War on Christmas

The so-called "War on Christmas" (or less sensationally, the Christmas controversy) is a right-wing demagogic neologism referring to real or imagined secularist attempts to keep the annual December solstice holiday shopping season culturally inclusive (which exponents of the term further allege to be part of a larger and deeply sinister effort to undermine Christianity's status in the US and/or the Western world generally). Setting the standard by which all other manufactroversies may be judged, the claim is most famously hawked each and every year by none other than former Fox News Channel contributor Bill O'Reilly.
==Origins==
Few people, even among those who promote this idea, know that its modern-day form started out as a conspiracy theory promulgated by groups affiliated with the John Birch Society, who termed it the "Assault on Christmas".A Short History of the War on Christmas: How everyone from Bill O’Reilly to Jon Stewart became a co-conspirator in an annual farce. by Daniel Denvir (December 16, 2013) Politico. In 1959, they released a pamphlet called "There Goes Christmas", in which they claimed there was a new communist plot to "take the Christ out of Christmas" by replacing Christmas decorations with jewish United Nations iconography. The Society claimed that this formed part of a larger push to stamp out religion altogether and to cede American sovereignty to the UN. They urged members to boycott any stores with " decorations".How the secular humanist grinch didn't steal Christmas: The right-wing crusade against the liberal "war on Christmas" is great for rallying the troops. Too bad the war doesn't exist. by Michelle Goldberg (November 21, 2005 5:11PM) Salon.
The JBS itself had developed the idea of a "War on Christmas" from interwar antisemitic publications, in particular Henry Ford's The International Jew. Detecting a part of a supposed move to take over the world, the automaker claimed that the Jews were launching a "war on Christianity", at one point lamenting, "Last Christmas most people had a hard time finding Christmas cards that indicated in any way that Christmas commemorated Someone's Birth." This was (of course) seen as a plot by Jewish conspirators, who "consider any public expression of Christian character as being derogatory to [their] religion."A Short History of the War on Christmas by Daniel Denvir (December 16, 2013) Politico. Sound familiar?
=="They ain't makin' Jews like Jesus anymore…"==
Ironically enough, quite a few of the most popular Christmas songs of the 20th century were written or co-written by Jews.Why Were So Many Beloved Christmas Songs Written By Jewish Musicians? by Lauren Markoe (February 14, 2024 • 08:05 am ET Updated Dec 14, 2014) Huffington Post.A Jewish Christmas Soundtrack: The top 10 Christmas songs written by Jews, from 'Silver Bells' to 'Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow' by Marc Tracy (December 24, 2012 • 07:00 am ET) Tablet. For instance:
* by 
* ("Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire") by and 
* by and 
* by 
* by 
* by and 
* by and 
* by and 
* by Irving Berlin
* by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne
* lyrics by 
* by 
* by Johnny Marks
* by Johnny Marks
* by Joan Javits and 
* music by 
* by and 
* lyrics by 
* by 
* by Irving Berlin
* music by 
* music by (lyrics by the gentile Dr. Seuss)
Then again, since these tunes focus on the nonreligious aspects of Christmas, those so inclined will eagerly put such authorships forward as "evidence" of a fiendish Jewish plot to secularize the holiday.Popular Christmas Songs Written By Jews Subvert Christmas Says Christian Nationalist Andrew Torba by Bill Berkowitz (December 9, 2023 • 10:25 am ET) Daily Kos. Oh, heck! Let's all just sing Christmas songs around the And then we all can sing along to Muslim Christmas songs!Raef - The Muslim Christmas Song (Deck the Halls Cover) Awakening Music (Dec 26, 2016) YouTube.I grew up Muslim in a Catholic community – and Mary represented common ground by Zeyneb Sayılgan (24 Dec 2024 07.00 EST) The Guardian.
