An advertisement in your paper of yesterday announces a public ball for tomorrow evening. ... A ball on [Christmas] must probably be attended and sustained by those who do not observe the day as an ecclesiastical festival. But why should they choose this evening of all others, and thus affront the feelings of their fellow citizens? They have a right, certainly, to employ themselves on the 25th of December as they will; but to proclaim such an entertainment under the title of 'A Christmas Ball' … is a proceeding which, it is to be hoped, will be discountenanced by almost all."
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The letter was yet another shot fired in the age-old struggle between the religious and the secular sides of Christmas. The tussle is hardly a new one.
The longstanding complaint is that Christmas has become so commercialized that any vestige of Jesus Christ's birth 2,000 years ago in Bethlehem has long been buried under a mound of receipts, wrapping paper and ribbons. Annually, the plea is made — in sermons, letters to the editor, broadcasts — to remove the dollar signs from Christmas.
As long ago as 1895, The Courant lamented, "What a pity it is that the season of the year dedicated to good cheer and jollity and carefree hours should be turned … into a time of false pride and ruinous outlay. What a travesty on the meaning and intention of the holidays."
Half a century or so ago, the fight manifested itself in a heartfelt but mistaken campaign to purge the abbreviation "Xmas" from the vocabulary on the grounds that it "takes Christ out of Christmas." In fact, the X in "Xmas" is the Greek letter chi, for centuries an abbreviation of "Christos," the Greek for "Christ." The use of Xmas, or similar variations, goes back at least 1,000 years and has nothing to do with commercialism or newspaper headlines; it is an ancient reverent term.
Christmas, some would argue, is only for Christians. So it might seem, but the numbers do not bear that out. In 2008, the American Religious Identification Survey, based at Trinity College, said that 76 percent of American adults identified themselves as Christian. Yet according to a 2010 Gallup poll, 95 percent of Americans celebrate the holiday in some way.
We can hardly avoid doing so. The Christmas season, which now apparently starts in earnest sometime before Halloween, swamps the hearts and flowers of Valentine's Day and smothers the fireworks of Independence Day. No matter what one's religious persuasion, it is our biggest national holiday — as it is in most of the Western world.
But must the battle between the sacred and the secular always be pitched at this time of year? Is there no way to embrace both the believer and the consumer in this season? Can the Prince of Peace and Santa Claus co-exist?
The Provençal French have a charming Christmas tradition involving the display of santons, roughly translated as "little saints." These are figurines in a small crèche: Jesus, Mary, Joseph, the wise men, shepherds, animals and others. But some santons at the manger are from the world of commerce, dressed in traditional French costume and plying their trades: tinkers, bakers selling loaves of bread, garlic vendors, basket makers.
The idea is that all are welcome to celebrate this time of year. There is room in the stable for both the sacred and the commercial. It's a concept well worth considering.
And it is in that spirit that we wish our readers, those of all faiths or those of none, and those who celebrate mostly with gadget-filled stockings, a merry Christmas. The good feelings of this day are surely plentiful enough for all to share.
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