Gerald Crump

I’ve had it up to here with people trying to censor our nation’s most sacred traditions. In the name of so-called “inclusivity,” they go tearing up what remains of our Christian roots, making regular, everyday Americans like me feel like outcasts. It’s time for this sacrilege in our public lives to stop. Lately, it’s gotten to where we’re not even supposed to refer to all of our holidays as Christmas anymore.


Well, guess what? This is my country, and I’ll say “Merry Christmas” on any damn holiday I please.

Growing up, I never thought twice about wishing my friends and family a Merry Christmas on Labor Day or Veterans Day. But nowadays, if I walk down the street saying “Ho, ho, ho!” and “A Merry Christmas to you!” on Memorial Day, I get the stink eye. Can you believe it? What is happening to America?


This country was founded as a Christian nation, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to stop wishing people Merry Christmas on St. Patrick’s Day or New Year’s Day or Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Maybe some people don’t like to admit it, but when the Founding Fathers signed the declaration on the first Independence Day back in 1776, they certainly weren’t wishing each other “Happy Holidays.”

And for Pete’s sake, in October we should be saying “Merry Christmas,” not “Happy Halloween!”


These days, when you go to the mall on Presidents’ Day, you won’t see a big festive display of lights with wreaths and garland everywhere. There’s no Christmas tree or mistletoe—just large concrete planters full of nondescript vegetation. And instead of playing “O Holy Night” on the speakers, it’s all secular Top 40 hits. I remember one February I took my son so he could sit on Santa’s lap, but the only sign of festivity was a weekend sales event at Sears. More or less the same thing happened when I tried to take him to meet Santa on Columbus Day, Father’s Day, Earth Day, and Chinese New Year.

It’s an attitude that has thoroughly permeated corporate America. On Labor Day, I went into a Starbucks to order a cup of coffee, and the girl behind the counter—who, by the way, wasn’t even wearing a Santa hat—gave me a cup with just the usual company logo on it. No Christmas tree, no Star of Bethlehem, no manger scene. What’s more, she didn’t even wish me a Merry Christmas! Well, that sure as hell didn’t stop me from loudly and proudly wishing her a Merry Christmas. Man, you should’ve seen the look on her face.


Perhaps the saddest part of all this is the impact it’s having on our kids. In June, none of them are bundled up outside going door-to-door and singing Christmas carols for Flag Day. This past Valentine’s Day they didn’t even do a secret Santa at my son’s school. They just gave out cards. No pageant or anything! And for eight consecutive Thanksgivings, our children watched as Barack Obama, their president, stood on the White House lawn and pardoned a turkey while refusing to utter the words “Merry Christmas” even once.

Political correctness has truly run amok.

There was a time when I looked forward to my office Christmas party each December, even though they long ago began calling it a “holiday party” and went out of their way to make sure it was completely secularized. But this year they went a step further, leaving the holidays out of it completely, rebranding it “Kevin’s going-away party,” and holding it in April. Well, you can bet I still showed up in my full Santa costume. Sure, I got some pointed looks from my boss, but what’s he going to do—fire me for having too much Christmas spirit?


It makes me sad to see our country headed in this direction. No matter how much people may wish to pretend otherwise, there’s simply no changing the fact that Cinco de Mayo is the day Mary gave birth to our blessed Jesus. Americans used to honor such traditions.

Unfortunately, the assault on our culture has now reached my own family. On my son’s birthday, I baked him a ham and wished him a Merry Christmas, and he and my wife kept trying to make me say “Happy Birthday.” Really? It’s my son’s birthday, and I can’t even say “Merry Christmas”? My family’s also been telling me not to say it on Rosh Hashanah, Diwali, Eid al-Fitr—you name it, it’s off-limits.


I suppose nothing’s sacred anymore. But when Santa wrote the Pledge of Allegiance in 1887, he wrote “One nation under God” for a reason, okay? Deal with it.