New at Reason

December 20, 2006

Jacob Sullum celebrates the awkwardness of public, secular holidays.

Comments

|12.20.06 @ 8:10AM|#

I think this article says what needs to be said, from all sides. Great job Jacob.

ChrisO|12.20.06 @ 8:12AM|#

Granted, there's nothing inherently religious about a fir or pine tree decorated with lights...

There was to the ancient pagans who started the practice.

"Christmas" was nothing more than a way for early Roman Christians to keep celebrating the Saturnalia under a different name. Most Christmas rituals have their origins either in the Saturnalia or in northern European Solstice festivals.

People have always needed a 'pick-me-up' at the darkest part of the year.

|12.20.06 @ 8:19AM|#

Then there is whole deal of Christ probably not being born on December 25th (if the fellow existed at all). Then again, we don't celebrate "President's Day" on any particular birthday of a President either (that I know of).

ChrisO|12.20.06 @ 8:23AM|#

Not to post too repetitively, but:

But I'd rather have the awkwardness than the condescension of assuming that everyone has a "winter holiday season,"

Actually, for the most part, they do. They simply go by different names and have different forms of religious window dressing.

The identity crisis surrounding Christmas has existed virtually since the first time it was celebrated. Like many Roman public holidays, Saturnalia had an official religious reason to exist (commemorating the dedication of the Temple of Saturn), but it was really an excuse to get boozed and sexed up at a dreary time of year, as well as a time of charity and 'role reversal' between the classes. By the early Empire, this celebration lasted for a week or more. The early Church leaders made a conscious decision to celebrate Jesus's birth as a replacement for the Saturnalia, precisely because denying followers such a celebration would have made it more difficult to gain converts. This was controversial from the start.

Your points about Hannukah and the public displays of religious tokens are well-taken, however. In the end, I see these disputes as a sign of a society so well-fed that such trivialities can be dwelt upon.

|12.20.06 @ 8:23AM|#

Let us say, "Io, Saturnalia" and wish a Merry Sol Invictus to everyone and be done with it.

ChrisO|12.20.06 @ 8:25AM|#

Then there is whole deal of Christ probably not being born on December 25th (if the fellow existed at all).

Only the most unimaginative Christian literalists even bother to argue this. The early church leaders were rather open about why they scheduled Jesus's "birthday party" when they did. At that point, it had been several centuries since Jesus's putative life, and they had no more idea about when he was really born than we do.

|12.20.06 @ 8:28AM|#

ChrisO,

Only the most unimaginative Christian literalists even bother to argue this.

There are quite a few of those.

The textual clues point to some time in Fall as I recall.

Anyway, as my President's Day remark implies, it probably doesn't matter what date it is celebrated on.

Guy Montag|12.20.06 @ 8:29AM|#

Don't forget the Fruitcake! It can perform miracles.

|12.20.06 @ 8:29AM|#

ChrisO,

If you believe that Christ was an actual living, breathing guy who died for our sins, etc. that is.

|12.20.06 @ 8:33AM|#

Off-topic:

If you are still trying to buy presents, this is a great gift:

http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/warfare/81E6/

|12.20.06 @ 8:39AM|#

Absolutely everything about the Christmas story is complete fabrication.

Census that was never documented, travel to Bethlehem, no vacancy at the inn, stable and manger, virgin birth, choir of heavenly angels, star doing the astronomically impossible, kings from parts unknown, inappropriate gifts for children, warning to flee Judea, angry ruler initiating mass infanticide. All 100% fiction.

Today Matthew and Luke would be writing for the National Enquirer.

|12.20.06 @ 8:44AM|#

Russ R,

Remember how they initially went to Brian's abode and then yanked the gifts away? ;)

thoreau|12.20.06 @ 8:52AM|#

This seems like the right place for this story:

My wife and I teach Catholic Sunday School (aka "Catechism" for those who are up on their Catholic minutiae) for first graders. So we decided to ask them to make Christmas cards for people in nursing homes. It's a nice thing to do.

Well, most (all?) of our students go to public schools. (Catholic School students get their religious instruction in school.) So they got the sensitivity training, and many insisted on writing "Happy Holidays" (and explained why) and drew menorahs and all that. A few even wanted to know how to spell "Kwanzaa." (No mentions of Festivus, sadly.)

