Well, jolly-o, it’s that time again. Time for the hideous yard displays of bloated snowmen, bobbing on lawns like drowned monsters snagged on something at the bottom of the lake. Such fitting symbols of the degeneration of society these are, of the death of taste, the degradation of man. Is it even comprehensible that someone – a grown person – would get into his car and drive to a store in search of such an item, pay money for it-- money that he worked for -- and then go home and erect it on his property, watching it inflate to the machine-gun drill of an air compressor, finally gazing up at the towering horror as at some revered idol? At least the idols of ancient times were constructed with imagination and skill, crafted as things of beauty, in gold, fine wood, precious stones. Who would ever have thought that such idols, false though they were, would devolve into cheapened vinyl bags filled with air?
But despite the ubiquitous visual assaults of the season, and the many despairing conclusions that can be drawn from them about the demise of civilization and the end of history, this time of year does have its humorous side. I am always amused, for example, by the indignation of Christians at the “secularization” of Christmas, ranting that society has “forgotten” the truth and turned aside to fables. The Christian anchorman could be standing in front of the snowman display, reporting darkly as if at the scene of some heinous crime. He would be right, for aesthetic reasons, but as for truth…well.
It is a fact – voluminously documented, though painful for some -- that Christmas is a contrived holiday anyway, not a scriptural one. Yes, the Messiah’s birth was a Biblical event, but no one in the New Testament ever celebrated its anniversary as a holy day. The holiday that grew up in honor of it was a post-Biblical hybrid of the scriptural accounts and Roman paganism.
“So what does it matter,” asks the Christian, irked, “as long as our focus is on ‘the right thing,’ as long as we quote scripture and denounce Santa? What’s the harm in decorations! We don’t worship the Christmas tree; it’s what it stands for that we celebrate!” And so on.
Well, it does matter, for a very simple reason. Throughout scripture, we are warned not to mingle the worship of YHWH with other gods. In fact, it is a commandment, one of the Big Ten: “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” This doesn’t mean that you move YHWH to the front of the line, and let all the other gods line up after him. In fact, I think a more exact understanding might be, “You shall have no other gods before my face,” meaning, “in my sight.” Since YHWH sees everything, that means no other gods: period. (Exodus 20:3, Deuteronomy 5:7). Keeping the Christmas holiday necessarily places competing gods in the picture, because, whatever scriptural justification may have been grafted on later, the celebration springs from the deeper, more ancient roots of pagan winter festivals.
This discussion angers Christians, as any perceived “attack” on tradition will, but interestingly, many of these same Christians would readily oppose Christian participation in Hallowe’en. Throughout October, they will stand armed on the front lines, their “swords of the spirit” poised to slash at anyone who dares describe the holiday as just a fun time for children to dress up and get candy. These warriors contend, correctly, that Hallowe’en is rooted in paganism, and pagan gods are simply another name for demons. Of course, the people taking part in the fun have no intention of worshipping demons, but the Christian responds, it doesn’t matter. What matters is the root.
Bingo.
Incomprehensibly, these same Christians, so passionately outspoken about the evils of Hallowe’en, will display the most lavish Christmas decorations and sport the most meticulously tinseled evergreen tree for a holiday they know full well to be rooted in Saturnalia.
Even more mind-bending, in light of their anti-demon purity, is their accusation that “the world” – i.e., those sinners over there – have taken Christ out of Christmas. Ask yourself, after mulling all of the above: should Christ ever have been IN Christmas? If pagan gods are really demons, can you “Christianize” demons?
It is always in mingling truth with error – because of the attractiveness of the error – that you end up with deception. A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. “Some” truth means a weakened truth, a diluted truth, an obscured reality. “Truth” that is not absolute – if there can be such a thing – is necessarily wide open to any addition, or subtraction, or distortion, or combination thereof, that human imagination can contrive. In other words, one can take or leave whatever he likes, and what’s to ensure that he’s going to take or leave “the right thing?”
Which brings us full circle back to paragraph one. Under the heading of “taking the log out of one’s own eye,” here is an absolute truth:
CHRISTIANITY IS ULTIMATELY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE EXISTENCE OF THE HIDEOUS VINYL SNOWMEN.
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