On Christmas Day this year, millions of Christians will celebrate the birth of God’s son Jesus Christ. Many secularists will also observe their own Christmas traditions: spending lavishly, earning holiday pay, cutting down trees and hanging coloured light bulbs. Others still will regard the season with disdain because they are either not fans of its message, or not fans of presents and time off work.

I respect all these views. The only perspective I don’t like is the person who Bah-humbugs any display of Christmas spirit.

“I’m sick of all this religious propaganda!” some say when you affiliate Dec. 25 with the Nativity story. And some of these complaints are just idiotic.

“You know that ending to A Charlie Brown Christmas? It’s just indoctrinating kids into Christianity.” Or, “What’s with all the songs about Jesus and Mary? Can’t we stick with the more secular ones — you know, ‘Jingle Bell Rock’ and ‘Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree’?”

Because that’s the true meaning of Christmas: rockin’ around a plastic tree in a drunken conga line at your staff party.

Whatever Christmas does or doesn’t mean to you, it’s hardly your place to sweep its religious message under the rug. Now, if someone held a gun to your head and said, “Start carolling or I’ll blow your brains out!” it might be reasonable to feel bullied by others’ Christmas spirit.

As it actually stands today, Christmas is like every other holiday: it appears in the media and in stores, but no one is forcing you to celebrate it.

So complaining about Christian imagery in December is as stupid as grumbling about Halloween decorations in October. It’s like telling people at Halloween that they can’t put ghosts and witches on their lawns because you don’t believe in them.

Another Scrooge-like attitude I won’t stand for is the “closing stores on Christmas hurts the economy” bit. Doesn’t the month of binge spending preceding Christmas more than compensate for this one measly day of rest? No, Bah-humbug!

People argue we don’t need Christmas to perform all the good deeds associated with it. In the real world though, people act altruistically simply “because it’s Christmas.” People never think to write their relatives out of the blue, but being Christmas and all, they sit down and write cards to estranged friends and family. Charities also rely on the extra generosity people show during the Christmas season. The Saskatoon food bank for example holds it’s main fundraiser, the Tree of Plenty Campaign, in the weeks leading up to Christmas with hopes that people will moved by the Christmas spirit to donate.

And in my own experience, Christmas Day brings a togetherness matched by no other day of the year. Because everything is closed and no one works on Christmas, you practically have to sit down with the family, talk with them, maybe even swap a gift or two.

It would be nice if people did this stuff spontaneously — without needing to be nagged into it by everyone around them — but they don’t. My family would never just say, “Why don’t we spend the day together and hang around the house?”

Some opponents propose a simple solution: keep Christmas traditions, just drop the “Christmas” label and replace it with “holiday.” Retailers in North America have debated this for decades. Can cashiers say “Merry Christmas” and wear Santa hats or will that offend customers? Some retailers will even re-brand their Christmas trees as “family trees.” Go to Starbucks and you can buy the same coffee under two labels. There’s “Chrismas blend” and the sacreligious “holiday blend”.

And even though things like Christmas trees aren’t really about Christ, they are Christmas traditions and have been for centuries. To appropriate Christmas for use in some new secular holiday — which has no name and basically just steals elements of Christmas — is a disgrace.

Too many people forget that Christmas is a very sacred and important day to many of us. Contrarians need to realize this and grow more tolerant of Christmas cheer. I’m not asking these people to erect Nativity scenes on their lawns. I’m not even asking them to say “Merry Christmas.” I’m simply asking that, when we practice these cherished Christmas traditions, they won’t be such Grinches about it.

—

Image: Random House