After spending days searching the local stores for a new
nativity set, I gave up and ordered one on eBay. As I rode around
Staten Island looking at the many homes lit up for the season, I
counted on one hand those that had a religious theme.
There were snowmen, Homer Simpson Santas, reindeer, and plastic
blow-up carousels, but very few creches or outdoor Holy Family
figures. Of course, how stupid of me to forget that we now
celebrate winter solstice - not Christmas.
Exactly when did this season start going kaboom? When did it lose
its true meaning of peace on earth and good will to all? In light
of the recent death threats against that poor rabbi in Seattle,
there are some who will blame Jews for the campaigns against
Christmas. They are so wrong.
After Rabbi Elazer Bogomilsky requested that a menorah be put up
in the Seattle airport, those who run the airport decided that
rather than get into a battle over the political correctness of
equal time for all religions, they would take down the 14
Christmas trees already in place. The rabbi received hate mail,
even though he insisted the removal of the trees was not his
purpose in requesting the menorah, which he had planned to
provide himself. Nevertheless, the hypocrites popped up,
insisting we keep the Christmas season holy even while hurling
vile curses at another human being. Fortunately, after the rabbi
appeared on "The O'Reilly Factor" and got the
opportunity to explain his position, the Christmas trees were put
back in place.
Christ is the reason for the season, and for time immemorial it
was a joyous occasion celebrated by people of all faiths. The
anti-Semites who blame the Jews for the war against Christmas are
targeting the wrong individuals. Religious Jews have never
objected to our celebration. After all, Irving Berlin wrote
"White Christmas," and most of the great Christmas
films of old were made by Hollywood studios headed by Jews.
My Jewish neighbors in Spanish Harlem (yes, there are poor Jews,
too, folks) used to join in during the festive time of the year
and gave us gifts of fresh-baked Challah bread on Christmas
morning.
As usual, Jews are being made the scapegoats for an
anti-Christmas campaign that is actually spearheaded by
secularists who consider anything remotely religious as
tantamount to promoting a theocracy. In fact, unfunny comic Bill
Maher, in an interview with Larry King, said that we're now
living in one. Oh, please. Given our societal decadence and
cultural amorality, it would be the most inept theocracy in
history.
Why not just accept the fact that we are living in an age when
the majority of Americans believe in God but cannot profess their
faith in public. The early Christians hid their celebration of
the birth of Christ within the pagan feast of Saturnalia, and we
must now make sure we're not offending anyone with our Christmas
symbols.
Bill Donohue of the Catholic League issued a press release
earlier this month announcing the exposure of the "Diversity
Hoax." He says: "The diversity hoax is being sold as a
rationale to nullify Christmas. It's also because the
multicultural industry is big business."
He cites the fact that America has more Christians than any other
nation in history, according to a study by a Boston University
professor, Stephen Prothero. A Hoover Institute scholar, Dinesh
D'Souza, says, "America is no more diverse today than it was
in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries."
In these troubled days, there is actually a need for spirituality
that may not be heeded by the retailers. While I couldn't find a
nativity set I could afford to put outside my house, I was
delighted when I read that the pastor of Blessed Sacrament church
had ordered 500 simple lawn signs featuring a silhouetted Holy
Family. All 500 signs were distributed in a day. He ordered 300
more, and they were gobbled up as well. He's ordered another 300,
and residents are lining up to get them.
I would have no problem with the secular celebration of the
season if we were at least being honest about it. If we're taking
Jesus out of the picture, then why on earth are we still giving
each other gifts? By all means, let's light up the winter sky
with colored bulbs and icicles and leave them up until
springtime. A winter festival's a great idea. Let's do it like
Quebec City and have a month-long winter carnival, but meanwhile
let's restrict the gift-giving to those who really want to
emulate the Magi celebrating the birth of the Messiah, God's gift
to mankind.
Somehow, I don't think the retail industry would be too happy
about that.