Via Yang

Illustration by Via Yang

As cliché as it may sound, the winter season undeniably brings an uplifting sense of joy, cheer and whimsy. Many people take this time to come together with friends and family, some celebrating holidays like Christmas and Hanukkah that hold religious significance. Still, each year we witness another not-so-secret motivation: money.

Companies’ aggressive commodification of the holiday season starts in the late fall with joyful tunes blaring and colorful decorations appearing all around. For traditionalist Christians who emphasize the religious aspect of the holiday, the commercialization of Christmas is a small, shameful part of a greater agenda: an attack against Christmas, and Christianity as a whole.

Along with a change in focus from religious to commercial elements of the holidays, there has also been a push over the last several years to use more inclusive language, such as saying “happy holidays,” instead of the specific words “merry Christmas.” This shift has mobilized conservative Christians across the nation to speak up against a perceived liberal goal of persecuting Christians. What liberals see as an attempt at minimizing bias against or towards any group, conservatives view as an example of bias against Christians.

According to a study conducted by the Pew Research Center in 2017, 90% of Americans (and 95% of Christians in America) celebrate Christmas, with 46% celebrating for religious reasons. Additionally, 52% stated they did not care how they were greeted in stores during the holidays. I find it highly unlikely that a group of people who enjoy such religious freedom and acceptance in this country have a genuine reason to feel persecuted. That is because they are not. The so-called “war on Christmas” — as Fox News calls it — is a lousy excuse for people who have not experienced true oppression to complain about nonexistent, or at the very most, minor issues.

In a five-minute YouTube video from PragerU, a conservative media organization, titled “Just Say ‘Merry Christmas,’” talk-show host Dennis Prager outlines how the replacement of the word Christmas in popular holiday phrases like “Christmas party” becoming “holiday party” and “Christmas break” becoming “winter break” is an attempt to rid American society of all religious influence. He states that when restaurant waiters, flight attendants and strangers wish him “happy holidays” and he responds with “merry Christmas,” people get offended and taken aback. This desperation to be victimized irritates me most. I do not know about you, but I have never witnessed someone actually take offense over someone wishing them a merry Christmas or — besides these bothered few conservatives — wishing them happy holidays in any way, for that matter.

Prager’s video strikes me as incredibly ironic considering the level of hypocrisy present throughout it. He states that by labeling conservatives as overreacting but continuing to replace Christmas-related language, liberals are creating a double standard. However, he goes on to express irritation with liberals for trying to rid American society of religious influences while saying that his focus is not even the religious aspect of the holiday, but rather the sense of community and unity national holidays like Christmas bring. In fact, he reveals that he does not celebrate Christmas for religious reasons, as he is Jewish. So then, why is he so bothered with the alleged erasure of religious influence? It all comes down to the base-level definition of a conservative — a person who wants to preserve tradition while avoiding change and progress. 

Although I can understand the reasoning behind wanting to preserve traditions, I find this conservative response to be not only an over-exaggeration, but also dangerous. I remember years ago sitting in Sunday school at church and listening to the teacher warn us — middle school children — about how American society is persecuting us. He specifically cited the switch from “Christmas break” to “winter break” as an example of how Christianity is being directly attacked in our lives. I remember feeling so afraid of what was going to happen to me, to my Christian family. Imagine my surprise when I found out that a sizable fraction of Americans are Christians and I was, in fact, not in danger. To me, this issue is comparable to a conspiracy theory, an extreme amplification of a minor issue that leads to nothing more than unnecessary fear and stress.