By Selwyn Duke
People of true faith increasingly become aware of the effort to strike Christmas and Christianity from our cultural landscape. And some of us fight quite feverishly to preserve our traditions, we really do. We may find out that certain stores prohibit their employees from saying "Merry Christmas" and then boycott those establishments. We may discover that a locality is calling its Christmas Tree a "Holiday Tree," roll our eyes and protest the lunacy. Or it could be a school eliminating its Christmas program that raises our ire. Yet, we fail to do what is most important.
Don’t get me wrong, the culture war must be fought with a stout heart and manly fortitude — only lukewarm Christians pooh-pooh that endeavor. The question is, though, do we really fight the culture war? Or, is it that we’re not aroused from our slumber until cultural changes percolate up into the political and commercial arenas?
We really have to ask how it is we arrived at this sad state of affairs. Obviously, we didn’t transition from being a pious land one year to having Holiday Trees,"Winter Breaks" and "programs," and banned Christmas greetings and carols the next. No, there were intermediate phases.
The truth is that, as a people, we lost our faith long ago. I’m sorry if this seems accusatory, but, I ask you, how often do you depart from someone and say "God bless you"? Do you regularly say grace before meals, even at restaurants? Is God’s name mentioned in your life more in sincerity or in vain?
In part of the liturgy of the Catholic Church, worshipers make a cross on their foreheads, mouths and hearts; this means, may the faith always be on my mind, on my lips and in my heart. On my lips . . . .
If the faith is on my mind and in my heart, it will be on my lips. And if it disappears from our lips, why should we be surprised when it likewise disappears from our stores, schools and public facilities? It’s then just inevitable, part of a natural progression.
The truth is that we can blame activist judges who issue unconstitutional rulings all we want, and they do deserve scorn. But judges are appointed by politicians who, in turn, are elected by the people; thus, if we were different, our statesmen would be different and then the jurists would be also. This is why Thomas Jefferson said, "People get the government they deserve." Should we think a secular people deserves a Christian society? For sure they won’t get one.
In reality, while most might date the start of Western civilization’s problems to the 1960s, we’ve been secularizing ourselves for hundreds of years. I’m not talking solely about government, either, but the culture.
Take the word "goodbye." It has long been forgotten that it’s derived from the phrase "God be with you" (God be wy you). Likewise, the word "holiday" is a contraction of "holy day." This is why I’ve taken to saying "the Christmas Holy Day."
I also long ago commenced saying "God bless" to store clerks upon departure. And why not? Is it embarrassing? If we find expressions of faith embarrassing, we shouldn’t be surprised when store managers, school administrators and public officials start to feel the same way. They’re just people like us, after all.
And if you have the faith on your lips, you’ll be surprised at how many people respond in kind; I’ve heard many store clerks follow suit after hearing my "God bless," for instance.
This is how you use your influence, and social pressure is very effective. Why, it’s the tool political correctness uses to effect its wicked aims.
The culture war isn’t just the province of activist organizations, the few good politicians and gutsy churchmen. We all strike blows in it one way or the other, in what we do or fail to do. We fight it every time we walk among others, every time we open our mouths.
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