Daily Herald opinion: A day to cherish: Varied perspectives on Christmas greet the holiday with a great sense of joy and hope
This editorial is adapted from one that was originally published on Dec. 24, 2016.
We arrive after a long year on this the most festive, joyous and magical of all days.
It is a day of sleigh bells and sugar plums, of vintage music and nostalgic film, of stockings and long winter's naps, of family and friends, of hope and charity.
Of love and of faith.
Merry Christmas, and may God bless us, everyone.
“Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus,” The New York Sun reassured the young and young at heart in 1897. “He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy.”
Much has been made recently about the false premise that we're not allowed to say “merry Christmas” anymore.
It's an odd contention.
We are not outlawed from using the expression. Even in government, presidents have expressed the salutation each year when lighting the national tree.
That a store might wish shoppers “happy holidays” rather than “merry Christmas” or a school might weave multiple traditions into its programs is less a reflection of government edict or political correctness than it is a recognition that the population of our community and our country has grown significantly more diverse.
It is not a sign of disrespect to Christians but simply a sign of respect and sensitivity to non-Christians. It is an acknowledgment that we're all a part of this giant American melting pot of customs and cultures.
The care our Constitution provides to avoid the establishment of a government religion is not aimed at undermining Christianity or any other religion. Quite the opposite. It's intended to protect religions from government assault.
Keep in mind, our forebears sought asylum on these shores largely to escape government persecution of their religion. And a government that could declare Christianity a state religion could just as easily declare some other faith a state religion.
Today, we celebrate our religious liberty and we don't subject that freedom to the whim of the ballot box. What faith we hold is not dependent on who's in power. It's dependent solely on what we believe.
Christmas in America is really two holidays.
One is deeply religious, a celebration by Christians of the birth of the Savior.
The other is secular, a celebration of peace and love by even the nonreligious
Our point isn't to say that the two perspectives are somehow the same or equal. They are not.
But both perspectives do greet the holiday with a great sense of joy and hope. What a wondrous, happy thing.
Merry Christmas! And may God bless us, everyone.