that the Christmas Holiday is under attack and to some extent they are right. It seems that lawsuits are as abundant as public displays of Christian themed holiday observance and décor as various individuals and groups attempt to expunge such observances from public life, even some of those erected on “private” property.
Now I am not one to go out and all these people are evil or even anti-Christian as some do from the pulpit and the even more influential “pulpits” of radio talk show hosts. However there are times that I have to admit that it seems that there is Grinchlike element present in our society. The Grinch’s who come in various types are often well meaning and concerned that religious displays of any kind but mostly the Christian kind will either offend people or create an environment where religious and non-religious minorities might be discriminated against by the religious folks. Thus they believe that all religious displays need to go lest someone be offended or discriminated against.
Above all it seems that they really don’t like the displays with the kid in the crib surrounded by a temporarily indigent family, smelly animals, even smellier migrant worker type pre-Bedouins and undocumented aliens from realms of glory. I find the whole notion that is somehow harmful to individuals or society be quite Grinchlike and wonder of these people had their sentimental and fun glands removed at birth or simply got too many lumps of coal in their stockings.
Despite this I do not fear for Christmas because the celebration of Christ’s Incarnation and Nativity has survived far worse even dare I say from those within the faith. Yes my friends way back in the bad old days a group influential in our early development as a nation the Puritans were big into cancelling Christmas. Despite the fact that they were Christians they were pretty Grinchlike and in some sense the philosophic predecessors of those that want to banish Christmas from public life today.
You see after the Protestant Reformation, the English, who despite the cultured accent that we hear on the BBC or CNN World were actually more like unruly football fans in matters of religious tolerance and loving their neighbors. English Protestants of the non-monarchical reformation type did their best to rid the Church of England of anything Catholic. Of course this often included people who were Catholic or even Anglo-Catholic. The English of all denominations tended to lop off the heads of, burn at the stake or crush with heavy stones those that deviated from the beliefs whoever was in charge. Of course those that leaned Catholic reciprocated in kind whenever they had power which made the era something like the Premier League “lite.”
The English Grinch and Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell
However when the Puritans took power they didn’t just decide to lop, crush and burn but they also decided to outlaw the celebration of Christmas. Of course they did so for noble reasons such as ridding the country of anything that smelled Catholic or did not fit within their rather harsh and purist views of the faith. Thus when they took power they did their best to ensure that everyone was as miserable as them. This included banning the celebration of Christmas which they objected for a number of reasons.
So in 1647 the Puritan dominated Parliament backed up by the brute force of the Army and Police led by Oliver Cromwell simply abolished the feast and all that went with it. Like the Grinch himself they tried to eliminate everything including the Roast Beast. Gone were such nasty pagan ideas as Christmas Trees, feasting, caroling, and decorations. And let’s not forget the favorite target of Grinch’s everywhere, Nativity scenes, which were banned as the worship of idols. Indeed, the Puritans even frowned on the use of the word Christmas because they believed that it was akin to taking the Lord’s name in vain.
Wassailing
That sounds lovely doesn’t it? Just kidding. At least they didn’t go lopping, burning or crushing with heavy stones unless you were proven to be a Christmas celebrating witch. Unlike England where the lifting of the ban was celebrated with the aplomb given to a World Cup championship the Colonists up in the Massachusetts Bay Colony frowned upon the celebration until the 1820s when enough Irish showed up in Boston to turn the place around and make it the fun town that it is now. By the way the last “State Church” in the United States was the Congregational Church in Massachusetts back in 1833, seems that they didn’t appreciate that separation of Church and States stuff thought up by Tom Jefferson and Jim Madison very much.
So the next time you hear about those that want to impose their beliefs to quash Christmas realize that this isn’t a new thing at all. Christians have been doing it for centuries and some of the un-fun Fundamentalists that want to re-establish the faith in the way the Puritans had imagined or legislated it to be, would do it again if they ever took control of Congress. But for now we have to suffer those fun and sentimentality deprived army of Grinch’s that without the religious flair attempt to crush the spirit of Christmas in the name of tolerance.
So Merry Christmas my friends,
The Inglorius Padre Steve's World 
Much of the assault on Christmas has come from political correctness gone mad. We can’t let just the Christians have displays, so we let the Jewish folk have their menorahs. That could insult people of African descent, so along comes Kwanzaa. But you still need something for the Hindus, the Buddhists, the Shintoists, and all the other religious groups. And if you support them, then you offend the atheists. So how do you handle this insane spiral? Simple – ban EVERYTHING! If you don’t display anything from any religious group’s holiday. you don’t offend anyone. People need to grow a thicker skin. There’s plenty out there to offend you if you look for it. I’d rather look for the positive than search for offence.
John
I cleaned up some bad grammar that I missed when you posted your comment. It reminds me of the Bloom County cartoon where everyone was offended. I had an article about that in August or September of 2009.
Blessings
Steve+
Padre- Off-topic though this may be, I need your help. Today, on the 100th anniversary of the great Chicago Stockyards fire (where the greatest number of firefighters were lost, barring 9/11), we lost two brave Chicago firefighters today when a building collapsed on them. Please send your prayers out to their brethren and their families, as I will also. A sad day for my hometown.
Thank you, Padre, and Merry Christmas to you and yours!
For some reason, this particular topic has eaten two attempts to subscribe, so I’ll just post this and try again. Merry Christmas, Padre, to you and yours.
OK, 1 more time, then I give up. BTW, Padre, History Channel International will run the story of the 1914 Christmas Truce on Friday. Great story from WW1 about how the Germans and British deciding to stop fighting, came out of their trenches, and exchanged gifts and played soccer in No Man’s Land during Christmas Day. A wonderful story of the human spirit overcoming the horrors of war.