==More recently==
The "War on Christmas" meme was revived in the 1990s by the paleoconservative, VDARE founder, white nationalist, antisemite, and all-around wingnut Peter Brimelow, as part of a larger battle against multiculturalism.Who Started the War on Christmas?, The Daily Beast However, no individual is more responsible for dragging the concept from the right-wing fringe into "mainstream" media culture, and making it into an annual tradition as reliable and inevitable as the holiday season itself, than Bill O'Reilly, who is apparently horrified (yes, horrified!) that Wal-Mart greeters and other retail workers might wish that their customers enjoy "Happy Holidays" rather than "Merry Christmas", despite the fact that his own website sold "holiday ornaments" rather than X-Mas ornaments.Fox betrays Christmas crusade, sells "Holiday" ornaments for your "Holiday tree", Media Matters
The fact that "Happy Holidays" can refer to any of more than a dozen end-of-the-year holidays (see below) never seems to have any real effect on the demagoguery. Neither does the idea that Christmas itself was first made by blatantly ripping off a pagan holiday (let's hear it for the War on Yule!), or that puritanical types have waged a few wars against Christmas themselves (see below), or that from a liturgical standpoint it's not appropriate for Christians themselves to share a Christmas greeting when it's still Advent (i.e., any time prior to sunset on Christmas Eve). So the Religious Right keeps yammering about it, while the secularists keep making jokes about going along with it.When, in fact, most secularists really don't mind "Merry Christmas"; as a general rule, it's mostly just a few butthurt egotists who complain every year. As time passes by, the semi-ironic "Merry Christmas" greeting is gaining ground, used by some as a kind of meta-statement on the ongoing controversy. (It should be acknowledged that there are, in fact, some non-Christians who do object to the public usage of "Merry Christmas" — and in some cases even "Happy Holidays" — as expressions of Christian cultural hegemony in the West.December and Christian Cultural Imperialism, The Good Men Project. However, and whether one agrees with their stance or not, such people aren't remotely close in either number or influence to becoming the Christmas-destroying juggernaut of right-wingers' fevered imaginations anytime soon.)
Interestingly enough, and in apparent defiance of the best efforts of the sinister anti-Christmas warriors, the proportion of American Christians who feel a religious meaning in Christmas is increasing,Jeffrey M. Jones (December 24, 2010) "Christmas Strongly Religious for Half in U.S. Who Celebrate It". Gallup. even as church membership is generally declining in the U.S. as well. This would appear to suggest that the unstated premise that the meaning of Christmas rests upon people using the word to sell merchandise is not correct.
In 2016, then-President-elect Donald Trump unilaterally declared an end to the War on Christmas, basically by declaring war on everyone who didn't say "Merry Christmas",Trump: 'We're going to start saying Merry Christmas again' by Amy Graff (Updated 10:13 am, Tuesday, December 13, 2016) San Francisco Chronicle. although oddly enough Trump himself had previously waged war on Christmas when his management company banned Christmas trees from the lobby of one of his apartment houses in 1981.When Trump forbade a Christmas tree — and other forgotten stories from the ‘war on Christmas’ by Avi Selk (December 25, 2017 at 3:50 PM), The Washington Post.
==Not like it used to be?==
Many right-wingers misrepresent the history of Christian celebrations in an attempt to claim that Christmas in the past was all about religion, but now is purely secular with no mention of Jesus; for example, in 2017, there were claims that Australian schools were "trying to take pictures of Jesus out of Christmas cards".Schools Take Major Step to Ban Any, All References to Jesus—Including Christmas Cards, Charisma News, 28 July 2017 In addition to being completely made up, this ignores the fact that the very first Christmas card ever made had no mention of Christ, the nativity, God, angels, or anything religious. Designed by John Callcott Horsley in 1843, it featured a scene of people drinking wine, including a mother feeding it to her young child, with generic scenes of charity at either side.The History of the Christmas Card, Smithsonian Magazine, 9 Dec 2015 Most of Christmas tradition was invented in the 19th century by people such as Charles Dickens,The Man Who Invented Christmas, Les Standiford whose novella A Christmas Carol focuses on Christmas as a time for charity and spending time with loved ones rather than emphasizing the Christmas message. Largely secular Victorian traditions like roast dinners (also popularized in A Christmas Carol), trees, and cards show the lack of religious significance.
==So what's a war without war profiteers?==
The American Family Association (AFA) issues a yearly list of nationwide retail outlets often owned by huge multinational corporations that they say are "for," "marginal on," or "against" Christmas. The "for Christmas" companies supposedly use the word "Christmas" instead of "Xmas" Which is highly amusing, since the "X" in "Xmas" is not a placeholder to "cross out" Christ, but the Greek letter chi (χ), which is the first letter of "Christ" in Greek; it's an abbreviation invented by Christians and used for centuries. or "Holiday" in their advertising, while the "against Christmas" companies do not.AFA Expands "Christmas" Hit List (2009), Joe.My.God.Disinformation website (disinfo.com) page on the AFA's 2011 list, with commentary. (Notice whose online store tops the "for Christmas" list.) Of course, the AFA doesn't seem to notice that many of the companies on the "for Christmas" list often substitute "Holiday" for "Christmas" in their ads or minimize the number of references to the holidays altogether. This has led to speculation from godless, gay, pinko-commies that maybe the AFA receives compensation for inclusion on the "for Christmas" list, a claim that the AFA denies.Near the end of this YouTube video, AFA spokesman Bryan Fischer denies to Thom Hartmann that corporations pay to get on the "for Christmas" list. (However, the best part of the video comes at the very end, when Hartmann calls Fischer a "blasphemer" for his right-wing take on the Parable of the Talents.)
