By Harold Pease, Ph. D.
Those wishing to destroy or remove Christ from Christmas prefer “Winter Break” or “Happy Holidays;” the same is true of “Easter Break” to “Spring Break.” This language reduces the connection to Christ, the reason for both. Proponents argue that this terminology is advanced so as not to offend non-believers who sometimes choose to be offended but it offends those of us who are believers.
The songs of the birth of Christ blanket the earth resulting in more love, more giving, more kindness, more caring and sharing, more thought for others, indeed more of everything that is good. Why would anyone wish to remove this influence? Non-believers might say that society could have all this without Christ. Really!!— As evidenced by the other eleven months??? I do not think so!! Christmas has an unexplained magic to it unlike any other time of the year.
I first noticed the unusual effects of Christ at Christmas as a13-year-old boy milking my neighbor’s cow while he was away. The experience was repeated on the following days also. It was a mostly opened shed, very cold at six a.m. in the morning with icy patches of unmelted snow still on the ground. The sky was lit with a thousand stars demonstrating the immensity of space and of the enormous domain of God. I was happy for no identifiable reason. This was the key—happy for no identifiable reason. And songs of the birth, especially “Silent Night,” played in my mind as I squeezed out the milk from the cow into an open bucket below. I felt all the virtues identified above seemingly all at once and I knew that this season and this little baby was much more than just special. He had to be God. I felt so warmed. I now, as an old man, am long passed just believing, I know He is God.
Others feel this warmth too as it is so plentifully spread over the earth as though by angels spreading angel dust. Santa is a nice guy, mostly for children, but made-up. Christ is not. Non-believers have to notice this unexplained special feeling or choose to deny it. Also easily noticed is that this special warm feeling is pretty much gone by New Year’s Day.
It is okay not to know as I know. I respect the holidays and sacred days of others but I do DEMAND my own. Of all the founders of other religions and faiths, some of which may have been impressive, none was born in a lowlier place—in a manger where cows fed—because his parents, though with child, lacked the distinction to merit something better. None was introduced into the world by a heavenly choir sung to lowly shepherds who were the first invitees to the birth of this king, possibly the only time that happened in history.
No other religious founder could read the unexpressed thoughts of others. None fed thousands with a few fish or loaves of bread. None walked on water. None of them replaced a severed ear fallen to the ground, simply by returning it to the head of his enemy. None of them healed the sick, made the lame walk, the deaf hear, and gave sight to the blind. Indeed He was the gift to the downtrodden, in-firmed, and sinners.
No other founder could forgive sin itself. None restored life to someone who had been dead for days. None but Christ raised himself from the dead. None of them!!! None were said to be perfect. He wronged no one. None, while in the greatest agony of excruciating pain, from one of the cruelest types of torture then known, forgave his afflicters “for they knew not what they did.” All these manifestations were seen by many, sometimes thousands, of witnesses. No one but God does these things.
The Wisemen from afar knew of his birth in the “writings” of the stars and came to visit bringing incense, frankincense and myrrh, gifts of great value. Legends of Native Americans speak of his birth and cite stories of a white God coming to them with new plants and foods and similar healing powers as expressed in the New Testament of the Old World. The Aztecs called him Quetzalcoatl, the Mayans Kukulcan and in Peru, Viracocha, in Brazil, Sume, in Columbia, Bochica. Time stopped and thereafter was counted as AD, rather than BC, in both the old and new worlds. Identify another founder of religion who had this kind of influence.
Christ left the most profound political problem solving formula known to mortals. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Such would end most, if not all, problems between humans and between governments. He commanded followers to first love God and then others as “ourselves.” For non-believers, who may contest Christ’s Godhood, can you dispute this wisdom?
Again, why take this special feeling and moment from Christians, or belittle it, or choose to offend me by expressing all this as simply “Winter Break” or “Happy Holidays.” Yes, offend me!! And most assuredly, please understand why I might retort, to someone giving me this greeting, bringing home my point, Merry CHRIST-mas. Yes, it is all about Christ, so be offended if you choose to be or be warmed with the unexplained magic of the season with the rest of us!!
Why would we not want to keep Christ in Christmas? Merry CHRIST-mas to all!!
Dr. Harold Pease is a syndicated columnist and an expert on the United States Constitution. He has dedicated his career to studying the writings of the Founding Fathers and applying that knowledge to current events. He taught history and political science from this perspective for over 30 years at Taft College. Newspapers have permission to publish this column. To read more of his weekly articles, please visit www.LibertyUnderFire.org.