Can We Please Leave Christmas Alone?

I am compelled to write this article in the defense of Christmas. In the past several years, in one form or another, the Christmas holiday has come under attack. I haven’t figured out yet why this keeps happening, because I am quite sure I awake every morning in the land of the free. Let’s look at some examples.

Baby, It’s Cold Outside - although not actually written as a Christmas song, it was quickly adopted as such because if it’s Winter theme. The song was written in 1944 and is a duet sung between a man and a woman. Though both parties want the night to continue, the woman argues that she should go, she should say no and what would the neighbors think. All the while the man suggest she stay because the weather outside is less than desirable.

In 2018, seventy-four years after it was written, the song was removed from radio station playlists among pressure from the #MeToo movement which suggested among other things, that the lyrics contained suggestions of date rape. Thankfully, a victory was served to both the song and to Christmas when public pressure put the song back onto playlists.

Poor Rudolf - It’s bad enough that Rudolf was not allowed to play in any reindeer games at first, but now groups are offended about “Rudolf, the Red-Nosed Reindeer” because Santa Claus and others early in the special are displayed as bullies. Ladies and gentlemen, this is a Christmas special and has been a beloved favorite for more than fifty years. When you watched it and determined that it was chock full of bullies, is that the moment that you turned it off and headed to the solitude of your social media account? Because if you watched the entire show, you would learn that Rudolf and some other bullied friends that he made along the way overcame bullies and guess what? Rudolf saves the day!

What’s In a Name? - Christmas has been around for a long, long time. The first recorded celebration of Christmas happened on 25 December 336 in Rome. Now, there are a number of countries that do not celebrate Christmas and there are a number of religions who celebrate some other traditional festival. Some examples include the Jewish who celebrate Hanukkah or Pagans who celebrate Yule. The United States is one of the many countries that celebrate Christmas and have done so since its birth as a nation. Prior to 1819, Christmas was celebrated in many different ways or not at all depending on which village or community you lived in. Much different from today, it was based mostly on religious values from the old world. But early in the 19th century, old Christmas traditions were combined with new American influences and Christmas was reinvented in the United States.

In the past several years, different groups have been having their way with requesting, and receiving radical changes to Christmas because it offends them or goes against their religion. From removing the nativity to changing the name of a town’s celebration and even demanding that the word Christmas be expunged. We have to remember that different peoples and religions have a different way of celebrating this time of year and that’s alright.

Let’s Be Real - If no one has said it yet, welcome to America. America is a melting pot, a country where people from all over the world immigrate to seeking religious, economic or personal freedoms and a host of other reasons. Here in America, we have such freedoms. Some of these freedoms we enjoy include Freedom of Religion and Freedom of Expression.

What this means is that you can immigrate here, become a citizen and practice your religion and traditions without any issues that you may have had to deal with from the country you ran from. And we are okay with that. If you celebrate Kwanzaa, fantastic! If you celebrate Solstice, Fantastic! Even if you celebrate Festivus, awesome! No matter what you celebrate, it is yours to celebrate as you wish.

Here is what is not okay. It is not okay to demand the people around you to change things about Christmas because it does not suit your religion or tradition. It is not okay to demand television shows or music to be canceled because you do not agree with the content. We have become this society where someone, somewhere decided that it is less trouble to just please everyone with these erratic requests. This is not true. It is much easier to leave traditions in place and tell the small group of upset people that they can make adjustments to suit their needs. For example, if you do not want to see Rudolf, the Red-Nosed Reindeer or hear “Baby, it’s Cold Outside” then you have the amazing freedoms afforded to you that allow you to change the channel. And I understand some of your frustration. I am offended by any radio station who starts playing a 24/7 stream of Christmas music as early as November 1. So what I do to combat this is change the station, or listen to a CD or even a collection of MP3 files of my choosing. I’m not going to protest and write letters demanding that these businesses re-write policy because there are people who appreciate what they are doing. If you are offended by the town’s Christmas Festival and you demand it be changed because your religion does not celebrate Christmas, then I’m sorry that you are offended, but the Christmas festival should go on as named.

America was here first, the country was founded with Christmas on the calendar. And for more than 240 years, people from different traditions, religions and walks of life have lived together and celebrated how they wanted, and Christmas was never affected. So it is not okay to demand that Christmas be changed or otherwise altered in any way to suit your traditions or beliefs. When I see you during the season, I will wish you a Merry Christmas. If it offends you, simply smile and keep walking by because there is no need to be offended. It takes much more effort to be angry and it gets you nowhere. Now, excuse me while I go deck the halls while singing Jingle Bells.

Thoughts For Christmas

Call me old fashioned. It’s okay. I am proud of being old-fashioned when it comes to Christmas. It could also be said that I am stuck in my ways. Again, when it comes to Christmas, I am okay with being labeled as such.

