by CKR
The religious conservatives have trained their fire on President Bush in the neverending war to politicize religion.
It's not a return to some particular stage of history. If we look seriously at history, the Inquisition perhaps comes the closest, but those who are now insisting that in the United States, this particular holiday season is CHRISTMAS and nothing else, are dreaming of a time that never was.
Now that seasonal affective disorder has been identified, many of us have gone back to the old, old custom of looking for the time when the days start to lengthen. That probably was the earliest celebration. It may not have meant much to our ancestors living near the equator in Africa, because the day length doesn't change much there. But as people spread out to Siberia and Europe, the difference was much more noticeable and definitely worth celebrating.
We all need something good to happen as winter deepens. By March, in the old days in the north, supplies of stored food would be giving out and those in poor health would be dying.
The solstice, the shortest day of the year, falls between December 20 and 22. By December 25, you can see a difference in sunrise or sunset at my latitude (36 degrees north) if you're paying attention. It's more obvious as you go further north. The Romans called it Saturnalia and had some really good parties.
As the Christian Church grew in temporal power, it found that pagan customs couldn't be defeated head on (who isn't glad that the days get longer?), so it absorbed them. European churches dedicated to Our Lady or St. Michael were built on pagan worship sites, and saints' days celebrations in Northern New Mexico are a remarkable blend of Native American and Christian customs.
So with Christmas.
Jesus's exact birth date was foggy, so Pope Julius I chose Saturnalia, oops, I mean December 25. The promise of the spring rebirth, both pagan and Christian, could help people get through that worst part of the winter. And it added meaning to the partying or justified smiling for those who, like our rightwing grinches, couldn't bear being happy without religious sanction.
Fast-forwarding to America's founding, the Puritans didn't like Christmas. Too much like Saturnalia, too much drinking and carousing. It took the nineteenth century to invent the sort of Christmas that the religious right enshrines as the eternal ideal--cookies, trees, candles, all the things that the stores use to lure us in to spend money.
Once again, it's not that complicated. It's social engineering: we'll tell you what to think, and we don't care what you want to think. We're a Christian nation, and if you don't like it, get out. It doesn't matter how you distort history or religion if that's your goal.
There's this question of what Jesus would do. As I recall the Bible stories, he said something about transcending the constricting religious law and he welcomed those who doubted. I'm recalling something about compassion and kindness, healing the sick and troubled.
For those who prefer a solemn religious observance, I suspect that they could accomplish this at home, in their own way. I don't understand what all the demands that others follow their rules contribute.