Long ago I decided that I think it's phenomenally silly to protest or boycott businesses, organizations, etc. that call Christmas "Xmas" or just refer to it as "The Holidays." Well-meaning folks like the American Family Association have been in the forefront of the fight to force businesses to use the word "Christmas" for the past few years. I confess I fail to see the point of protests and boycotts on an issue like this. A time to remember the advent of the Savior of the Universe, and we're writing angry letters and signing petitions threatening boycotts.
Now let me make clear that I do oppose efforts in some circles to ban the use of the term "Christmas." Ridiculous. Losing the legal right to use the word in business or governmental circles would be highly annoying to me. But punishing businesses who use "Holidays" has long seemed silly and a misdirected concentration of energy badly needed elsewhere.
But though I've long thought that these well-meaning efforts were a bit silly, more recently I've decided it's more than silly. It's counterproductive and even injurious to Christians' representation of Christ to the world. The AFA article linked above refers to the "Christmas culture war" and compares a small-town municipal decision to remove a nativity scene from public property to the Taliban's removal of cultural symbols from Afghanistan. I'm thinking if I'm an outsider to this odd ghetto of American Christianity, I might originally think it a bit silly of the town's government to decide to remove the nativity scene, but my main reaction to this campaign as a whole would be, "Whoah, AFA. Calm down now." Dwain and others, I'm honestly eager to read your (likely much more erudite) comments if you have a few minutes to do so.
When I hear of this kind of thing I also think of a painful ride home from a certain Large-Scale Christian Youth Event which will remain unnamed.
I had taken my youth group to said event, mostly because their high production values were cool, and several of the students and I shared a fondness for the headlining band that was featured the second day of the event. Also, we had had generally positive experiences at other events sponsored by this organization. But at this particular event, the theme for the weekend was highly military. (Disclaimer here: I am very well aware that the Bible uses lots of militaristic language, but Paul makes very clear that our battle is NOT against flesh and blood. In other words, people aren't the enemy.) The speakers, drama, and all the graphics and promo stuff was all about how we are in a "culture war" in America. Apparently, according to the thrust of the weekend, if we win this culture war, American culture will be predominantly conservative Republican and Christian.
A couple more disclaimers. I'm fairly conservative and Republican, and Christian. And to their credit, this organization did place a heavy emphasis on mission work and compassion toward those less fortunate. But the "culture war" language did its damage. A girl who had gone with us (and I was very excited about it, because she was just coming clean from some serious addictions and other destructive patterns of behavior) who wasn't a Christian turned to me during one of the drama performances and said, "This is why no one likes Christians. You all see us as the enemy."
On the ride home, Randy Joe Bland and I spent the bulk of the two hours talking to this girl and basically trying to tell her how sorry we were for this misrepresentation of Christianity. After that ride I have enormous respect for Randy's ability to listen with compassion, his lack of defensiveness, and his wisdom and depth. (I know some of you are thinking, "RANDY?!? Riiiiight..." But that's because you've only seen his humorous side and his constant deceptive drowsiness.) I think we were successful in communicating to the girl in question how followers of Jesus really should be about compassion and selflessness rather than militancy against fellow human beings, but damage was undoubtedly done. The campaign to force "Christmas" on everyone does similar damage.
Instead of going on the offensive with legal action, boycotts, and nasty letters, wouldn't Christians' cause be better served by buying less junk at Christmas time and using that massive marketplace muscle to put a serious dent in some of the social ills at home and abroad? Instead of decorating the house with 300,000 tiny bulbs and fattening up the Christmas bonuses of execs at Target, why not finance a clean-water well in Africa, where cholera is a sweeping the continent yet again? You can even buy a goat for a family in Africa for $75. Instead of spending time and energy and legal muscle protesting a "Holiday" display, why not spend that valuable time and energy and legal muscle speaking up for those who cannot speak up for themselves?
If Christians want people to celebrate Christmas as Christmas, let's be a people who make the birth of Christ impossible NOT to celebrate.
To close this post, I'll say this. It's easy for me to sit here and whine about how I think some other Christians are a bunch of bumbling incompetents. Talk is cheap. I must confess that my own materialism is seriously out of control in many ways. Without going into specifics, I'll tell you that this Christmas I'm going to do some things to reduce my consuming and increase my contribution to stuff that really matters. Even if it's a bit painful.
I know the half-dozen or so of you that read my blog probably have some ideas for ways to make an impact. Two of you actually ARE a way to make an impact. Share your ideas below please.
-- Edit 11/11 - The AFA is calling for a new boycott. See story here. (I THINK this link works.)
-- Edit 12/16 - See this interesting article from Time about The Advent Conspiracy.