==They've messed up our economy!==
In 2008, the ante was raised as a columnist blamed the year's economic crisis on the War on Christmas. In true Wall Street Journal op-ed style, Daniel Henninger said that the push against Christmas is leading us to a Mad Max type environment."Wonder Land: Mad Max and the Meltdown", WSJ
==The War in politics==
In 2007, even some Presidential candidates took up the war, with Mike Huckabee claiming he was going to wish the gathered Iowa Republicans a "Merry Christmas" in spite of it possibly being "controversial"."A Merry Christmas for Huckabee", The Weekly Standard. Oh noes!!! This was intensified in 2015 and 2016 under Donald Trump.For example, President-elect Donald Trump suggested boycotting Starbucks over their private decision to change the style of their Christmas cups (so much for small government!). Hey, there's even been a song written about Trump's love for Christmas. Trump's wife, First Lady Melania Trump, officially declared the war over in 2018, when she told her then-friend on the phone:
=="Happy Holidays" may also refer to…==
==Weapons used in the war==
File:Leaf miner holly - 2003-04-05 - Andy Mabbett.jpg|Holly with leaf miner damage: 
File:Karl Witkowski- Under the Mistletoe.jpg|Kissing under mistletoe
File:Yulelog.jpg|Yule log
File:White elephant gift exchange.jpg|White elephant gift exchange
File:HK TST night Harbour City front entrance indoor stairs interior Xmas trees Nov-2013.JPG|Decorated evergreen trees
File:Lighted Santa Reindeer.jpg|Magical reindeer
File:Kongens Bryghus christmas beer 1896.jpg|Christmas beer from 1896
File:Blow up Santa claus.jpg|Plastic Santa
File:13-12-16 Christmas house decoration.jpg|Christmas lights
File:Christmas wreath Corks.JPG|Christmas wreath
File:Christmas tank (3157247376).jpg|Christmas tank
File:Fruitcake.jpg|Fruitcake, a crime against humanity
File:Santacon photo - Tompkins Square.jpg|Anti-alcoholic Santa poster
File:St Albans Mummers production of St George and the Dragon, Boxing Day 2015-6.jpg|Mummers on Boxing Day
File:Christmas tree farm fire.jpg|Christmas tree farm fire
File:Eggnog2.jpg|Weaponized eggnog
File:Angry birds with matches.jpg|Torches without pitchforks
File:Santa Claus pointing gun at the viewer detail, "Hands up!" - Will Crawford. LCCN2011649408 (cropped).jpg|"Hands up!" by Will Crawford (Puck magazine, 1912 December 11)
File:Santa Claus Conquers the Martians 1.jpg|Santa Claus Conquers the Martians — Z-grade extraterrestrial Christmas war
==Actual wars on Christmas==
In a twist that breaks an irony meter or two, in many of the times that a war has actually been declared on Christmas, it was Christians who were the ones warring against it.
*In England, the Puritan government of Oliver Cromwell banned Christmas celebrations. This led to pro-Christmas rioting in several cities, in which rioters defied Cromwell by decking the halls with boughs of holly.Lords of Misrule: The Puritan War on Christmas 1642-60, History Today
*Scotland, with its strong Calvinist tradition, also ignored or minimised Christmas. Although it was popular before the 1560 Protestant Reformation, the celebration was banned by law in 1640 (e.g. fishermen in Aberdeen were forced to set out on their boats on Christmas Day).Hastings, Max Montrose: The King's Champion This was partly repealed in 1686, and then the ban introduced again in 1690 (when the Protestant King William came to the throne) until 1712. New Year (which has no religious significance) was the big winter holiday, while the Church of Scotland didn't regard Christmas as important; it wasn't even made a day off work until 1958."Christmas and New Year traditions in Scotland", Scotsman, 24 December 2013 This position is still maintained the small ultra-Calvinist Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland.Should Christians celebrate Christmas?
*In Massachusetts, Christmas was completely banned for 22 years, from 1659 until 1681, only being legalized again when King James II appointed an Anglican governor to the colony who could rule by decree. Christmas did not become popular there until the 1850s.Nissenbaum, Stephen (1996). The Battle for Christmas. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 0-679-41223-9.
*George Washington's famous crossing of the Delaware took place on the night of December 25, 1776, with the hope of catching the Hessian soldiers garrisoned in Trenton, New Jersey off guard in the morning as they were still in bed nursing hangovers. The Continental forces presumably weren't celebrating Christmas as they were busy loading boats. After the Revolutionary War, celebrating Christmas fell out of style in America as "too British".Andrews, Peter (1975). Christmas in Colonial and Early America. USA: World Book Encyclopedia, Inc. ISBN 0-716-62001-4.
