Washington Post THE QUESTION Is Christmas Christian? "Keep Christ in Christmas!" is the familiar refrain of Christians who fear the secularization of the holy day celebrating the birth of Jesus, their savior. But in America, non-Christians often celebrate Christmas. According to a _recent poll by the Christian group LifeWay Research_ (http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2010-12-20-unchristmasinside20_ST_N.htm) , "A majority of agnostics or those claiming no preference (89 percent), individuals claiming other religions (62 percent), and even atheists (55 percent) celebrate Christmas along with 97 percent of Christians." Do you need to be Christian to celebrate Christmas? What is Christmas all about? Posted by On Faith on December 20, 2010 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------- Merry Krishnamas _Aseem Shukla_ (http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/panelists/aseem_shukla/) Associate Professor in urologic surgery at the University of Minnesota medical school. Co-founder and board member of Hindu American Foundation.
"Jingle bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle all the way!" And with those lyrics, my septuagenarian father sang to my sons this afternoon on the telephone. Christmas Eve here in Minnesota, it is already Christmas Day in Ahmedabad, India where my parents split their retirement after more than forty years of graduate school, work and raising a family stateside. Sitting there in his sunny veranda, ceiling fan whirring as the mercury touches the upper 80's, this devout Hindu was wistful for the crackling fire, tidy snow layering at the windows and Bing Crosby--his favorite--on the radio singing "Little Drummer Boy." We did not go to church on Christmas, but our weekly satsang (spiritual discussion and devotional singing) group always added a few songs devoted to another transcendent emissary in addition to those we sang to Lord Krishna or Shiva. There was no confusion there--a pluralistic worldview allowed us to see the inherent divinity of the avatar Jesus--and singing paeans to Him was as uplifting and inspiring. Those satsangs ended with an aarti--ritual offering of lit lamps soaked with purified butter--to the pantheon of Hindu deities in our home, and then, of course, another ritual--opening presents! Two cultures came together, and very different faith traditions found unilateral common ground from our vantage of inclusive celebration. My Jewish friends growing up in South Florida worked hard to avoid any semblance of Christmas celebration, but there was a complicated history between those faiths that I barely understood. And, I hasten to add, some Hindus I know will replace Merry Christmas rather easily--tongue squarely in cheek--with "Merry-Krishnamas." Creating a hodgepodge of family traditions and rituals runs the risk, some would insist, of diluting belief and confusing ritual as something divorced from spirituality; joyful giving with materialism; respecting Christmas with false appropriation. Two Christmases ago, I was in India with my parents. Christmas never elicited discomfiture before, as it did that year. Only a percent or two of the six million folks in my parents' hometown were Christian, but the McDonald's and Nike shops brought a strange phenomenon as they were imported from the U.S. A thinly built, much darker toned Santa Claus was ubiquitous. Apparitions of this Indian Santa stood outside every upscale shop in our city, handing out sales placards and chanting a merry greeting associated with a religion he understood not at all. This was no scene of happy pluralistic syncretism, this was overt crass commercialism. That type of Christmas is no Christmas at all, and I would stand with my Christian brethren in a collective tut-tut. Christmas is accessible to us for its celebration here in our country as it is already so syncretic. Pagan traditions, Christmas trees and lights that illuminate memories of Diwali in Hindus, Christmas always seemed more celebratory and non-threatening. The Yuletide pervades our community as a wondrous season of giving, very much because it is not confined to a fixed religious paradigm here. Let "proper" and orthodox and religious Christmas continue in churches and homes of the believer. I certainly hope it stays as it always has been in the public space. And now, the family awaits me to sit in our altar room and begin our Christmas carol satsang! -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jewish Christmas _Brad Hirschfield_ (http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/panelists/brad_hirschfield/) Named as one of the nation’s 50 most influential rabbis in Newsweek, and one of the top 30 “Preachers and Teachers” by Beliefnet.com What's a "Jewish Christmas"? Perhaps it would better be described as celebrating Christmas, Jewishly. But either way, I refer to the fact that Jews, have practices which recognize the significance of Christmas. In fact, while not always defined as Jewish Christmas observance, Christmas has played a role in the thought and practice of Jews for almost two thousand years. >From being a day which inspired terror on the part of oppressed Jewish minorities living in parts of Late-antique Christendom and Medieval Europe, to the joy the holiday brings to contemporary American Jews who can appreciate the holiday's beauty in light of the unprecedented freedom and ease we enjoy in America today, Christmas has loomed almost as large for many Jews as it has for Christians. For many Jews a generation back, and for some to this day, it meant movies and Chinese food i.e. practices which avoided Christians as much as possible, either because of the enforced silence of the theater or the presumed non-Christian identity of the restaurant owners. What's changed in the last generation is that the options for Jews observing Christmas have expanded from two, to an almost infinite number of possibilities. In the past, the basic choices were to mark the day with practices which identified the day as one on which Jews needed extra protection, both physically and spiritually, because of the threat created by people observing Christmas, or to mimic Christmas practices in order to appear more "normal" to the Christian majorities among whom Jews lived. Today however, we have many more options - options which suggest that we are increasingly inter-connected even though we are not all the same. While purists on both sides fear this, it seems to me that feeling deep connection to those who we still acknowledge as different from ourselves is a critical component of living peacefully in a world in which the distance between us is always shrinking, no matter how much some people wish it were otherwise. The Jewish owners of one Philadelphia restaurant have put their own spin on the Jewish celebration of Christmas - one which brings together the experience of growing up Jewish in America, the food of Israel, and the desire to share both with all who may be interested, whether they are Jewish or not. The owners of Zahav are