Now, I didn't really care, I thought it was kind of cute, actually. We didn't even try to talk them out of it, because, well, I'm not sure there's much point to it. And I'm not sure how I'd make the distinctions that might come up in a discussion of sensitivity and all that. So I just helped them make the cards. What else can you do?

Besides, if Jesus were around right now he'd be lighting a menorah and singing that Adam Sandler song....

ed|12.20.06 @ 9:00AM|#

the miracle that one day's supply of oil burned for eight days

In the end, it's always about oil.

|12.20.06 @ 9:04AM|#

Basically the effort to nationalize, get official state sanction, etc. for the holiday led to what is quite predictable. That is the natural reaction to such an effort will be both to commercialize it and for those of other religious viewpoints to break their silence on the matter.

ChrisO|12.20.06 @ 9:05AM|#

Anyway, as my President's Day remark implies, it probably doesn't matter what date it is celebrated on.

Spot on. Insistence on a 12/25 birth date is a good indicator of a limited intellect. The point is obviously to celebrate the fact that this supposed divine birth occurred, whenever it occurred.

If you believe that Christ was an actual living, breathing guy who died for our sins, etc. that is.

Aye, there's the crux of the matter. Although I used to believe that Jesus was a total fabrication, I currently hold that there was probably some historical person at the center of this whole thing. Such legends are rarely fabricated out of whole cloth. Odds are, however, that the historical Jesus probably was more of a smalltime cult leader like David Koresh or Jim Jones than the figure that Christians have come to revere.

|12.20.06 @ 9:11AM|#

ChrisO,

Yeah, I basically agree. I think Christianity is more the result of Paul's efforts (intellectual and otherwise) than that of the historical figure known as Christ.

Of course like Ellie in the book Contact I think many of the words that are attributed to Christ are important and lead to in many ways a useful philosophy.

VM|12.20.06 @ 9:28AM|#

Here's a question to Suet and ChrisO:

"f you believe that Christ was an actual living, breathing guy..."

and

"...I used to believe that Jesus was a total fabrication..."

Isn't Jesus the (historical) person and Christ the religious figure? or something like that?

(Recall that I agree with Tom Sawyer in thinking that David and Golliath were the first two disciples!)

Warren|12.20.06 @ 9:36AM|#

Yeesh, what a grouch. Or maybe a grinch. Actually Jacob sounds more like a Scrouge.

I'm totally with you Jacob, when you're going on about drugs, and perhaps other topics as well. But, when you write as a Jew, you loose me. Why would anyone choose to eschew the holiday season altogether? It's a wonderful time of year dedicated to peace and good will. I just can't understand why anyone would not want to be part of it. Especially since you have so many options. You could invent your own Festivus celebration if you can't find a way to embrace any of the standard ones.

For my part, I put up a tree, spread around some lights and tinsel, put holiday music on the stereo, exchange gifts, and wish everyone a "Joyous Solstice".

|12.20.06 @ 9:39AM|#

VM,

Viking Moose? If so, good to see you.

Well, as I recall from the literature I've read on the historicity of Jesus, Christ was a term applied to him after death. The term derives from the Greek word Khristos (there is an accent over the o) - which means holy or divine person.

|12.20.06 @ 9:40AM|#

More important than any "War on Christmas"...what do you guys think of "the OC" recently? Ryan's a streetfighter?!? Marissa is dead?!? Let's dish!

|12.20.06 @ 9:40AM|#

VM,

Obviously in modern day America we tend to use the words interchangeably.

Lortl|12.20.06 @ 9:43AM|#

The real idea behind "Happy Holidays" is that Christmas is only one day while the "Holiday Season" encompasses several weeks in December and includes such minor holidays as Christmas Eve, New Year's Eve, and New Year's Day.

|12.20.06 @ 9:43AM|#

The article was good over all. Hannaka is a minor holiday, but there is some bases for displaying a menorah where everyone can see it. Traditionally, menorahs were put in windows so everone could witness that Judaism survived the Greek cultural dominance. Still, I wish Chabad would stop putting menorahs on government owned land.

A question for all: At one point Holloween, St. Patrick's Day, and St. Valintine's Day were religious holidays. Today, they are secular. The meaning of a symbol depends on majority opion. Do you guys see the Christmas tree as a religious symbol or a secular symbol?

VikingMoose|12.20.06 @ 9:46AM|#

Hi Zeno!

yup. likewise!

