Thursday, December 04, 2014

Just my opinion here:

1. Holiday is not a bad word, and it puzzles me that anyone would be insulted when someone wishes them a happy one.

2. There is no war on Christmas. It is still the one day in any year that most private businesses and government offices are closed. That's powerful: no other day in the US American calendar receives that much respect.

3. "Xmas" is not sacrilegious. The X represents the a Greek letter which was used a symbol for Christ. It is simple, ancient shorthand for Christ, not a way of "crossing Christ out of Christmas," as some people preach. In fact, you will see the Chi Rho (looks like an X with a P in the middle) embroidered on the altar cloths of churches and the vestments of ministers.

4. It is Christ-like to be respectful of the beliefs of others, so forcing a "Merry Christmas" on someone who does not observe Christmas seems kind of self-centered to me. I know that most people of other faiths are not offended by it, but it must get old to hear it. Showing respect for their beliefs seems like a better way to me.

It seems to me that we accomplish more by shining as a light by example, making people want to know what motivated us to give our time and efforts to them. It has become more and more prevalent for Christians to beat people with different beliefs over the head with words than it is to quietly reach out to them to meet their needs.