Liberty Counsel and the American Family Association have posted their Tenth Annual “Naughty and Nice” list, encouraging Christians to shop at stores that wish them a Merry Christmas rather than a mere “Happy Holidays.”

Am I the only one who remembers a time, not so long ago, when Christians thought that their goal should be to being the Christian message to those who needed to hear it, and not merely to surround themselves with other Christians to exchange Christian greetings with one another?

I didn’t think so.

Liberty Counsel’s and the AFA’s lists are an attempt to bolster a form of cultural pseudo-Christianity by circling the wagons of that identity. Their aim is clearly not to encourage Christians to proclaim any sort of Christian message to others – even the minimal one of going to places where people don’t themselves wish others a Merry Christmas, and wish them one. Indeed, their aim seems to be to get Christians to form a “holy huddle,” to live in a religious ghetto. While claiming to be opposed to the censoring of Christmas, they are in fact getting Christians to censor themselves, only taking their business – and so only saying “Merry Christmas” – in stores where their beliefs appear to be shared.

I hope that anyone who is a Christian and takes their faith seriously will oppose their stance, recognizing it for what it is: something profoundly anti-Christian.

I likewise hope that anyone who has a genuine Christian faith and feels it appropriate to wish others a Merry Christmas will go out and do so, not merely to those who wish it to them first. Surely the Golden Rule applies here?

There’s quite some time until Christmas. But in the mean time, perhaps someone should warn Liberty Counsel and the American Family Association that they might just be on Jesus’ “Naughty List”?