Thanks for the info! (and after a while I did figure out that they're used interchangeably! grin)

cheers,
VM

|12.20.06 @ 9:47AM|#

jtuf,

It likely depends on the person. Clearly some people see it as a primarily religious display, a position which might be indicated by placing religious themed ornaments on the tree.

The interesting thing is that until the ~1840s Christmas trees were not common in the English-speaking world. Indeed, I think it was Queen Victoria's adoption of such a tree that led to their popular usage in the U.S.

|12.20.06 @ 9:50AM|#

Though I'd guess that Americans of German descent (and maybe Dutch?*) were probably putting up Christmas trees before that.

*Were the Dutch big on Christmas trees? I dunno, that might run counter to Calvinism.

|12.20.06 @ 9:51AM|#

thoreau, if I lived in the same city as you I might have considered raising my kids Catholic. Good show.

My sons both attended a secular pre-school that a few Jewish, Muslim and Hindu students. The school therefore celebrated every holiday imaginable, thus mushing all of 'em together in the kids' minds. When Andy was four, we took him to see Santa. Andy asked Santa to bring him a dreidel for Christmas.

|12.20.06 @ 9:54AM|#

For those of us who are genetically inclined to invade France from time to time, the tree is an old tradition. I'm pretty sure that the old pagan Yule celebration included decorating trees, albeit outside.

Isn't Santa Claus German (via Holland, I think), too?

|12.20.06 @ 9:56AM|#

Pro Libertate,

Yeah, Charlemagne did a poor job eradicating those silly German superstitions. When he was kicking German ass that is. ;)

|12.20.06 @ 9:59AM|#

You can oppress us and chop down our holy trees, but we'll prevail in the end. Ask the Romans, too. See how we've infiltrated America? Soon, even Christmas will be ours!

Of course, I'm only half German. The other half is calm, civilized Scot. It's a wonder I'm not more violent, come to think of it.

|12.20.06 @ 10:03AM|#

Pro Libertate,

I think it is safe to say that much of Western Europe's history is a long running dispute over Lotharingia. ;)

thoreau|12.20.06 @ 10:05AM|#

Karen-

Well, it's not like I went out of my way to get them to make the PC cards, but once it became clear that I had a roomful of kids determined not to offend anybody, I decided that talking them out of it was probably a bad idea.

|12.20.06 @ 10:08AM|#

No doubt. When Germany takes over the E.U. for the safety of Europe's children, that battle will finally be over.

Not that this is an original thought, but primogeniture might've given the Franks a somewhat longer tenure.

|12.20.06 @ 10:15AM|#

Pro Libertate,

Maybe, but adult sons of monarchs tended to be at the throat of one another primogeniture laws or not.

Garth|12.20.06 @ 10:16AM|#

Pro Libertate,

Santa is largely a Dutch invention but even they knew that he was a Turk. Yes, a Turk: you read that right.

|12.20.06 @ 10:18AM|#

I mean witness the relationship between Henry II's sons.

|12.20.06 @ 10:21AM|#

And man, have we gotten off topic. Here I was about to make a remark about Richard Coeur de Lion. :)

|12.20.06 @ 10:26AM|#

Zeno,

Easy enough to solve. If you're an unprincipled, realpolitik-style monarch, anyway.

Garth,

Turk? Make it Byzantine (St. Nicholas was from somewhere in Asia Minor), and I'll agree with you. It's not Istanbul, it's Constantinople :)

Guy Montag|12.20.06 @ 10:27AM|#

So where did the fruitcakes that 'cure' Christianity come from?

|12.20.06 @ 10:30AM|#

to avoid the awkwardness of wishing "Merry Christmas" to someone who does not celebrate the holiday.

Be that as it may, I have never understood the instinct to be offended by someone who wishes you well.

|12.20.06 @ 10:31AM|#

The funny thing is that Istanbul derives from a Greek phrase meaning "the city." Most folks assume that it is Turkish.

MoS|12.20.06 @ 10:36AM|#

Getting back *on* topic...

While most of Orthodox Jewry is embarrassed by Lubavitch's antics, they're crazy like a fox. They're cynically exploiting that condescension to get attention = followers = success.

Yes, putting up a menorah in an airport (with a little sign noting that it is "a Project of Anshei Lubavitch of Seattle, no doubt") is a really stupid program, with virtually no significance in Jewish law. But it, and countless other little projects, all contribute to making Lubavitch an incredibly successful outreach organization.

