The season of joy and goodwill is upon us, a time where Christians the world over celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Though we don’t know when Jesus was really born, December 25th is the day we celebrate the birth of a man who was the lamb sacrificed for our sins. Unfortunately, too many in our society have done a lot to remove the reason for this season from the equation and have, instead, focused on other religions, no religion or on the almighty dollar. People worry more about buying the right gift and merchants worry more about making a profit, all in the name of a man they fail to recognize.
Christmas is a time of renewed hope. A time where people can reflect and realize that while we are born as sinners, our sins were forgiven because of the selfless act of Jesus Christ. While we mark this as his birth, we also realize that his birth was the beginning of a journey that ended in suffering and pain, all out of the love God has for mankind. It is unfortunate that this message is lost in the desire of some to remove all reference of Christmas from the season. Happy Holidays fills the ads, the cards, and the greetings as Merry Christmas is shunned and those who utter it looked upon as some type of Christian boob with little regard for the other religions of the world.
No such war has been declared on any other religious celebration as Muslims celebrate Ramadan and Eid and Jews celebrate Hanukkah. Only Christmas gets a bum rap as organizations such as the ACLU try to remove every reference to Christianity from our culture. Those religions recognize Christ, not as the son of God but as a prophet and they celebrate the beliefs they hold dear. Christians celebrate Christmas as the birth of the son of God and are scorned. Christians are held to a different standard by a population that wants to remove crosses, and other symbols from every facet of life in America.
Jesus is the reason for the season and no amount of opposition will ever change that. The oppressed have a way of showing their faith and will never allow this to continue. I believe that one needs not be a Christian to understand that Jesus was a great man who lived in peace, something that would make Christianity the true religion of peace.
As for me, I have never been politically correct.
Merry Christmas. There I wrote it and I say it no matter what greeting I get. Everyone else should try it as well. They might just find it uplifting and trend setting…
