Christmas, secular or religous holiday?
written by JD, December 26, 2007

Regarding the segment of your show where you discussed Christmas. You guys seem to ignore the fact that "Christmas", as a holiday, is historically just as much a secular celebration as it is religious. And in terms of religion, it's rooted in Pagan rituals more than any Judeo-Christian (or Abrahamic) traditions. Just read some history and you'll understand.

The whole controversy of this "War on Christmas" or this secularization/commercialization of Christmas seems bloated with selfishness. People celebrate at the holidays according to their family traditions. How any one family choses to celebrate is their business. No one is required to celebrate in any way they don't wish to. And there seems to be no shortage of religious activities to choose from, if that's your cup of tea. The real reason it seems to me that Christians always get huffy at this time of year, is that most of these people who are running around doing secular activities and helping to promote the commercial aspects of Christmas, are actually Christians! The truth is that, for most people, Christmas is an amalgamation of religion/secular/commercial interests. If any of these people so chose, they could focus on just one aspect of the holiday. But time and time again, they choose to enjoy all of the activities offered during the holidays. It smacks of a kind of religious piousness to me, for Christians to be complaining that not everyone is focusing on Christmas the same way they are. Tackiness and distasteful? I reject that notion. I appreciate lights, packages and Santa hats and I notice that the guy in my neighborhood who produces a lights to music show each year, uses both religious and secular music, and that's fine by me.

Pick a holiday. Ok, I pick Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is a holiday that has not been as commercialized as Christmas. It is still driven mostly by family traditions. It stands for values that we all can espouse and appreciate. It has some religious overtones, but compared to Christmas, they are faint. As a celebration of quality values and avoiding overt commercialization, I feel that Thanksgiving is in many ways superior to Christmas as a holiday. In fact, it's my favorite holiday. What can be better than getting together with family, eating good food, relaxing and being thankful for everything we have and spreading the joy to others who aren't as fortunate. You just can't beat that.

So, happy holidays, seasons greeting, happy hanukah, and merry christmas