Mele Kalikimaka is a greeting I found myself saying more and more this year. I had noticed that I had been pretty deliberately ducking the regular greeting last year by throwing it off as something PC and funny / cute like Feliz Hanakwansmas.
I’m afraid I don’t have exact copy of the article I read off of the AP newswire, but a bill was proposed in the Senate in order to protect schools and public institutions from lawsuits if they chose to sing Christmas carols or have “Christmas” parties. Christmas actually is a National holiday recognized by our country’s government. However, it is a holiday that has a root in Christianity and a backlash against religious favoritism has emerged as a result of this.
The front lines of that battle took place in Sonoma county, California this year. A ban against angels and stars adorning the tops of Christmas trees in government buildings was enacted. The public backlash against it was so great that it was quickly rescinded (yes the people do have a voice). By the way, one of the offending stars in question is photographed above in the Information Sciences office of Sonoma county (courtesy of Newscom)
I don’t know about you, but I’m not sure that star shouts religious ideology in any way shape or form (when I first heard of this the only star I could think of that would be religiously propagandizing might have been the star of David, which is very much a Jewish symbol and would certainly make for a conversation inducing piece atop a Christmas tree). That star pictured has only five points (which is often used in reference to another deity entirely), and I’m not entirely sure that neon pink is a color of association with the people of Israel. Obviously the strike is against the star that lead the wise men to baby Jesus in the manger, but still a star is a rather generic and non-exclusive symbol to be branded as illegal or offensive.
And speaking of generic and non-exclusive, I would personally lump angels in the same category. The varied interpretation of those beings across the globe could hardly be called exclusive only to Christians. In fact, most theologically researched Christians would view the traditional treetop angel as being quite “off the mark” from the picture the Bible paints of them. At the very least, the little cherub with wings is representative of only one “aspect” of the Biblical portrayal of angels.
Speaking of which, in the interest of lightening things up a bit, a short interlude of how that tradition started...(skip over if you wish, but I think you’ll enjoy)
Angel on top of a christmas tree
One particular Christmas season a long time ago, Santa was getting ready for his annual trip... but there were problems everywhere.
Four of his elves got sick, and the trainee elves did not produce the toys as fast as the regular ones so Santa was beginning to feel the pressure of being behind schedule.
Then Mrs. Claus told Santa that her Mom was coming to visit.
This stressed Santa even more. When he went to harness the reindeer, he found that three of them were about to give birth and two had jumped the fence and were out, heaven knows where.
More stress. Then when he began to load the sleigh one of the boards cracked and the toy bag fell to the ground and scattered the toys.
So, frustrated, Santa went into the house for a cup of coffee and a shot of whiskey. When he went to the cupboard, he discovered that the elves had hid the liquor and there was nothing to drink.
In his frustration, he accidentally dropped the coffee pot and it broke into hundreds of little pieces all over the kitchen floor. He went to get the broom and found that mice had eaten the straw it was made from.
Just then the doorbell rang and Santa cussed on his way to the door. He opened the door and there was a little angel with a great big Christmas tree.
The angel said, very cheerfully, "Merry Christmas Santa. Isn't it just a lovely day? I have a beautiful tree for you. Isn't it just a lovely tree?
Where would you like me to stick it?"
And thus began the tradition of sticking the little angel on top of the Christmas tree.
What makes this whole thing even more ironic, is that Santa Rosa is in Sonoma county. Santa Rosa being the city that is home to Charles Schulz (and the cartooning museum that bears his name, as well as the ice skating rink where he did many of the Peanuts cartoons). The city also has statues of Charlie Brown and Snoopy on display in many places (they are the same two casts but each one customized by the person who commissioned them....you would have to see it to understand, and I’m sure I’ll do a whole blog on that at some point). Well, the fact that A Charlie Brown Christmas remains about the only perennial nationally broadcasted scripture reading in modern history should certainly be reason enough to site those very statues as at least implicit congruency with Biblical Christianity.
Which made me think of my childhood, and how much I loved Christmas. Tidings of great joy, peace on Earth and good will towards men (mankind...yet another unnecessary political correction in verbiage that even at the age of 6, I completely understood the intent....). A Charlie Brown Christmas was very much a part of my childhood (it’s first airing was a mere 5 weeks after my birth). However, I didn’t go to church growing up. In fact, after having much infatuation with Scooby-Doo, and the scary things the Scooby gang fought, I came to the conclusion that there were no real ghosts, goblins, spooks, ghouls, spirits, vampires (sorry TWILIGHT fans) or otherwise. Otherwise included churches, which I considered to be repositories of people who believed in these things. Yes, I was all of about 11 or 12 at this point. A functional atheist, though I was open to ideas*.
New ideas popped open for me in high school. I’m not going to go into it in much detail now. I will say that became involved in a church youth group. I did so only with the condition that I would not be forced to disparage any other person for having a belief system different than that of the church I was attending. That I would be allowed to respect people of other religious beliefs. Even at the time, I knew that many other people simply had been trained by the culture they grew up in to believe in certain tenants of faith that may or may not actually be the basis for all of existence. I mention this, that everyone might understand my mindset about religion.
My point here being, that I still loved Christmas. I loved Linus’ little speech, even though I didn’t quite understand the context I completely got the message. You don’t have to agree with the belief’s of Saint Nicholas** in order to be inspired by his actions and the heart behind them. By continuing to take those actions and “pay it forward” for hundreds of years, Santa Claus has remained an incredible force for good across the world (darned if radar tracking can ever actually catch up to him).
Christmas is a time brimming with good cheer and expressions of gifts, especially to those who need them most (like people staying in mangers). While it’s roots do stem into a faith system, it’s not owned by just Christians anymore. It is owned by the world and people who celebrate it and who, for if only one day a year, choose to make the notions of peace on Earth and good will towards everyone the focus of their lives.
Regardless of religion, that’s how Christmas can affect the world, Charlie Brown.
- (this raises another important point, but I’ll blog on the topic of forming theological doctrine upon the teachings of Saturday morning cartoons another time)
**"Saint Nicholas." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 25 Dec 2009, 12:30 UTC. 25 Dec 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Saint_Nicholas&oldid=333956756>.
