Warning: This Christmas Post May Offend

Let me just tell you how offended I was the other night.  It was an outrage, pure and simple. Yeah *cough*, an outrage.

Last week, I was fighting this mutant virus that left my entire head pounding and congested (yet I had a runny nose -- how is this possible?), weak, shivering, and with a screaming sore throat. I still don't have my voice entirely back.  Couple all that with the fact that I couldn't drown my troubles and enjoy a NyQuil induced coma.  Yep, the only medicine I took was cough drop after cough drop. On the worst night of my sickness, I had to pick up my husband from work. As if trying to drive whilst shivering through cold chills wasn't bad enough, I had to go grocery shopping. We were out of everything. And I was absolutely determined to have homemade chicken noodle soup {May I just say, I make a pretty awesome pot of homemade chicken soup. I even made the stock for it that night, though my loving husband did most of the work.}

Okay, where was I going with this? Oh yeah, the offense of offenses, the complete affront I witnessed the other night.

As I was moving as quickly as I could through the aisles of Sunflower Market, filling my basket with orange juice concentrate, honey, lemons, and the ingredients for my soup, I saw something that stopped me in my tracks. On one of the store's endcap displays was, of all things, a menorah. A menorah!! Can you believe it?  I mean, I'm not Jewish. Why should I have to see that display? {Hope you can tell that I'm laying the sarcasm on pretty thick here.}

I can't even type any more of that paragraph because I can't pretend to be offended by something like that. When I actually saw the menorah display, I thought, "How nice."

Truth is, I wasn't even close to being offended by the Jewish holiday display. I mean, Hanukkah is being celebrated right now. Why shouldn't we see a menorah out on display? I think the Jewish culture and religion is really interesting. My son's pediatrician is Jewish and we absolutely love him. He's one of the nicest and funniest people I've met -- I wish he was my doctor! So, when I saw the menorah, I thought of Dr. Pete celebrating the second night of Hanukkah with his family. Absolutely no offense taken. My religious beliefs and my idea of seasonal celebration were never threatened. End of story. No big deal.

However, I think my fake reaction to the menorah display illustrates how ludicrous being offended by a holiday really is. Kind of like how a Pennsylvania town just got rid of its nativity scene, one that's been put up annually for 57 years, because it could be "disrespectful to citizens who aren't Christian."  Totally ridiculous. What kind of person gets all worked up about Baby Jesus in a display?

I read a quote today, attributed to Dennis Prager (a Jewish radio host) who said something to the effect, "To be offended by a religious holiday because it's not your own is like being offended at a birthday party because it's not your birthday."  He's right. It just seems so petty to be offended by something like a holiday. That's what makes my fake anti-menorah paragraph so ridiculous. I'm all for being sensitive - I'll tell people I don't know "Happy Holidays", but not out of fear or shame. "Happy Holidays" is fine; the trouble is when we use the term 'holiday' as a complete replacement for Christmas out of fear of offense and in the name of political correctness.

Is there anyone truly offended by the term Christmas? Apparently so, or Lowe's wouldn't have had its infamous 'family tree' (instead of Christmas tree) section a few years ago.  A few years ago, as part of my job as manager at  large bookstore chain, I was in charge of decorating the front window.  Before I did, though, I was told that we couldn't feature anything Christmas related for our holiday display.  I couldn't even use the colors red or green. Sure, the bookstore was in a predominantly Christian community. We sold Christmas books, music, and movies, and we even played Christmas music over the PA system, but a Christmas window display would have been a visual slur to any non-Christian shopper, right? Schools have also sterilized the season, cracking down on singing certain religiously themed carols and tiptoeing carefully around the word "Christmas". Some don't even call the break from school, a break that coincides with the actual date of December 25th, "Christmas break". How have we gotten to this place where we can't even use the word Christmas?

Which brings me to another inspiration for this post. I'm sure many of you have seen the awesome YouTube video of the food court flash mob singing Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus". I've lost track of how many times I've watched it. I love that song. I still remember my alto part from when we sang it in high school. Singing that song in a choir was a profoundly spiritual experience for me when I was teenager. I love watching the video of that talented group of singers transforming a boring food court into something transcendently beautiful. Handel was truly inspired by God when he wrote his Messiah. {Check out this article about Handel's life and how he came to write his famous work. Amazing.}



The video has been viewed almost 14 million times; over 34,000 people have hit the like button for it. A small minority, just over 800, hit the dislike button. You can scroll through the comments and amidst the praise for the video, there are slurs against religion and Christmas. Like the commenter saying how he'd be mad about a bunch of religious nutjobs disturbing his lunch. Lame. It's interesting how our society, one that supposes itself to be so educated, tolerant, and culturally enlightened, can still write off entire groups of people as 'nutjobs' or ignorant because they have religious beliefs. I've been told to my face that I'm naive and brainwashed because I'm a religious person and, to make matters even worse, a Mormon. *gasp!*

So when a video of a religious nature becomes popular, there are always those eager to slander or dismiss it. And so be it. Some people just want to be negative. Whatever. However, when those same people act infringed upon because others choose to express their religious feelings publicly during a religious seaon, it's just annoying. They can be miserable and critical. Fine. But don't bring the rest of us down.

So who wants to keep Christmas politically correct? I think it's the same people who disregard religious people, the same people who scoff at a belief in a divine power, the same people who mock the idea of religion and God as nothing more than a fairy tale. I don't mean to say that anyone who's atheist is anti-Christmas. Not at all.  That said, we shouldn't have to make Christmas a beige holiday with only 'Jingle Bells' to accompany it just to keep everyone placated. Why should such easily offended people rain on everyone else's parade? Furthermore, why are we listening to them?

Personally, I don't think that many people find the thought of Christmas so bad. I'm almost positive (I mean, I've never asked him so I can only assume) that our Jewish pediatrician doesn't recoil at the mention of the Christian holiday or if someone wishes him a Merry Christmas. I know that if someone wished me a Happy Hanukkah, it would catch me off guard, but I certainly wouldn't mind.

Like most people in the Western world, I'm beyond excited to celebrate Christmas. If I'd been in that mall in Canada, I would have joined the flash mob with my shaky alto part. I love walking through stores and hearing the Christmas songs. I'm so thankful that we have a month to reflect on the glorious gift of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and how he came to this earth on that night in Bethlehem. The Christmas season is a miraculous one because it not only focuses on the Savior, but it often brings out the best of people in an often reluctant world. And that, no matter your religious persuasion (or lack thereof), is worth celebrating.