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| Christmas - Photo: Pexels |
In the United States, the month of December is the Christmas Season, not the Holiday Season. To the best of my knowledge, there is only one holiday in December recognized by our government. December 25 was made a legal holiday in order to celebrate the birth of Christ. There are no other legal holidays during the month of December.
Chanukah, Hannukah, or Hanukah is a celebration and, some say, a Jewish Holiday but it is not a legal holiday. Kwanza is a celebration and not a legal holiday. Christmas Eve is not a day and New Year's Eve is not a day. We don't call the month of May, the Holiday Season, even though that's when Memorial Day is celebrated. On Martin Luther King Day we don't have holiday parades, we have Martin Luther King Day parades. We don't say happy holiday on the Fourth Of July, we say Happy Independence day or Happy Fourth Of July. Why then, do some people insist that we say happy holiday and holiday season when we are celebrating Christmas?
I'll tell you why. It is because the organized religion of atheism (Yes atheism, is an organized religion, it is a religion of non-belief.) is waging war against Christianity as the first battle in a war against all other religions. If they can defeat Christianity in this country of Christians, then they can defeat all religions that believe in a God or higher power.
I am a Christian. I don't, however, know for sure, if Christ is the son of God or if he was a teacher or what. I do know, that I believe in the teachings ascribed to him. I do know, that even though we are humans and therefore can not and do not always follow all of those teachings, that if we all tried to live by those teachings of love and kindness, the whole world would be a better place. I also know that I want Christ to be the Son of God because then it would mean that God did and does care about us and that there may very well be a Heaven.
I disagree with the director of special projects for the American Family Association when he says, "Christmas is not a holiday" and that calling Christmas a holiday "devalues our nation's most holy day." Christmas is a holiday. In fact, I consider Christmas and the Fourth Of July to be this country's two most important and happiest holidays. The Fourth Of July celebrates the birth of our nation and Christmas celebrates the birth of Christ. Workers are given Christmas Day off with pay, school children are given several days off for Christmas vacation. Offices hold Christmas parties. Families get together, listen to Christmas music, stuff themselves with food and give each other gifts. Marines collect "Toys For Tots". The Salvation Army puts out its kettles and collects money which is used to help needy people all year long. Many family members who have been feuding all year round get together and forgive each other. Christmas is a holiday of love and forgiveness.
Christmas is a holiday that everyone, not just Christians, should celebrate. Almost no one denies that Christ did exist at one time. The controversy is, whether or not he is the son of God. Putting that controversy aside, Christ preached or taught "peace on earth and goodwill towards men". If people bemoan the fact that John Lennon died because he was a fighter for peace, how can they not celebrate the fact that Christ was born? Christ was arguably the original teacher of peace, forgiveness, and goodness. He lived and died to promote peace. He not only promoted peace, he lived peace. He not only taught forgiveness, he lived forgiveness. Christ set an example that has lived for over two thousand years. If Martin Luther King can have a holiday if Presidents, Veterans, labor, and others can have their own holidays, why shouldn't Christ have a holiday?
A note to other religions: You should support Christmas. If you allow the atheists to kill off Christmas, it could be your religion that they go after next. There is a war being fought today. I'm not talking about the war in Iraq. I'm talking about the war against religion being brought by atheists and certain hard-line fanatics on the far left. Right now, they are winning the war because religious groups are not fighting back in a cohesive manner. If religious groups don't help each other, someday they will all cease to exist and the United States will become another Soviet Union. Taking away our right to participate in religion and to celebrate our religion is a first step in taking away our other freedoms.
One of the main reasons that the United States was able to become so great is that, contrary to what the atheists and some others tell you, we are not a secular country. Our whole method of government and our laws come in large part from our forefather's religious beliefs.
It may not seem so, but I am not against all atheists. They have a right to believe in non-belief and I support that right. I am just against the activists that are trying to force their non-beliefs down my throat. I am willing to leave them alone if they are willing to leave me and mine alone. The problem is that they won't leave us alone. They don't want to allow us to believe as we wish. They want us to believe as they do. They don't believe in Christmas so they want to take Christmas away from us.
One final note to all you major retailers who want to sell me gifts for me to give as Christmas presents, if you won't acknowledge the Christmas Season in your advertising and in your stores, then don't expect me to shop in your stores. If you insist on saying holiday season and happy holidays instead of Christmas Season and Merry Christmas, then I will insist on not dealing with you. For the time being, at least, you are free to do as you wish and I'm free to do as I wish. My wish is to boycott you, not only during the Christmas Season but for a long time to come. Heck, I'm still boycotting everything French and I've been boycotting Jane Fonda and Shirley MacLaine since the Vietnam War.
David G. Hallstrom, Sr.
