Reclaiming Christmas
To summarize the Christmasrapping essay
The banning of Christmas is the result of three closely related misconceptions. The first concerns the religious content of Christmas: It is felt by some that only Christians can observe Christmas, that religion makes Christmas unsuitable as the dominant December observance in a country where so many non-Christians are offended by Christmas. This is erroneous in many ways. First of all, Christmas has always been rich in secular as well as religious content and has always been open for people of other faiths and of no faith to interpret and observe in secular ways.

Religion has pretty much been removed from the public version of Christmas so it shouldn't be a charged issue for this reason. Even if religion was not removed, there are no laws requiring that religion must be kept private. The notion that so many non-Christians resent Christmas is unfounded. According to surveys, the percentage of people who might object to Christmas visibility because they have other religious beliefs is far smaller than is generally proposed or assumed.
The second idea is that America is a multi-culture: Some feel there are no dominant cultural features in America because our society comprises only different cultures all patch worked together. This is certainly a misplacement of emphasis. America is multi-racial and multi-ethnic, but it's still a melting pot, more like a uni-culture than a multi-culture because there are overriding features that unify the country. It's not inappropriate for Christmas to dominate December because it is an American institution, and people of different faiths have adopted secular Christmas customs.
The third idea is that December is the most important month for holidays: Some think that all our cultures and religions have major observances in this month and everyone has some different way of observing this time of year. This is untrue. This idea about the most festive "holiday season" time of year comes to us by way of Christmas, not because of any other holiday. Christmas is simply being usurped from territory it established ages ago. There's no documentation suggesting that other faiths and cultures always have their important holidays in December.
Christmas has a long history in the United States as a unifying force for all the neighborhoods and divergent groups that experience it. By comparison, other December observances don't invite non-believers to participate in customs, to popularize, commercialize, or otherwise trivialize them. Christmas takes this all is stride, is bigger and more diverse for it, and has not been suppressing other holidays in the process.

There's no question that discrimination against minorities exists, but Christmas isn't an oppressor, and "Holiday" isn't Affirmative Action setting right a history of withheld opportunities. Christmas in America was never marked by acts of hatred, but by countless expressions of kindness and charity. An example of this is the tradition of charities collecting canned foods for the needy under Christmas trees (sometimes called "Giving trees").

Through ignorance, hostility, or a desire to avoid controversy, elected officials have been banning Christmas observances that are clearly permissible by law. It's also not surprising that a formula that was once thought to promote good will and sensitivity would develop a following in popular culture. Blind allegiance eliminates the need to question.

Christmas has been impacted by twenty-five years of holidayization. We can't turn back the clock. Clarifications have been written into law about the visibility of religion on public property. Society is aware and accepting of other holidays if it wasn't before. After the many inroads holidayization has made into our popular culture over it's long duration of gaining support, there are signs that it is now viewed as ridiculous. An excellent example appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle on December 14, 2007 in the "Bizarro "cartoon". It shows a woman standing in front of a stage curtain. Addressing the audience she announces "This year's multi-cultural, generic 'holiday" play is "Mary and the Magic Baby". There seems to be an awareness that, although the public name for something is "Holiday", the actual content is really "Christmas". It's not a question of whether Christmas will return to the way it was twenty-five years ago, but whether it will have a public persona at all. What started out as conjectured political correctness has run amuck in overreaction and discrimination against Christmas. Our "Holiday"- free Christmas counter-culture movement will proceed the way others have, by overthrowing what doesn't work. Holidayization's formula is easy to spot and it's goal couldn't be clearer. Our work is cut out for us.

People are starting to take a long overdue look at "Holiday", and it is increasingly viewed as something that has failed as a viable, unifying force in December. It will take some doing to bring Christmas back to the highly respected standing it deserves in the public arena. Fortunately, for those who agree that it's time for change, taking action is far more satisfying than doing nothing. I have personally received many words of encouragement and have success stories to share about my work in this area, which has only recently taken form. I've found that most Christmas offenders aren't deeply committed to eliminating Christmas. They just wanted to do what they thought was "the right thing". Already people who used to engage in holidayization behavior have done an about face (due to shortsightedness and ignorance I have to include myself here). I started my about face eleven years ago and it led me to the creation of this web site. I feel certain there are many with a questioning or rebellious nature who will change when they learn of holidayization's absurd excesses and injustices.

There are many courses of action that can be taken to dispel holidayization. If we act, conditions will change, people will practice more discretion, not immediately, but over time.

An example of how Christmas is sold under the cover term "Holiday" is Martha Stewart's collection of "Holiday Music". A glance at the song titles show us it's just a collection of Christmas songs. Anyone sincerely seeking a collection of songs representing more than one holiday would be disappointed to find that only Christmas songs are included. So as irritating as "Holiday" is, it might be seen a boon for Christmas because Christmas seems to have expanded to become all holidays. "Holiday" is supposed to mask Christmas and to also be inclusive of all observances, but since other observances rarely make appearances and therefore aren't really in the race, Martha's collection and most other things called "Holiday" show us that Christmas and Holiday are really one and the same most of the time. Awareness is increasing among Jews who only observe Chanukah that this aspect of holidayization undercuts Chanukah. The term "holiday tree" implies that Jews should have a tree for their holiday because it's a tree for all holidays. Now, in 2007, Christmasrapping is in it's third year. I read over the essay and realize that many subtle changes have occurred since I first wrote it, both in December public life and in my attitudes about it. I'm happy to say I feel more positive this season about how Christmas is fairing than I have for several years and the goal of Christmasrapping seems less unsurmountable. It's hard to appreciate the historical sweep of Christmas when we only live one year at a time, but Christmas is a surviver. For a description of some of these positive changes go to "Take Action".

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