It seems the great public divide has no bounds. Several years ago a poll by the Public Religion Research Institute found that 66% of Democrats said stores and businesses should say “Happy Holidays” to avoid offending non-Christians while 67% of Republicans said they should stick with the traditional “Merry Christmas.” Caught in the middle, many big retailers succumbed to political correctness and switched to “Happy Holidays.” This season, quite a few of them (likely inspired by the profit motive) have gone back to “Merry Christmas,” perhaps emboldened by the resurgence of public conservatism as demonstrated by the “silent majority’s” vote for Trump and Republicans in the national election.
As I’ve seen it, Christmas has two dimensions, one religious and one secular, that have overlapped and peacefully coexisted for centuries. Some people celebrate Santa Claus Christmas and some celebrate Jesus Christ Christmas, with most people in this country celebrating both — including most Christians. Devout Christians treat Christmas solemnly, focusing on the birth of Jesus, his teachings, sacrifice, resurrection and legacy.
Retailers merchandise the Santa Claus part of the holiday season in their department stores with Santa surrogates hosting little kids on their laps, replete with elves and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. You generally don’t see images of Jesus or the Virgin Mary on display in their stores or in the ads that herald their big Christmas sales. It’s unlikely that Jesus ever said “Merry Christmas” around his birthday or that there were Christmas trees on sale at street corners. And it certainly wasn’t an official government holiday in his time.
Today, Christmas is indisputably a joint event. It’s such a special part of our culture that it’s the only federal holiday with a religious connection that gives people a legal day off from work. (The ACLU hasn’t succeeded in having the holiday banned as unconstitutional — yet.) We have 
federal holidays throughout the year, but the exchange of gifts is unique to Christmas. Excited children high on anticipation don’t have trouble falling asleep on the night before Labor Day or George Washington’s Birthday eve. The birthdays of Buddha, Mohammad, Confucius, or L. Ron Hubbard (note to millennials: he was the inventor of Scientology) are not honored with a holiday. Hanukkah does feature an exchange of gifts but it’s also not a federal holiday. If it were, with Jews only two percent of the population, that would open the floodgates for every religion demanding a federal holiday.
As a precursor to today’s woke Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) movement, in 1996 a guy by the name of Ron Karenga —a violent ex-con and Marxist Black separatist —introduced a distinct Christmas season holiday for African-Americans, “Kwanzaa,” because he thought Christmas was too white. (Perhaps he was unaware that Bing Crosby’s classic seasonal favorite, “White Christmas,” was about snow, not race.) It turned out they’ve never heard of Kwanzaa in Africa or anywhere else. He just made it up and it’s been long since forgotten. The vast majority of American blacks are Christians and celebrate Christmas like everyone else. The same can be said of Latinos. In the spirit of the season, I can even forgive Jose Feliciano for his maddeningly repetitive lyrics in “Feliz Navidad.”
I’m not a Christian but I’ve always loved the Christmas season for its spirit, the secular and religious music, the sights, the aromas, the fellowship, the parties, the gift giving, and its traditional movies like “It’s a Wonderful Life” and Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” I’m not offended by the commercialization. I like commerce and a market economy caters to the desires of its consumers. Besides, Santa Claus Christmas is mostly for kids (plus employees who get Christmas bonuses).
We’re a nation of 335 million people (not including illegal immigrants who also celebrate Christmas) and most folks are fine with “Merry Christmas.” It’s a free country, so those who prefer “Happy Holidays” can say that. But even Ebenezer Scrooge exclaimed “Merry Christmas” when he woke up from his nightmare on Christmas Day with a new enlightened vision. Wouldn’t it have sounded ridiculous had he meekly said, “Seasons Greetings?” I’m glad “Merry Christmas,” my preference, is back in style. Shout it out! You won’t be arrested — at least for now.
Longtime KOA radio talk host and columnist for the Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News Mike Rosen now writes for CompleteColorado.com.
