CREDIT: ADRIENNE SUPINSKI
Let's stop debating about 'the war on Christmas' and enjoy the holiday season.

A sacred tradition, an ambiguous holiday or an archaic celebration is how some people view the winter holidays. The yellow journalists of our time have ran with the phrase “The war on Christmas” to tag onto the discussion of this culturally-sensitive topic in the hopes that each share on Facebook will attribute to more page traffic and thus more ad revenue.

The debate over Christmas is surprisingly older than we think. As the holiday descends from the pagan holiday of Yule, the fundamentalist Puritans of England in 1647 effectively banned the celebration of Christmas on the grounds that it was an immoral celebration with no biblical justification. Rioting broke out in cities all across the country though the ban remained in place until the restoration of King Charles in 1660. Puritan thought dominated the United States for some time after that, though the holiday remained commonplace among Catholics, Episcopalians and Lutherans. Fast-forward to 21st century North America and the now commonplace celebration is supposedly under fire from a mysterious enemy at bay.

But who is this enemy that the media keeps referring to? It really seems like obvious finger pointing but anybody who believes that this “war on Christmas” is a thing; appears to have a hard time explaining who.

Often, I have found that most of the blame is placed on immigrants and people from non-Christian faiths. There are reports out there on a number of news sites that like to hype up the marginal examples of what they see as political correctness gone too far. Whether it’s someone who merely suggests that the word “holiday” be used in place of “Christmas” or public institutions making more efforts to not only educate about non-European traditions but to also be more inclusive, the cases where Christmas is effectively a dirty word are pretty slim if not non-existent.

The mentality is that if you’re not of a European descended culture, you should not be allowed to suggest any alternatives to an otherwise ambiguous holiday that is more about consuming than real tradition. The reality is that it is not and will never be illegal to celebrate or publicly voice your holiday preference. We can update our language to be more inclusive, and there is no harm in it.

Unless of course you’re Sarah Palin who claims that the “angry atheists with lawyers and the politically-correct police want to take Christ out of Christmas,” then maybe there is something to be concerned about. Are we changing something that isn’t broken? She claims it is deeper than that by saying, “there is a war on that traditional Judeo-Christian foundation of America, not just at Christmas time, but those who are intolerant of the Christian faith, who want to take it away from the rest of us.”

The battleground for this appears to be centered on schools and retail outlets, two prime focuses for the middle class. Many school boards have adopted policies to use the word ‘holiday’ and furthermore will occasionally choose more faith-neutral Christmas carols or try to pay attention to the celebrations held by other cultures that are relevant to the community.

As parents from older generations are concerned that their children are going to be taught that Christmas is a bad thing, they should note that there has been no reduction in how Christmas is celebrated. Nor from my perspective have I seen a stark change in my years of schooling. To most kids, Christmas is an exciting time to sing carols, get gifts, see family and so on.

Unless you’re brought up in a religious household, you’re not really going to notice the difference or perceive the word change as being equal to the vilification of an old one. Likewise, do you think retail decisions are going to affect them much? I still see trees, Santa, bells, carols and everything else I remember. I don’t really see much cultural inclusion on a public level unless I’m in a larger city.

So, can we say that Christmas is to be defended? Well yes, it is fully within one’s right to celebrate what they wish. In my opinion, it’s not a negative holiday despite having a large base in capitalism and the problems associated with that.

I see Christmas as being a time to relax from a hard semester of school, forget about work, forget about money and ultimately allow my body the chance to reset and prepare for the upcoming year. My decision to not partake in religious traditions are my own and my own they will stay just as someone who would do the opposite.

Once we recognize that everyone’s culture is valid and appreciated, we can move on from these media buzzwords and start having a more relaxing holiday season.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.