An editor in our local paper today tees off on the issue of taking "Christmas" out of public displays, including Christmas trees, um, Holiday Trees, in town squares and shopping centers. The Nova Scotia logger who for years has donated Boston's official Christmas tree has said that, if he knew it was going to be referred to as a "holiday tree" in a city news release, he would have fed it into a wood chipper. Boston's mayor issued a statement saying he considers the tree to be a Christmas tree. Threats of lawsuits hang in the air.
I'm not sure who fatigues my rear end more, the ACLU or the radical religious right.
There was a time when the churches complained about the "commercialization of Christmas." Be careful what you ask for; you might get it. Christmas runs the risk of disappearing from public venues. It may have to take sanctuary in homes and churches (where it belongs).
In any event, a Christmas tree is not Biblical. The early Christians were clever enough to co-opt pagan symbols and Winter Solstice ceremonies (in Rome, "Saturnalia"). Why else would they put candles on branches of dead trees in their homes? December 25 is probably the wrong date, too.
The Puritans in England and the New World banned Christmas because its celebration had turned into a drunken carnival. Christmas was banned in Boston from 1659 to 1681. Congress was in session on December 25, 1789, the first Christmas under America's new constitution. Christmas wasn't declared a federal holiday until June 26, 1870.
And a Merry Christmas to you during this "holiday" season!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment