Christmastime. A festive season for family, food … and warfare?
What does聽the war on Christmas mean?
Perhaps, you’re familiar with the “War on Christmas” that’s been raging over the last several years. It stems from the radical belief that inclusivity鈥攖hat honors other holidays, like Hanukkah, and accounts for those who don’t celebrate Christmas鈥攊s overshadowing traditional American values. The provocative phrase has been linked to figures like President Donald Trump (remember “[People] don’t use the word Christmas …聽because it’s not politically correct.聽Guess what? We’re saying聽Merry Christmas聽again!”) and to silly controversies like the drawings printed on Starbucks coffee cups.
Well, according to the聽Pew Research Center,听92% of all Americans, regardless of religious background, celebrate Christmas in some form.聽Judging by numbers alone, it’s hard to believe this popular holiday is under serious threat. Christmas imagery still largely dominates the media and entertainment landscape in the United States.
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Who fired the first Christmas shot?
The sentiment behind this phrase has existed long before Donald Trump or the Starbucks controversy.聽Interestingly, the Puritans didn’t embrace Christmas. It was just the opposite: they banned it, because it didn’t fit their interpretation of the Bible.
In the 1920s, Henry Ford鈥攁 known anti-Semite鈥揹istributed a series of pamphlets that claimed to expose the “whole record of Jewish opposition to Christmas” and other Christian holidays like Easter. A spike of religiosity聽in the ’50s (with church attendance at 50%) ensured that Christian values were included in the curriculum of most public schools. When people spoke out against this incorporation of church and state, they faced severe backlash.
The 1960s聽civil rights movement聽led to greater sensitivity toward communities of color and an increased tolerance for religious difference. A series of landmark Supreme Court cases in the 1980s demarcated the line between church and state: for example, in 1980, the court ruled that posting the Ten Commandments on public school property was unconstitutional.
In 2004, conservative commentator Bill O’Reilly revitalized the woeful “War on Christmas” for modern audiences. Although the phrase was apparently coined by author Peter Brimelow, O’Reilly launched it to new heights on his highly rated Fox News program. He also decried the phrase聽happy holidays, labeling it as聽anti-Christmas because he said it represented the marginalization of the holiday. Shortly after, another Fox News contributor released a book detailing the supposed “Liberal Plot to Ban the Sacred Christian Holiday.”
Who said Starbucks was anti-Christmas?
Enter Starbucks, which releases a series of commemorative cups every year around the holidays. In 2015, the company (actually a mix of cranberry and poppy red), which lacked the usual Christmas symbols: snowflakes, reindeer, Christmas lights, etc. Evangelists and then-presidential candidate Donald Trump criticized the move, which they equated with the actual “removal of Christmas” from the cups.
Now in 2020, the “War on Christmas” has resurfaced as a criticism of COVID-19 restrictions and health department suggestions to avoid gatherings. “They tried to cancel Thanksgiving. Didn鈥檛 work! They鈥檙e coming for Christmas next.”
Let’s face it, the holiday season isn’t really about what’s printed on a cup of coffee. It’s not about how someone greets you in a shopping mall, whether that’s with聽Merry Christmas听辞谤听Happy Holidays.聽Rather, in this time of such聽divisiveness, we should all strive to appreciate the common threads found in all winter celebrations: family, friends, food, tradition, and yes鈥攇ifts.
