> David Barton
>
> Even though Christmas did not become a national holiday until
> 1870, it has a centuries old history in America. Interestingly,
> in colonial America, the southern regions that were more
> directly linked to High-Church traditions (e.g., Anglicans,
> Catholics, Episcopalians) celebrated Christmas; but the northern
> regions especially linked to Low-Church traditions (e.g.,
> Congregationalists, Baptists, Quakers) did not. Those Low-Church
> colonists associated the pomp and grandeur of Christmas
> celebrations directly with the autocratic leaders and monarchs
> in Europe that they so opposed.
>
> Massachusetts therefore passed an anti-Christmas law in 1659,
> and it was not until the 1830s and 1840s that Christmas
> celebrations became accepted in New England (although as late as
> 1870, a student missing school on Christmas Day in Boston public
> schools could be punished or expelled). But by the 1880s,
> Christmas celebrations were finally accepted across the country
> and began to appear at the White House. For example:
>
>
> a.. In 1889, the first indoor decorated tree was placed
> in the White House, and in 1895, electric lights were added.
> b.. In 1923, the first National Christmas Tree Lighting
> Ceremony was held. In 1954 it was named the Pageant of Peace but
> in 1969 it became embroiled in a legal controversy over the use
> of religious symbols. In 1973, the nativity scene that had
> always been part of the Pageant was no longer allowed, but in
> 1984, it returned.
> c.. In 1953, the first White House Christmas card was
> created by President Dwight Eisenhower. (Ike was an artist in
> his own right and allowed six of his own paintings to be used as
> Christmas gifts and cards.) President Kennedy’s 1963 Christmas
> card was the first to include an explicitly religious element,
> featuring a photo of a nativity scene. And in 2001, the first
> White House Christmas card to contain a Scripture was chosen by
> Laura Bush. It quoted Psalm 27: “Thy face, Lord, do I seek. I
> believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the Land of
> the Living” – a Scripture she had chosen on September 16 (only 5
> days after 9/11), based on a special sermon preached at Camp
> David.
> Christmas was celebrated by our national leaders as a religious
> holiday, not the largely secular one it has become today.
>
> For example, every Christmas Eve, President Teddy Roosevelt and
> his family would pile into the family sleigh (later the motor
> car) and travel to a Christmas service at Christ Church in
> Oyster Bay, New York. Following the pastor’s sermon, Teddy would
> deliver one of his famous “sermonettes” on the true meaning of
> Christmas and then close the service with one of his favorite
> hymns, “Christmas By the Sea.”
>
> President Franklin Roosevelt would set up and decorate a tree on
> Christmas Eve, gather the family round him, and either read
> Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” or recite it from memory.
> (The original story is quite different from the modern movies by
> that name and is well worth the read.) He would also deliver
> explicitly religious Christmas Eve messages to the nation. For
> example, in 1944 following D-Day, he said:
>
> Here, at home, we will celebrate this Christmas Day in
> our traditional American way – because of its deep spiritual
> meaning to us; because the teachings of Christ are fundamental
> in our lives; and because we want our youngest generation to
> grow up knowing the significance of this tradition and the story
> of the coming of the immortal Prince of Peace and good will. . .
> . [FDR then prayed a prayer for the troops, and closed with:] We
> pray that with victory will come a new day of peace on earth in
> which all the Nations of the earth will join together for all
> time. That is the spirit of Christmas, the holy day. May that
> spirit live and grow throughout the world in all the years to come.
> (I recommend you go online to the American Presidency Project
> and look up and especially read some Christ-centered Christmas
> messages from Presidents, such as that of Franklin Roosevelt in
> 1935, Harry Truman in 1949 or 1952, Ronald Reagan in 1982 or
> 1985, George W. Bush in 2003, and there are many additional
> examples. You should also watch President Reagan deliver one of
> his Christmas addresses.)
>
> In recent years, there has been a relentless push from
> secularists and progressives to transform Christmas. Schools,
> government offices, and many commercial stores have replaced
> Merry Christmas with Happy Holidays to appease critics, not
> realizing that 93% of Americans celebrate Christmas, and 97% are
> not bothered by the use of the phrase “Merry Christmas.” Yet far
> too often, the 3% seems to drive public policy; Americans need
> to push back.
>
> Gratefully, religious Jews have been some of the strongest
> advocates for keeping Christmas a religious celebration. For
> example, Burt Prelutsky, a Jewish columnist for a number of
> national publications, declares:
>
> I never thought I’d live to see the day that Christmas
> would become a dirty word. . . . How is it, one well might ask,
> that in a Christian nation this is happening? . . . Speaking as
> a member of a minority group – and one of the smaller ones at
> that – I say it behooves those of us who don’t accept Jesus
> Christ as our savior to show some gratitude to those who do, and
> to start respecting the values and traditions of the
> overwhelming majority of our fellow citizens, just as we keep
> insisting that they respect ours. Merry Christmas, my friends!
> Orthodox Jewish Rabbi Daniel Lapin agrees:
>
> Secular fundamentalism has successfully injected into
> American culture the notion that the word “Christmas” is deeply
> offensive. . . . Anti-Christianism is unhealthy for all
> Americans; but I warn my brethren that it will prove
> particularly destructive for Jews. . . . Let us all go out of
> our way to wish our many wonderful Christian friends – a very
> merry Christmas. Just remember, America’s Bible belt is our
> safety belt.
> So . . . Merry Christmas!!!
