The Grinch, as always, is once again prowling about Whoville, ummm, Athens, ummm, America, trying to steal Christmas. Now, for the record, anyone with a decent handle on history knows that both Hannukah and Christmas are not biblical in their origins, and the debate will no doubt rage on til the Millenium as to just what constitutes a reasonable celebration thereof. Perhaps the Festival of Lights will be consumed by the Light of the World when He comes back to set things straight, and perhaps His birthday will be celebrated every day, as would be deserving. I don’t know, and it is way above my pay grade, but I do know that until then, the continual chipping away at our Constitutional right to have a faith based culture that has celebrations which are enjoyed in public, is something that needs to be both resisted and remedied.
Christmas as we have known it (until recently,) was birthed in Catholicism, and the Puritans did not celebrate it. I am not Catholic, (although I did live in a Benedictine monastery for a month over 40 years ago,) and while I am the descendent of folks who came over on the Mayflower, I don’t think I’d do so well in a context where women might be considered to be a witch if they knew how to swim.
Our family, like many others, becomes frosted over the fact that Christmas now starts showing up in September, and we have chosen to put more energy into celebrating Hannukuh, which choice is guaranteed by the 1st Amendment.
However, there are those who seem to be baptized in “the spirit of Grinch” who want to take what has been celebrated for centuries away from us, and seem to think that the only way they will have peace is to both hide the Prince of Peace from our view, and hide from the Prince of Peace themselves. Good luck with that.
The most recent casualty in the war on Christmas is the city of Santa Monica, California. “Grinches” from the Freedom From Religion crew successfully won an injunction against the city, who, not only had been called “The City of Christmas” since 1953, but had outdoor Nativity scenes in the parks and other public places.
Now there is no Nativity scene in the park, but there is Satan, Poseidon, and a “god” called the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Huh? Wasn’t Poseidon once an object of worship? Where is this headed, and, more importantly, how do we do guerilla warfare against the Grinch?
By running our “tanks of thanks” over their ingratitude. Atheism, while a philosophy that is also protected by the Constitution, in my view, is fueled by ingratitude. It is the refusal to have a mind, heart, and spirit big enough to think outside the box and be wildly glad for stars that lead wise men, lamp stands that burn without oil, and angels that announce extraordinary news to simple shepherds. And at the end of the day, I’d rather risk thanking someone I can’t see yet, then possibly being a Grinch, and remember, the Grinch was won over by the love of a child, which is the strongest weapon of all.
By: Ali Elizabeth Turner