The Christmas holiday has changed so much since I was a child in the 1970s. I often wonder if my parents thought of that in the 1970s. Was Christmas for them in the 1940s different? Have you ever watched a movie that depicts Christmas in the 40s? It looked so magical. The same goes for the 1970s; there was magic in Christmas from baking cookies as a family to decorating the tree as a family to visiting relatives throughout the season.

I am convinced that the very same things that have broken down our society over the past several decades has changed Christmas. I only hope that I can keep it alive the way I remember it within my own circle. So let's look at the changes that really put a curl in my mistletoe, shall we?

The Music - Music is the biggest change about Christmas that affects me. And some of that is attributed to the artists. Plus, I am pretty sure that much of this change is MY fault. You see, I cannot begin to accept the artists these days that perform remakes of Christmas music. I know it is my fault because I might say that I do not like the version of this carol that N’sync did but I like the way that John Anderson did it. Complete bias. I know this. You see, when I grew up listening to great Christmas music by the greats like Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, Johnny Mathis, Jim Nabors, Doris Day and more, how can you go wrong? These were “my” Christmas carolers. But my children don’t get it and I do get why. Now there have been some great original Christmas music come out over my lifetime but performed by some of my favorite artists so here comes that bias again. But think about some modern pieces that are just so wonderful. Songs like "Christmas Wrapping" by The Waitresses, "Do They Know It's Christmas" by Band-Aid and try this if you have not heard it, "(It Must've Been Ol') Santa Claus" by Harry Connick, Jr. But really, how many different ways can one stand the same carols being done? If they are definitively different or classy, then maybe they are worthy of a listen but I do not find that the case and I find myself browsing through the CD racks around this time of year looking for new compilations of the good old stuff.

The Programs - like the music, my tastes with television and movies are pretty much the same. Here again, I grew up watching great masterpieces of Christmas such as “Scrooge” with Alastair Sim who, in my humble opinion, is the best ever Ebenezer Scrooge. “It’s A Wonderful Life”, I mean you cannot go wrong with this holiday classic. Even children’s cartoons; “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”, A Charlie Brown Christmas” and all of the Rankin-Bass productions. These are classics!! I am glad that many of these still air these days. I am more fortunate in that I have many of these on DVD and can watch them all season long should I wish to do so. Again, I am very critical of remakes and reboots but there have been good new original program, and I am not referring to ABC Family originals..bleh. Oops, my bias is showing again.I'm talking about "Polar Express" or "A Christmas Snow". Good original movies that pull at your heart strings and make you just feel good when you watch them. I do not think that we need another remake of "A Christmas Carol".

The Traditions - we come from all nationalities and backgrounds and I am not here to talk about your own traditions as they are very dear to you. But let’s talk about 1970 and 2010 (and forward) as it pertains to radio stations. You know when I was a child growing up, Thanksgiving was the “start” of the holiday season as far as music was concerned. Radio stations might play a carol here and there in the mix but you had to wait until Christmas Eve 6:00 PM for the All-Christmas music marathon to start and it would be like that until 11:59 PM Christmas night. And my butt was parked in from of that AM radio at 6 o’clock to listen to the non-repeating marathon of music to fill my heart with joy and anticipation of what Christmas morning would bring. Now they are going all - Christmas at November FIRST! Five years ago it was Thanksgiving. Some stations started BEFORE Halloween. C’mon people!

How about the commercialization of Christmas. Show of hands, who remembers when nothing was open on Christmas Day? Now everything is open which means someone has to work which means families are broken up on the holiday. If you want to see one reason society is collapsing, look no further than the Christmas season. Black Friday sales are now beginning on November FIRST. Stores that used to open at 5AM or 6AM on Black Friday are opening at 6 and 7 PM on Thanksgiving. “Thanks for dinner, mom. I gotta go get a deal on a TV and an Xbox for the kids”. What is that?! They now have reality TV shows that follow crazy people going Black Friday shopping. I cannot believe my eyes. And one wonders why there are dysfunctional families.

Retailers get a big part of the blame. Why are the Christmas trees and decorations out BEFORE Halloween? Can we get past the current retail groping before moving ahead three holidays? Who is making these decisions? I’d like to send Matt Damon and Ben Affleck to their board meetings (where are my Kevin Smith fans). But I know how to deal with it, I don’t buy into it.  That’s right. I don’t shop on Black Friday. I don’t go to the malls. I’m told there are great deals to be had. Okay, but what if I do not need for anything? No need to go out.I have Amazon and Cyber Monday!

Maybe I am just grumpy. You know what? That’s okay too. Because while you are out there in the hustle and bustle, listening to the same six Christmas songs over and over again while leaving your family behind on Thanksgiving to fist fight your way to a cheap TV or a pair of socks, I’ll be the grumpy old-fashioned man who is set in my ways having a holly jolly time with my family while drinking a glass of eggnog and watching some football while Bing Crosby serenades me in the background with the classic rendition of “White Christmas”. I am good with that. Merry Christmas to All and to All a Goodnight!