Christmas wars? Try peace

Some folks in Orangevale, Calif., want to save "Merry Christmas." They find it "thoughtless, condescending and hurtful" when "non-celebratory phases" [sic] such as "Seasons Greetings" and "Happy Holidays" are substituted in retail advertising for the familiar Old English greeting.

They want "to preserve the culture and tradition of the vast majority of Americans that celebrate and honor Christmas." And this year, according to a note on their website, www.savemerrychristmas.org, most of all they want Sears to "reintroduce promoting Christmas in their advertising." Oh, by golly, what more could you want for Christmas?

I've been watching this year's so-called Christmas War with no little bemusement.

The Save Merry Christmas people; the American Family Association; Fox News' Bill O'Reilly, with his Christmas Under Siege; Jerry Falwell with his Friend or Foe Christmas Campaign; and others who have likewise saddled up their war stallions are charging forth with a battle cry that sounds like "Commercialize Christmas, or else!"

Meanwhile, Christianity Today reports that mega-churches such as the Chicago-area Willow Creek Community Church; Mars Hill Bible Church near Grand Rapids, Mich.; and Dallas' Fellowship Church are taking the church out of Christmas -- or are they taking Christmas out of the church?

Since Christmas is on Sunday this year, you see, these churches have decided not to hold Christmas services. You figure it out; I can't.

Take Sunday, also known among Christians as the Lord's Day, a day when Christians (except for Sabbatarians, Messianic Jews and possibly a few others) typically go to church. Take Christmas, a day when not only Christians but also many non-Christians show up in church. Put them together and I guess they cancel each other out.

In the Christianity Today article, Fuller Theological Seminary theologian Robert K. Johnston is quoted as saying, "What's going on here is a redefinition of Christmas as a time of family celebration rather than as a time of the community faithful celebrating the birth of the Savior. There is a risk that we will lose one more of our Christian rituals, one that's at the heart of our faith."

While some Christian communities are redefining Christmas, its would-be defenders are sometimes rewriting its history. The Save Merry Christmas website states, "Christmas is a nationally declared federal holiday that has been observed from the inception of our nation."