It’s Christmas day so I better write this now or I will have to save it until next year. It’s not going to be my usual “Peace on Earth and goodwill to men” Christmas blog. It is also not going to be a cynical bah humbug blog. I can’t do that as I am filled with three Christmas films, The George C. Scott A Christmas Carol, Meet John Doe, and I’m in the middle of It’s a Wonderful Life. Fun tidbit, Lionel Barrymore who played Mr. Potter the miser in It’s a Wonderful Life played Scrooge in the Mercury Theater of the Air’s version of A Christmas Carol. That was Orson Welles’ radio show. I’ve listened to that a few times, it was wonderful.
Instead, I’m going to write a quantum mechanical take on Christmas. The right talks about the War on Christmas, and I know some atheists and Jews who have big problems with Christmas. There was a time that I was amongst them. Don’t be surprised, I am a Jewish Atheist. The first amendment says, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;” Yet Christmas, a specifically Christian Holiday, is a legal holiday nationally. How can that be? There answer can be found in the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics; it is an analogue of particle/wave duality. I said something inaccurate before, that Christmas is a specifically Christian holiday. It might seem obvious that it is, Christ is right there in the name, and it is specifically Christians to some observers. It isn’t to others. Japan has very few Christians, yet Christmas is widely celebrated. “… several customs that came to Japan from the USA such as sending and receiving Christmas Cards and Presents are popular. In Japan, Christmas in known as more of a time to spread happiness rather than a religious celebration. Christmas Eve is often celebrated more than Christmas Day. Christmas Eve is thought of as a romantic day, in which couples spend together and exchange presents” [Christmas in Japan]. That is close to how many Americans view the holiday. To me, it means, “Peace on Earth and goodwill to Men,” Caroling, watching Christmas movies, and eating Chinese food. Tonight, it was General Tso’s chicken. It’s one with Festivus, at least the way I celebrate Festivus, nothing like on Seinfeld.
When people complain about taking the Christ out of Christmas, they are complaining about the very thing that allows the holiday to be recognize by the secular government. You can’t have it both ways. If you want to make Christ central to Christmas it can’t be a national holiday. On the other hand, if you don’t celebrate the religious aspects don’t get offended when people say Merry Christmas to you. They are wishing you well. They want you to be happy. Don’t nitpick. On the third hand if someone chooses to say Happy Holidays to be more inclusive, don’t get offended at that. They too are wishing you well. They just don’t view it as purely subjectively as I do. Whether you celebrate or not there’s nothing wrong with someone wishing you a Merry Christmas or a Happy Chanukah. Why be offended when no offense was meant? That’s the true Festivus spirit.
On Christmas, which is almost certainly the day that Jesus was born, don’t sweat the small stuff. Enjoy people being nice to each other. Enjoy the food. Enjoy the glorious music. If you happen to hear Wham or Mariah Houston shrug it off, others enjoy it even if I’d rather have root canal. Just keep wishing joy to the world. If you can do that all 365 days of the year more the better.
So now without any conditionals or hedging I’m wishing each and every one of my Gentle Readers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Wise Madness 