Today is the day, December 25, 2022, Christmas day. I awoke from my slumber and busied myself with the preparations of coffee and mimosas before my partner and I settled down to open our presents from each other and family alike. We had a lovely breakfast of bacon and eggs, then he scurried off for a few hours of work and leisurely I read on the couch, sprawled out, with my reader glasses pouring through The Odyssey, then lightly cleaning and organizing the living room. As I spent this day in relaxation, laying aside all thought of work until the morn of the next, my mind pondered the true meaning and history of Christmas.
In the Western culture of America, Europe, as well throughout the world, Christmas is seen as a Christian holiday, the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.
This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
Historical and anecdotal evidence would show that the birth of Jesus, were it actually known, would not be in the middle of December, most likely sometime in late Spring or early Summer. Yes, even the Bible does not declare a date of his birth, but does recount the story we have grown accustomed to hearing even if we have don't affiliate with Christianity. For many a year until the 4th Century, only Easter was celebrated in reverence to the death and resurrection of Jesus. Then, in the 4th Century, the religious leaders decreed that a special holiday be set forth in honor of their Savior's birth. But, why in the midst of cold December?
For a myriad of centuries before this proclamation, a variety of other spiritual faiths honored their gods and traditions during the month of December, such as Winter Solstice, Saturnalia, and others. (See: Winter Solstice: The Coming Light #saturnalia #feastofjuul #dongzhi #albanarthan) What, then, was the reasoning for celebrating the birth of the Christian Savior in the midst of these already established holidays? Take a guess, why don't you?
As the rule of the land swiftly declared Christianity the one true religion and law of the land, that dominance brought the destruction of other beliefs and peoples, leading to the Christian rulers wrapping up the original 'Pagan' holiday practices into a nice little package of Christmas with a bow to be passed down through the ages. Did you catch that? The Christian rulers incorporated the practices of the so-called "Pagan religious holidays" within the context of their 'Christmas' in order to sway the non-believer to be converted to their ways.
This gives me pause to reflect, do Christians, in fact, have the right to fight against the supposed war on Christmas when it was their faith that arrested and vanquished the holy days away and declared theirs the victor? Nay, those whose celebrations and spiritual beliefs were persecuted against and made to convert or face death have the right to declare this war, yet they do not.
Still, it was not the early Christians, and especially not Jesus himself, that declared any war on Christmas due to the belief that the secular world wishes to destroy Christianity. This even in the times when to be outside the law of the land even in belief was persecuted unto death, hence, the whole crucifixion of Jesus thing. Yes, even as he was being led to the slaughter, he did not cry down vengeance or scream persecution, a reflection of, you know, the whole 'turn the other cheek, lay down your lives' decree. This appears to be quite a different way of being from the contemporary Christian fundamentalist who march in front of Planned Parenthood or boycott bakeries baking cakes for same sex marriages. Even in the days of recent past, (is it just in the past?), when those in the South dressed in white robes violently approached a neighbor's yard burning a cross merely because they did not like the color of their skin. None of these seem to me to match with the teachings of non-judgment and unconditional love of the one they claim to 'trust and obey'.
No, none of this and more, reflects the true nature and teachings of Jesus, if it is believed he lived, whether he be man, God, or both. Nor do I think those that practice such horrors in the name of Christ truly know him.
Yet I, on the other side of deconstruction from fundamentalist Christianity, do admire the teachings of Jesus and the book that speaks of him, the Holy Bible, as a spiritual leader and a spiritual holy book. Thus, is the crux of the need to reclaim Christmas from those who insist their religion is being persecuted because of a 'red cup', from those who march preaching bigotry pretending it to be love, who fight to remove the rights of others, who alone are causing this war with their self-righteously spewed hatred.
Yes, our part in this battle is to reclaim Jesus, the story of his birth, and Christmas, not to lift it higher or make it seemingly better than the other December holy-days, but to allow the small babe of Jesus himself to rest in his manger bed alongside the other days.
This is the unity of love and pure undefiled religion. This, I believe, Jesus himself and God above would truly dig.
(It must also be shared that the story of Jesus, a miraculous birth, a sacrificial death and resurrection, is a story all too familiar found in religions previous to the usage of it in Christianity.)
Articles used as research:
The Christmas Story in the Bible
What's the History of Christmas? What to Know About Your Most Joyful Traditions
Birth of Jesus - Nativity Bible Story
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