The War on Christmas

To The Honorable Jo Ann Davis [R-VA]:

I am a Catholic who celebrates Christmas. I am writing to ask why you believe it is appropriate for Congress to come to the defense of Christmas, which even you have called “America’s favorite holiday.”

If Christmas and its various symbols are in any real danger, I think it is fairly obvious that the threat comes from the rampant commercialization of a season that is traditionally characterized by good will and solemn tidings of peace. To the extent that the meaning of Christmas is at any risk of being lost, confounded, or perverted, it is at the hands of retailers, who each year begin the Christmas advertising onslaught a little earlier and a little more cynically.

I am therefore perplexed by sudden outcries about a so-called “War on Christmas” perpetrated by radical secularists. If your faith in the security of Christmas as an enduring tradition is sufficiently weak that you feel it requires government protection, perhaps the problem is your own. It would take a great deal more than non-specific holiday greetings and school plays to alter the way my family keeps Christmas.

Americans have always been free to worship and celebrate in whatever manner they choose. A resolution in defense of Christmas is therefore no more necessary than protective measures for any other holiday, religious or secular. In this case the fact that Christmas is celebrated by a vast majority of Americans renders such protection absurd.

Why should a Jew, a Muslim, or a Buddhist need to hear “Merry Christmas” every time he or she happens to do any shopping between October and January? It seems to me that “Happy Holidays” is an equally festive greeting, and one that is not exclusionary toward non-Christians. While I prefer the more traditional “Merry Christmas” myself, I do not collapse in self-doubt if I am wished “Happy Holidays.” I do not need to hear the word itself to recall which holiday it is that I happen to celebrate in December.

Moreover, with home heating costs skyrocketing due to the aftereffects of Hurricane Katrina, the House has recently voted to cut funding dramatically for food, healthcare, and other types of assistance for low-income families. Yet we continue to cut taxes in the face of an apparent budget crisis. I can assure you that my heart is warm with Christmas cheer upon seeing where our legislative priorities seem to lie this Christmas season!

Your approach toward this matter is beyond reprehension. In my estimation you are an embarrassment to the Commonwealth of Virginia, to the United States Congress, and to American Christians everywhere. You should be ashamed for devoting House time and resources to this transparently manipulative and entirely invented “controversy” when our country very clearly faces more serious problems.


Sincerely,


Mister Skectchee