Putting Christ back into Christmas

He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He worked in a carpenter shop until He was 30. Then for three years, He was an itinerant preacher.

He never owned a home. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family. He never went to college. He never put His foot inside a big city. He never traveled 200 miles from the place He was born. He never did one of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but Himself.

While still a young man, the tide of popular opinion turned against him. His friends ran away. One of them denied Him. He was turned over to His enemies. He went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed upon a cross between two thieves. While He was dying, His executioners gambled for the only piece of property He had on earth — His coat. When He was dead, He was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend.

Nineteen long centuries have come and gone, and today He is a centerpiece of the human race and leader of the column of progress.

I am far within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, all the navies that were ever built; all the parliaments that ever sat and all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as has that one solitary life.

This excerpt was adapted from a sermon by Dr. James Allan Francis in "The Real Jesus and Other Sermons," a collection published in 1926 by the Judson Press of Philadelphia.

I devoted space to the same essay last year and received a tremendous response from readers who are upset that so much of Christmas has been subverted by the secularist movement.

Groups like the American Civil Liberties Union, Americans United for the Separation of Church and State and American Atheists Inc. have worked hard with their liberal allies in the mainstream media to subjugate the celebration of Christmas.

This year marks a turning point in the secular war against Christmas and all things Christian. The vast majority of Americans who consider themselves Christian — 85 percent of U.S. residents — are fighting back.

Facing such an overwhelming counterattack, the secular left has resorted to its tried-and-true diversionary tactics — denying it launched a war on Christmas in the first place.

Left-wing newspaper columnists and TV pundits have received their marching orders from their nefarious leaders (Screamin' Howard Dean?) and have dutifully written columns or made the rounds on TV news shows rejecting overwhelming evidence of the assault on Christmas. This amounts to a surrender by the left.

Christmas is not a winter festival. It is not a designation of a retail season. It is not about Santa Claus, Frosty the Snowman, red-nosed reindeer or colored lights. It is the celebration of the birth of the most influential figure in the history of mankind, Jesus Christ. It is both a federal holiday and a religious holiday in the United States, which today is the most populous Christian nation on Earth.

Christmas is not part of a triumvirate of equal December celebrations. Hanukah is a separate observance for Jewish people. It commemmorates a miracle, but it is not Christmas. Kwanzaa is a harvest festival invented by a California college professor in 1966.

Why Kwanzaa is considered in the same breath as Christmas or Hanukah is one of the great mysteries of the universe. (The truth is that Kwanzaa is a favorite holiday for the secular left because it does not involve paying homage to a deity. So the liberals can take some comfort in going around saying, "Happy Kwanzaa," which sounds a little better than "Joyous Winter Solstice" or "Happy Festivus," the fictional holiday from TV's "Seinfield.")

Those of us who grew up bemoaning the commercialization of Christmas did not see the true threat to the holiday posed by the secular left, which has been planning its all-out assault on Christmas for years.

I took my family last week to a well-known seasonal attraction that brags of having the largest display of Christmas lights in the world. For the first time in seven annual visits, I spotted a "Kwanzaa Tree" on sale in the gift shop. What exactly is a Kwanzaa tree? If I wanted to see a Kwanzaa tree, I would have visited Kwanzaa Village instead of Christmas Village.

To their credit, the owners of Christmas Village near Reading, Pa., have made no attempt to remove religious symbols from the celebration of Christmas at their attraction. There are crosses and mangers and Bible passages throughout the exhibit. I fully expect ACLU protesters next year demanding the removal of such Christmas traditions.

There are 256 million Christians in the United States. It’s time their voices are heard.

It’s time for parents to demand that schools celebrate Christmas again. If school administrators won’t allow Christmas back into their buildings, go to your local school board and demand action. If the school board members are too timid to act, vote them out.

If there’s a concert in your community and the organizers won’t play Christmas carols, walk out and never patronize the group again.

If your local department store wants to sell you "holiday" merchandise, pass on it. Tell the store manager you’ll come back to do your Christmas shopping when the store recognizes Christmas again.

The secular left, which quotes the Bible when it suits its sinister purposes, likes to remind Christians that they should be meek and turn the other cheek when they’re offended.

But there’s a time for Christians to stand their ground. I say stop turning the other cheek and fight for the restoration of Christmas to its proper place in American society.

E-mail Tony Phyrillas at tphyrillas@pottsmerc.com

Tony Phyrillas
Columnist, The Mercury