{"id":9710,"date":"2018-12-02T00:49:53","date_gmt":"2018-12-02T00:49:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/iamsignificant.ca\/?p=9710"},"modified":"2018-12-03T15:18:45","modified_gmt":"2018-12-03T15:18:45","slug":"war-on-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iamsignificant.ca\/home\/featured\/war-on-christmas\/","title":{"rendered":"War on Christmas? Still?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fresh snow has fallen on the CornCob City, my prairie home. \u00a0The Town has the parks adorned with decorations and lights. \u00a0It\u2019s quite pretty – the twinkle of the lights and the Merry Christmas signs. \u00a0 And yet not so heartwarming because over the past few years, in reaction to a manufactured War on Christmas<\/em>, some in our community, have felt the need to make it aggressively \u201cMerry Christmas.\u201d \u00a0And while I\u2019m almost sure it’s just me, the pretty lights and the illuminated Merry Christmas signs seem to be punctuated with an \u201cF-you.\u201d \u00a0Out of fear and spite, it seems like\u00a0Merry Christmas has been weaponized<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0and quite honestly, it takes a lot of the Christmas sparkl<\/em>e out of the season.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n


\nLight of the World shines for all<\/span><\/h2>\n

I get it, Christmas is a very special time of year for many people. It is full of precious memories and traditions that often hold a deep sense of meaning, ones that have been celebrated for generations. Any changes some folks may perceive are not because of a nefarious plot; rather there are increasingly more folks who don\u2019t share our Christian faith or traditions. Yes, there are many new Canadians who bring with them a rich heritage and often a belief system and traditions that differ from ours. Also, we cannot ignore that there are more \u201cborn and raised\u201d Canadians who do not share our Christian faith either.\u00a0Is it reasonable to expect folks who don\u2019t share our Christian faith to feel the same way about Jesus and His place in Christmas as we do?<\/span><\/p>\n

In our multi-cultural country, we need to make room for these folks too. \u00a0By making this space for them it in no way diminishes our Christian faith or our deep experience of meaning and practice around Christmas.<\/span>
\n<\/b><\/p>\n

Because nothing says Merry Christmas<\/em> like snarky defensiveness<\/span><\/h2>\n

Unfortunately, there are those who will stoke peoples fears by suggesting their beloved traditions, faith, and way of life are under attack by the scapegoat ideology of the day. \u00a0Then they stoke this fear to a fevered pitch and capitalize on it for their own gain and brand it the \u201cWar on Christmas.\u201d \u00a0Can you say “Christmas cha-ching $$$” for these purveyors of outrage?<\/strong><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

When Christians buy into and ratchet up the anxiety and offense of the myth that says “Merry Christmas” \u00a0in public is prohibited, it can make for some really indignant and snarky Christian people.\u00a0When these things are framed as acts of aggression, and we draw battle lines, the fruit of the \u201cWar On Christmas\u201d is fear, division, and defensiveness \u2013 none of which is a \u201cFruit of the Spirit.\u201d<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

I have never had anyone respond negatively to me wishing them a Merry Christmas, regardless of the context. Often I speak with folks of different religions and those with no religion at all, and they tell me they are not offended when wished a Merry Christmas. It doesn\u2019t bother them at all – unless you weaponize your Merry Christmas with self-righteousness and passive aggression<\/strong>. Then, they just think you are odd and quickly forget all about you.<\/span><\/p>\n


\nKeeping Some Christ in Christmas<\/span><\/h2>\n

I fully agree that Jesus is the reason for the season but let\u2019s not get caught up in the fiction\"notajerk\" and manufactured hype of the “War on Christmas.\u201d Rather than ranting Facebook posts, or the cascade of tacky memes, boycotts or guerrilla styled \u201cMerry Christmas\u201d greetings to store clerks, let\u2019s put some feet to keeping Christ in Christmas.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

In keeping Christ in Christmas, we might consider:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  • Lighten up! You’re not under attack.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Befriending a new Canadian and inviting them to dinner.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Support the local food bank, shelter or charity. <\/span><\/li>\n
  • Consider adopting a family or two for the holidays. <\/span><\/li>\n
  • Express sincere gratitude to people who have served you.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Reconcile with folks with whom you may have an issue. <\/span><\/li>\n
  • Be generous financially and relationally.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Be kind and gracious to everyone you meet \u2013 even while shopping in the busy shopping centers and restaurants.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    By living the Christmas hope<\/strong> in real, everyday ways, we are reflecting the \u201cLight of the World\u201d to folks who may not know the love and hope we have found. Now that lovely light really twinkles!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fresh snow has fallen on the CornCob City, my prairie home. \u00a0The Town has the parks adorned with decorations and lights. \u00a0It\u2019s quite pretty – the twinkle of the lights and the Merry Christmas signs. \u00a0 And yet not so heartwarming because over the past few years, in reaction to a manufactured War on Christmas,…","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":14513,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,35],"tags":[58,87,111,129,152,167,207,365],"class_list":["post-9710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-success-with-significance","tag-authentic-living","tag-casting-vision","tag-compassion","tag-daily-living","tag-discipleship","tag-everyday-spirituality","tag-giving-generosity","tag-meaning"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iamsignificant.ca\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iamsignificant.ca\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iamsignificant.ca\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iamsignificant.ca\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iamsignificant.ca\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9710"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/iamsignificant.ca\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9710\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iamsignificant.ca\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iamsignificant.ca\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iamsignificant.ca\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iamsignificant.ca\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}