A conversation overheard while Christmas shopping:
“Are the secularists hijacking Christmas?”
“No, Wal-Mart is. It used to be I only had to shop until midnight and now I find myself shopping twenty-four hours a day!”
Now, a simple (but very long) story:
Houndville, USA was founded in 1845 by Swedish settlers who were predominantly members of the Lutheran faith. Every Christmas, the town square proudly displayed religious decorations, typically geared towards the SwedishLuthern culture for all the people of Houndville to see.
These types of displays and the town's demographic went basically unchanged until 1950 when the big auto plant was built. To satisfy the demands of the bourgeoning auto business, engineers, designers, and other skilled workers were either transferred from the Detroit plant or the California design studio. Also unskilled assembly workers were recruited from around the country to staff this enormous plant. Because of this, other Christians (Baptists from the South, Catholics from the East and West, and Methodists from who knows where) moved to town. Also moving into Houndville were Jews from all over the US. Even an atheist or two may have moved in.
This modified the demographic a bit as the town grew into a city and the surrounding suburbs grew to support the city and the plant. Every year, Christmas displays were still put up in the town square next to Faith Lutheran Church but the 95 year-old traditions that the Swedes were used to were not as prevalent as they once were. Maybe the Catholics wanted more Mary and less Jesus, the Baptists wanted less lights, and the Methodists wanted to have a potluck diner (but I digress). Some of the Jews and non-believers felt somewhat alienated but did not say much because they were a small fraction of the population and the culture and the town square was still the cultural center of the area, despite the fact that the new Faith Lutheran Church moved out to the suburbs close to all the new housing developments.
By 1995, the plant was so large and technically advanced that it sprung many supporting businesses including high-tech software companies and consulting firms. Plus, the area's economy was so robust (under President Clinton, but I digress yet again) that many affluent families lived in large, expansive homes. All this growth meant that more and more people had to be recruited, such as engineers, programmers, accountants, laborers, gardeners, housekeepers, and restaurant workers from all over the US as well as India, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Mexico, Russia, China, and even Canada!
Well, this meant that not only more assorted Christians, Jews, and non-believers were now living in Houndville, but people of the Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist faiths and people who did not speak English (or Swedish) now lived in the area. In fact, folks of Swedish decent or who were Lutheran had become a smaller percentage of the population. The culture had changed into one that was much different than when Houndville was founded in 1845. The city square was still the cultural center but now large sculptures by Picasso and Calder were on display. Temples, Mosques, and Scientology Learning Centers were mixed in among the other churches in the area.
So, at Christmas time, when the traditional decorations were put up downtown at the new state-of-the-art Houndville City Center, a few groups that also celebrate around the same time asked the city to decorate with their symbols of the season as well. Some atheists disagreed with having any decorations at all and the Libertarians wondered why the city should pay for the decorations, the labor to set them up, or the electricity.
That's when the story turns bad. The powers that be (those who were "the powers that be" for quite some time) disagreed saying the town has always had Christian decorations and Christians who lived Christian lives based on Christian fundamentals founded the town.
The ACLU came in and sued Houndville for $1 gazillion dollars. Fox News came in and said that Christmas was under fire from "secularists" and some politicians and preachers on both fringes (of the American Magic Carpet Ride - I digress one last time) gave press conferences and 10-second sound bites until all the residents were at each other’s throats.
In reality, what happened is that the town evolved over time. The strong Christian beliefs that built the town were not forgotten. It only happened because other people with different beliefs came and added to the culture that existed previously. Unfortunately some of the townspeople could not accept the change and others could not respect the past.
This is where we are today. How do we accept the changing culture of our country while respecting the heritage of our past?
EPILOGUE: In Houndville, a Libertarian mayor was elected and told all the churches that if they wanted Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanzaa, Eid, or secular decorations, they had to pay for them, put them up and take them down themselves. That included electricity.
The city also charged the churches a "display tax" that went to help fund the new multi-sport complex that housed the NBA's Houndville Lakers, the NFL's Houndville Cowboys, and the AL's Houndville Yankees that had all moved to the city from LA, Dallas, and New York.
Merry Christmas!
Happy Hanukah!
Eid Mubarak!
Happy Holidays!
Remember our troops.
God Bless.
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