by Karla Perry

Created on: December 01, 2008   Last Updated: July 15, 2010

Christmas is essentially a Christian holiday. There is no reason to celebrate Christmas at all if we ignore the Christ of Christmas. Some try to circumvent "religion" by making it about Santa Claus, but our Santa Claus mythological tradition comes from none other than a real man named Saint Nicolas who was a devout Christian who sacrificially gave gifts to children because of his faith. Thus a Christmas tradition was birthed of a jolly old St. Nicholas who supplies the children with gifts. Truly, there is no way to secularize Christmas.

For instance, consider the Christmas tree which became a part of Christmas tradition when a missionary illustrated eternal life using an ever green fir tree to a group of pagans celebrating trees. This reminds me of when Paul in Acts notices the Athenians idol to an unknown god and began to tell them of this God they did not yet know. Soon the tradition grew and Christmas trees were decorated with lights and other decorations.

Some department stores will insist that their employees wish everyone a happy holiday instead of Merry Christmas to avoid using a "religious" word such as "Christmas." Ironically, the world Holiday

comes from "holy day." Some will transcribe Xmas instead of Christmas, yet the Greek symbol for Christ is "X". No matter what lengthens are taken there is no way to separate God from our celebration of His birth.

Therefore, the question should be: should Christmas be canned altogether or can we all freely celebrate as we have for centuries? Or better yet, why do non-Christians celebrate Christmas? Who are they celebrating? Has this holiday so lost its meaning that it seems odd for Christ to be the center of Christmas?

Being a Christian myself, it strikes me as odd that anyone who doesn't worship Christ would have any desire to participate in a holiday celebrating His birth into our world.

America has a shining tradition of freedom of religion. Thus, to limit celebration of Christmas to the private sphere usurps the unalienable rights of man that the Founders saw as so self-evident.

On the other hand, I think we as Christians ought to be respectful of those around us and as such we ought not to intentionally offend another by brazen external portrayal of our faith. Sometimes we fight for the right to be public about our faith at the expense of our faith itself, for we become consumed with the fight and have forgotten the love of Christ in the process. We must be cautious around those who are passionately offended to care more about loving them then plastering our Christmas celebration in front of their offended eyes.

It is not the place of the American government to make any law concerning the establishment of religion including the public celebration of Christmas; however, it is not prudent on a personal level to be irritating someone with our freedom. We each have to walk close to our Father and do what we see Him doing and only say what we see Him saying. Some will be offended for some were offended by Christ himself. However, that offense of the mind may lead to freedom for the soul versus producing harm in the person.

Let us enter this Christmas season remembering the true meaning of Christmas and shining forth God's love in all we do publicly and privately. For it is because of God's gift of love that we even have reason to celebrate Christmas in the first place.

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