Vancouver Province
for December 24, 1999

Strange, I suppose, that Christmas should bring this thought to me but in life the people you must be most wary of are those who are trying to help you. I speak especially of those of the white population who, with the zeal of converts, want to assure all other Canadians that Christmas is no longer a religious festival and indeed ought not even to be called Christmas any more.

They tell us that Canada is not a Christian country – I agree. We’re then told that Christian traditions are insulting to non-Christians and must be abolished – I profoundly disagree. So do most people of other religions.

We’re not a Christian country it’s true. But we are a country whose Christian traditions go back to the very beginning of our post-aboriginal existence. It’s also interesting I think, by way of aside, to observe that many of those traditions – Holly, Mistletoe, Christmas Trees – are pagan in origin.

Christmas is not, by its nature, aggressive. It’s about the birth of a baby and carries with it the universal message of peace. There are other festivals in the Christian Church which might be seen as evangelical but the weakness of Christmas to the religion that spawned it is that it is so non evangelical that even the majority of people with Christian heritage scarcely think of it as a religious festival. It’s a time to buy presents, have too much to eat and drink and to think kindly, for a few days at least, about others. Even others you don’t much care for the rest of the year. It’s a time where in the same music cycle you’ll hear unsubstantiated myths about a guy named Wenceslaus along with tributes to the mother of the Christian Savior; you’re likely to hear about Frosty and Rudolph as well about Shepherds, Angels Mary’s Boy-child. Or Bing Crosby sandwiching White Christmas, written by a Jew, between Adeste Fideles and Silent Night. (Perhaps it should be noted that the Jew in question, Irving Berlin, also wrote Easter Parade, the most popular song of the Christian’s most important religious moment.) It’s a time when people of all religious persuasions can be seen jamming the malls to buy last minute gifts, gifts which to Christians may symbolize the offerings of the Magi but which to most people are simply exercises in good will. What’s also ironic is that the largest group celebrating Christmas has to be those of Christian backgrounds who never darken the door of a church from one end of the year to the other, including Christmas Day.

It is from this large group that come the "friends" of the ethnic population who want to save their non Christian brethren from Christmas and its message. A few years ago the City of Richmond was roundly attacked for having a nativity scene on their lawn. This was, it was said, offensive to Chinese Canadians. But it wasn’t people of Chinese extraction that were doing the complaining but these nihilistic do-gooders who, feigning care for others, acted out their hatred for the religion of their forbears.

There is no doubt that we must be sensitive to the feelings of all Canadians. What is remarkable, however, is that many in the white community love Chinese New Years and celebrations in other minority communities yet can’t stand it if the most fun day in Christendom is celebrated.

I’m a Christian and to me there are two parts to the celebration. There is the religious part which is anything but evangelical in nature – most Christian Clergymen, far from seeing Christmas as a way of converting the infidel, are delighted to see so many prodigal sons and daughters make their once a year pilgrimage. Then there is the part that most Canadians of all backgrounds embrace – an annual outpouring of love and brotherliness. There is a spirit that descends on the world – I might say that it’s the spirit of Christ but the impact is no less because that is denied by many and not even thought about by many more.

No it’s not other faiths that complain about Christmas – it is that zealous band of politically correct busybodies who, unable to be either religious or brotherly, attack anything which might not only make people feel good but actually do some good as well.

Merry Christmas everyone – even including the grinches.