In fact, the free (albeit negative) publicity from this incident was probably an added bonus.

|12.20.06 @ 10:38AM|#

Zeno,

I ran across that factoid a few years ago. Until then, I thought it was Turkish, too.

Back to the topic at hand, I find that I am one of those who defiantly eschews "Happy Holidays" and says "Merry Christmas" to people, unless I know that they aren't Christian. I don't buy into the "War on Christmas" nonsense, but I guess I don't see the harm in saying it. I'm rebelling against the overwhelming strength of the heckler's veto, I guess. Frankly, I doubt many are offended by Christmas wishes; there's just a preemptive wish to avoid possible offense. Ugh. I'd rather be offended, myself.

|12.20.06 @ 10:41AM|#

They Might Be Giants said it best:

Istanbul was Constantinople
Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Why did Constantinople get the works?
That's nobody's business but the Turks

|12.20.06 @ 10:46AM|#

Pro Libertate,

I really use them all interchangeably without thinking about it. I mean, I am an atheist and I never gave holiday greetings a second thought until the "War on Christmas" op eds, etc. popped up a few years ago.

de stijl,

Off topic again: If I recall correctly the reason the Turkish government demanded that it be called one name - Istanbul - was because of the multitude of names that people used for the place.

|12.20.06 @ 10:50AM|#

There's a wiki entry on the city's many names.

Guy Montag|12.20.06 @ 10:53AM|#

They Might Be Giants might have said it best, but The Four Lads said it first.

|12.20.06 @ 10:57AM|#

Pro Libertate,

I love this:

The Ottoman chancelery and courts used Kostantiniyye as part of intricate formulae in expressing the place of origin of formal documents, such as be-Makam-ı Darü's-Saltanat-ı Kostantiniyyetü'l-Mahrusâtü'l-Mahmiyye[3]

|12.20.06 @ 10:59AM|#

Guy,

I had no idea that was not a TMBG original. John and John write a billion songs a day (or at least one a day back when they wer doing Dial-A-Song).

|12.20.06 @ 11:00AM|#

Which translates to "Bright Lights, Big City".

|12.20.06 @ 11:01AM|#

Pro Libertate,

Ha ha ha. :)

|12.20.06 @ 11:05AM|#

I wonder if Peking became Beijing and Canton became Guangzhou via a similar process?

Guy Montag|12.20.06 @ 11:21AM|#

You guys are making me miss New Amsterdam.

Argyles|12.20.06 @ 11:32AM|#

"Istanbul, Not Constantinople" is a pretty old novelty song. I think it's an Irving Berlin tune -- can anyone confirm this?

|12.20.06 @ 11:34AM|#

You guys are making me miss New Amsterdam.

Why they changed it? I can't say.

People just liked it better that way.

On another note, there's only two songs in me and I just wrote the third.

Guy Montag|12.20.06 @ 11:47AM|#

Argyles,

IIRC, Irving Berlin worte Puttin' on the Ritz, The Four Lads recorded the name-change song lyrics to the tune in 1954 (check link I posted a bit earlier).

Also, Irving Berlin seems to have an important role in the fruitcake cure for Christianity and the artist is mentioned in proximity to the only fruitcake refrences in the article.

|12.20.06 @ 11:59AM|#

At one point Holloween, St. Patrick's Day, and St. Valintine's Day were religious holidays. Today, they are secular. - jtuf

Hallowe'en originated as a celebration of the Celts in Ireland and Britain, Samhain. The Christian Church planted "All Saints Day" on top of it. Our modern masquerades with overtones of the supernatural are a sort of return to the default condition. As a kid in Catholic school I was taught about St. Valentine, a perhaps apocryphal martyr. He was supposed to have gotten in trouble with the Romans for performing Christian marriages. His feast day was pasted over the old Roman festival of Lupercalia, that was associated with Roman families arranging marriages for their children. It covered up a feast dedicated to Juno, who was the patroness of marriage, too.

The American version of St. Patrick's Day is extremely secular, but still has a huge religious component back in Ireland. Of course, St. Pat isn't the patron of our country, and the day was early on embraced by Irish-descended folks of all denominations, and now by damned-near everybody. We were still taught the story of Pádraig's enslavement, call to the priesthood and conversion of the Irish. It's probably no coincidence that St. Pat's falls close to the vernal equinox

In sum, I'm making two points. One is that holidays can have both sacred and secular elements, and you religious types can still enjoy the god-stuff, no matter how insane, while I concentrate on the pagan mockery. The other is that we have a tendency to mark waypoints in the year, and stop to celebrate them. Every distinct group attaches some significance to them, and no one group owns any of them exclusively.

