There is no "War on Christmas"

There isn't a "War on Christmas", despite what the self-appointed defenders of all things Christ-related on Fox who blather on and on have to say. You see, it is hard to even call it "Christmas" when it stopped being about Christ and his message so very long ago. These days, it is has become about convincing people that a holiday which is no longer about Christ but instead about massive consumption is under attack in order to get them to spend more time and money on it. Christmas throughout the ages was never the over the top production that it has become in this time.

I respect the people who keep it a simple celebration of the birth of probably the most influential man in history and mark it by going to church and/or doing charitable acts in honor of the day. I may not agree with them on the bullet points of their religious faith, but I do respect them.

I enjoy listening to the Christmas Eve celebration and service on NPR. I enjoy the time I get with the family members who have gone on with their own lives away from our respective childhoods, for the most part.

But, the whole "put Christ back in Christmas" mantra sounds so utterly hypocritical when the same people drive their SUVs down to Target, Best Buy, Walmart and the shitty mall stores to buy things on credit. Spending thousands of dollars on goods made in foreign countries off basically slave labor but dropping the leftover change from your grande peppermint mocha purchase into the Salvation Army bucket on your way out of Target doesn't make you a good Christian. It doesn't relieve you of your responsibility to the less fortunate, the beggar along the road. In fact, if Christ were to come back one day as you have repeatedly planned and fantasized about, he wouldn't be happy with you, not one bit. I believe he'd give you the "least of these" speech and then proceed to picket the local mall.

If you want to "put Christ back into Christmas", I'd suggest spending the money you would have used to purchase that new flatscreen on abandoned veterans and the less fortunate. If you want to end the "War on Christmas", I'd recommend starting with yourself.