inviting people to what they call "_A Very Jewish Christmas_ (http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/around-town/food-drink/A-Very-Jewish-Christmas--111464794.html) ": Filled with Israeli-inspired Chinese food and two 80s flicks on the big screen, Chef Michael Solomonov reminisces on his childhood through this festive night. "Growing up Jewish, it's hard not to feel left out at Christmas time, so my family and I observed the tradition of many Jewish families: enjoying Chinese take-out and watching a favorite movie instead," said Solomonov. The $50 meal and movie night includes wonton soup, lamb egg rolls, salt and pepper squid, cold sesame noodles, Persian fried rice, cashew chicken, mushroom and tofu hot pot and a "pg-rated" happy ending dessert. Plus, if you miss the first movie screening at 6 p.m., check out the 8:30 show. Some will surely take offense at what they will deem to be a syncretistic mash-up of two discreet religious traditions, but I am not so sure. It's not like I can eat the food this restaurant serves. I can't - I only eat food that is strictly kosher. It's just that I am moved by the desire to share treasured family traditions which discover joy in the midst of other people's holidays. I am struck by the fact that anything which any religious community currently thinks of as "traditional" was once an innovation, including the food norms which govern my personal existence and that for all we know, the sharing of Chinese food and movies may be one of those contemporary innovations which is making the move into traditonality. If that is the case, now would be the time to ask what the purpose of this emergent tradtion is? How does it work for those who practice it? What does it mean? Are Chinese food and a movie simply a way for Jews to insulate ourselves from the larger culture? A way in which to make sure that we have an agreed upon way to occupy ourselves while the majority celebrates "their" holiday? For some, that is almost certainly the case, and perhaps that is enough. But perhaps there is more. Perhaps, this American Jewish custom is also a way of acknowledging that here in America, Christmas is "our holiday too". I am not suggesting that we buy into a theology of Christmas or even of its traditionally Christian practices. I am simply suggesting that like the vast Christian majority among whom Jews live in America, it is a day which reminds us that we can celebrate the fact that others are celebrating. We need not fear that as we once had good reason to. In fact, we can delight in it, and not simply because it is a "day off". We can celebrate that for the first time in the entire 2000 year history of the Jewish Diaspora the religious and cultural celebrations of others are safe and comfortable for us. We can choose to honor them in any number of ways. We can volunteer our time so that Christians can more easily take the day off, we can take a moment to consider the remarkable and unique beauty of "someone else's" holiday, etc. the list goes on and on, and when Jews do those things, it really is a very Jewish Christmas. And to those Christian purists who worry about the dilution of their holiday and the corrupting of their tradition, I would suggest that they be a bit less fearful. After all, a holiday which has inspired hundreds of millions of people for thousands of years is not likely to be undermined by the affections of some of Jews, agnostics, or other non-Christians, is it? Not to mention, that what Christmas means has been answered, and is still answered in a variety of way by a variety of self-declared believing Christians. One might even suggest that it is the day's ability to bear those multiple meanings which has kept it going strong all these many years. And as one who loves Christmas, I hope that never changes. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- Merry Yuletide _Jason Pitzl-Waters_ (http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/panelists/Jason_Pitzl-Waters/) Jason Pitzl-Waters is co-founder and Projects Coordinator of the_ Pagan Newswire Collective_ (http://www.pagannewswirecollective.com/) . Last night I celebrated Yule with several of my Pagan co-religionists, this weekend I'll be visiting family to celebrate "Christmas". This will take the form of cooking food, breaking bread together, exchanging gifts, and spending time with loved ones we rarely get a chance to see in our day-to-day lives. Does that mean I "celebrate Christmas?" In the sense of honoring the birth of the Christian savior Jesus, of course not, I'm not a Christian. But when I trim the tree, feast, and make merry I'm tapping into ancient roots of tradition, custom, and fellowship, of which Christmas is but one modern manifestation. I won't get into the debate over whether early Christians appropriated December 25th from pre-Christian faiths, or came by that date honestly, but few can argue that much of what we now culturally consider "Christmassy" came from non-Christian/Pagan sources. Decorating with greenery, decorating trees, the exchanging of gifts, feasting, even the special seasonal attention towards the poor and less fortunate can be found in several Western pre-Christian Winter-time holidays. In addition, many cultures had their own narratives/traditions about the (re)birth of the sun/son, promising a return of life and light in a time of cold and darkness. I don't say this to diminish Christianity, but only to point out that these Winter celebrations are a deep part of us, and whether we identify as Christian, Pagan, agnostic, or atheist, there is a draw towards the light and fellowship that has become an integral part of this time through the centuries. So all those non-Christians celebrating "Christmas" are simply doing what comes naturally, and the insistence by some Christian pundits and activists that December and its merriment somehow belongs only to Christians, or needs to be rescued from the evils of secularism in the name of Christ, completely miss the point of why we go to such great efforts to gather together. We aren't waging a "war on Christmas", or disrespecting Christian tradition, instead we are hearkening back to deeper, older, instincts. _To quote singer-songwriter Dar Williams:_ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCVt_j1A68c) "Lighting trees in darkness, learning new ways from the old, and Making sense of history and drawing warmth out of the cold" That song, "The Christians and the Pagans," talks of family members from two very different faiths finding commonality and happiness during this season. A hopeful message as families across the United States unite and give it their best shot at having a joyful season (good luck!). I hope we can all come to understand that the Winter holiday season is bigger than any one faith's traditions, that much of humanity is celebrating right now for a variety of reasons. So let me wish all of you a happy holiday season, be it Winter Solstice, Yule, Saturnalia, Hanukkah, or Christmas. -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org