Kevin

|12.20.06 @ 12:05PM|#

If we're going to ditch Christmas, Chanukkah is the best replacement. It's a perfect conservative holiday:

-It commemorates the war between pagan, pleasure-loving, philosophizing, gay-friendly Greeks versus monotheistic, puritanical, fundamentalist, sodomite-stoning Jews. Jews win!

-Supernatural miracles -- sure, making one day's worth of oil burn for eight days may not be the biggest miracle around, but it's enough to make Richard Dawkins see red.

-Turning one day worth of oil into eight days' worth. Cheap oil, baby!

Guy Montag|12.20.06 @ 12:11PM|#

Do the magic fruitcakes last longer than the oil in the lamp?

Franklin Harris|12.20.06 @ 12:25PM|#

The fruitcake symbolizes the eternal nature of God, as well and the desire of evangelicals to force God off on someone else.

Guy Montag|12.20.06 @ 12:39PM|#

Franklin Harris,

Then how do they turn Episcopal Church choir gals into Jews? Sounds quite counterintuitive to me(perhaps that makes it true!)

What is the Irving Berlin connection? Is it a combination of the melody and some mix of chemicals in the fruitcake?

See, puzzles like this are what drive some of us to faith in a higher power.

lunchstealer|12.20.06 @ 1:24PM|#

Actually, I think that the tree/holly/ivy thing is a pre-christian Norse/Viking/German thing, rather than a Saturnalia ritual. It was brought into the Xmas tradition when the Christians were trying to co-opt the Norse yule celebration into a Christmas thing. It had worked so well for Saturnalia, and it worked again for Yule. Then Vikings all turned Christian without having to actually change anything that they did culturally. I'm not positive on that, so don't go all quoty on me, but I remember reading that somewheres.

So if the tree is inherently religious, its either inherent to pretty-much-dead Roman paganism or pretty-much-dead Norse paganism. Certainly no government could be mistaken for endorsing some whacky Saturn/Odin celebration, so yeah, The Xmas Tree is arguably secular.

|12.20.06 @ 1:34PM|#

Jacob Sullun,
Keep Christmas out of Hanukkah???? Impossible!

Yeshua (the Christ in Christmas) was not born on December 25. It's too cold for shepherds to be up in the hills with the sheep. Also, the Romans were not dummies; they collected taxes and took their census in the Fall after the harvest. Yeshua, who's name or character is Emmanuel or "God with us" was born during Sukkot aka the Festival of Tabernacles which celebrates God living among the people.

Backing up nine months from Sukkot reveals that the Ruach HaKodesh (The Holy Spirit for English speaking gentiles) impregnated the Virgin Mary during Hanukkah. So, it is during the Festival of Lights that Yeshua, aka The Light of The World is sent to Earth.

I think it is a shame that more Christians do not light candles on Hanukkah to remember the Maccabean revolt and the restoration of the Temple and the miracle of a Virgin carrying the Son of God in her womb.

Guy Montag|12.20.06 @ 2:20PM|#

lunchstealer,

So, it is kind of like the College of Home Economics changed it's name to the College of Human Ecology and did not have to change the initials on anything?

NoStar,

Yea, that is pretty much what I remember from general study of the topic and when I was paying attention in Sunday School (more of the former, less of the latter).

I am sticking with candles and staying away from the fruitcake. Besides, chicks dig the candles.

The Chicks|12.20.06 @ 4:10PM|#

No we don't.
We've been pulling your radish all these years.
We like diamonds.

Robert|12.20.06 @ 4:52PM|#

It all depends on what counts as religion. What holiday could not be counted as "holy"? For example, Memorial Day seems to be a Shinto holiday. Flag Day? You could count reverence of a flag as a religion.

OTOH, if you claim Christ was born on Dec. 25 or Jan. 6, then you can be said to be commemorating a historic event just like July 4.

I'm surprised nobody mentions Thanksgiving (Canadian or USAn) as a holiday that obliterates any supposed distinction between secular & non-secular. Is a turkey a religious display, if you display it?

|12.20.06 @ 5:59PM|#

"so don't go all quoty on me"

With that phrase, lunchstealer really made me miss Buffy.