John Whitehead's Commentary

I think there's something wrong with me. I just don't understand Christmas. I like getting presents, sending cards, decorating trees and all that. But instead of feeling happy, I feel sort of let down.
--A Charlie Brown Christmas, 1965

With our five children grown and no sounds of pattering little feet in the near future, Christmas no longer holds the magic it did when they were growing up.

Christmas movies made in the last few years seem to express a cynicism and weariness that have become hallmarks of our materialistic culture. The season for giving has turned into the season for getting. In fact, even before the Thanksgiving turkey was gobbled up, shopping malls had decorated and started playing Christmas music to get people in the mood to shop.

And as if programmed to do so, moms and dads took to the streets bright and early on the biggest shopping day of the year in search of the "must-have" Christmas toys on their children's wish lists. Among the boys' top picks this year are fantasy action figures, DVDs and interactive video games. For the girls, there are the usual spate of Barbie products, as well as the Lil' Bratz fashion mall playset, which lays out the total "mall" experience in intricate detail--an obvious conditioning tool for future materialists.

As a further aid to shopping parents, multiple mall Santa Clauses are on hand to hear the confidences of small children. These willing targets of the advertising industry know exactly what they want to find under the tree on Christmas morning: they want what their friends already have or what all the other children on TV seem to enjoy so much.

Meanwhile, the public schools, where children spend so much of their time, are missing the whole point of the holiday. School boards across the country plan musical programs that omit all traditional Christmas carols. Others forbid "Merry Christmas" signs and replace the greeting with the more saccharine "Happy Holidays." Some schools eliminate angels and Santa Claus as being too religious, and one school even outlawed the colors red and green, saying they were Christmas colors.

One incident that highlights this extreme Christmas phobia involves a Massachusetts fourth-grade class that was asked to list 25 things that reminded them of Christmas. When one young student asked if she could include "Jesus," her teacher replied that she could get fired if Christmas' namesake appeared on the list.

I have yet to understand how anyone could discuss the true meaning of Christmas without referring to Christ. Surely something is tragically wrong when America's children are encouraged to celebrate the fictional Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer but are refused the opportunity to discuss the historical Jesus Christ! Indeed, to claim that Christmas is something other than it is--a holiday with religious foundations--is hypocritical and dishonest.

In a society already known for its materialism and consumerism, it seems that a religious holiday would be a good opportunity to celebrate something wholesome and good. Rather than thinking about the height of the selling season, why can't it be a season of reflection and holy joy? Why can't it be a time to step back and meditate on the original reasons behind the holiday? Why can't it be a day to share our blessings with those who are in need?

Fortunately, we still live in a country where families can celebrate their religious holidays with freedom. We can still attend religious services, set up manger scenes and sing traditional Christmas carols. We can still read the real Christmas story to our children and tell them the real reason for the season. Should you care to reclaim for yourself and your family some semblance of what Christmas really means, here are a few suggestions:

Take time to read the Christmas story found in Luke 2:1-20. Make "peace on earth, goodwill to men" your motto for the New Year.

Sacrifice some portion of what you would spend on family and friends to help a needy family. What a great opportunity to teach our children about the spiritual reality of life. Let that be your gift in the true spirit of Christmas.

Count your blessings. And when you're done counting them, say a prayer for those less fortunate: the hungry, the homeless, the lonely, the destitute and the sick. Resolve to do your part to make a difference in the world--even if it's just in your apartment building or neighborhood.

Teach your children to give of themselves and their time unselfishly. Volunteer at a soup kitchen. Adopt a family. Invite someone who might otherwise spend the holiday alone to share in your Christmas festivities.

By diverting the focus, in our homes at least, from the "give me" attitude to a sharing spirit, maybe we can recapture the awe and gratitude for what many Christmas carols say is the greatest gift ever given to man.

ABOUT JOHN W. WHITEHEAD

Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute. His most recent books are the best-selling Battlefield America: The War on the American People, the award-winning A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State, and a debut dystopian fiction novel, The Erik Blair Diaries. Whitehead can be contacted at staff@rutherford.org. Nisha Whitehead is the Executive Director of The Rutherford Institute. Information about The Rutherford Institute is available at www.rutherford.org.

Publication Guidelines / Reprint Permission

John W. Whitehead’s weekly commentaries are available for publication to newspapers and web publications at no charge. Please contact staff@rutherford.org to obtain reprint permission.