*Observation of Christmas in the British Isles was in decline during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Christmas had fallen under a cloud of official public disfavor as a result of the Industrial Revolution, along with most other festivals that had the potential to encourage public gatherings of the lower classes for alcohol-fueled revelry. The factory owning classes found this threatening. It took Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol to revive the holiday, which, as the story suggests, was being increasingly neglected by the capitalist class. And it did so by promoting a new style of family-centered observance as opposed to mass public gatherings.Hutton, Ronald (1996). The Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain. London: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-198-20570-8.
*Even today, certain fundamentalist Christians regard Christmas (not entirely inaccurately) as an unbiblical holiday of pagan (and/or papist) origin. The Jehovah's Witnesses and Herbert W. Armstrong are well-known for this. For similar reasons, Jack Chick states that Christians are not supposed to celebrate Christ's birth in at least one of his comic book tracts, and argues that teaching children about Santa Claus will lead to them rejecting Christ once they realize Santa is a fairy tale.Fairy Tales? by Jack Chick Other fundamentalist types, such as the Independent Baptists and Pentecostals, tend to de-emphasize the celebration of Christmas relative to mainline churches even when they don't reject it outright. Some Christian fundamentalists have also been known to picket Santa Claus in malls (or even to point out that Santa is an anagram of Satan), refer to Christmas trees as "Baal bushes", and the like.
*In November 2018, a religious education teacher in Pickering, North Yorkshire, UK, declared that their school was banning Christmas because the holiday was too commercialised and not sufficiently focused on Jesus. The ban was later reversed, but may have been a stunt to get the kids to think more deeply about baby Jesus in the manger. In any case, it was another instance of Christians (temporarily) banning Christmas.Christmas cheer at Lady Lumley's School after ban lifted, BBC, 5 December 2018
*In the Soviet Union, Christmas was abolished as a religious holiday and replaced with New Year, which is still much more popular than Christmas in Russia (and much of the rest of the former USSR) to this day.Santa's Russia, The Washington Post
*The historic town of Bethlehem in the West Bank of Palestine, where Christians celebrate Jesus' birth, cancelled Christmas in 2023 and 2024 due to the ongoing war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.‘Sorrow and silence’ in Bethlehem as Christmas festivities are cancelled: The streets are usually thronged with tourists and pilgrims but this year the town is mourning the dead of the Gaza war by Bethan McKernan (25 Dec 2023 11.00 EST) The Guardian.
==Actual peace on Christmas==
The Christmas Truce of 1914 was a relatively widespread phenomenon that occurred in the trenches of World War One. However, the high commands of all sides involved quickly quashed this display of brotherly love, adding another brief page to the War on Christmas.
John Lennon and Yoko Ono declared the Vietnam War over in 1971 with their song "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)". Unfortunately, the war lasted until 1975.
==Easter: The next battlefield==
Following the COVID-19 pandemic and many statewide social-distancing orders against public gatherings, some churches have resisted having internet church services in favor of in-person services, declaring a "war on Easter".How the war on Christmas became the war on Easter by Shane Claiborne (April 4, 2020) Religion News. Reverend Rodney Howard-Browne of Florida was arrested for unlawful assembly; his previous claim to fame was giving away AR-15s at his church and encouraging congregants to bring their guns to church. Pastor Tony Spell of Louisiana was also charged with misdemeanors for holding an in-person church gathering.
==War on Thanksgiving?==
In 2019 and 2020, some figures on the right, including then-President Trump, claimed that Thanksgiving was being targeted by liberals for banishment and/or renaming due to its alleged associations with white colonialism and the genocide of Native Americans.War on Thanksgiving: Trump falsely says liberals want to rename holiday by Emily Stewart (November 27, 2019) Vox.]Is There a War on Thanksgiving? by Jonathan Beecher Field (November 24, 2020) Boston Review. This despite Thanksgiving being a celebration of the first colonists and the Native Americans being amicable neighbors.
==Other countries==
Just like in the US, right-wingers in Germany are enraged by an alleged culture war before each Christmas, complaining about the renaming of to Winter Markets or Santa Claus chocolate figures to Zipfelmann ("Pointed Hat Guy"). Needless to say, the complaints are as baseless as those of their US counterparts.So hohl wie eine SchokoladenfigurWieso es Wintermaerkte statt Weihnachtsmaerkte gibt
==See also==
*Freedom From Religion Foundation
*Moral panic
*Conservative correctness
*War on Science
*Kirk Cameron, specifically his awful film Saving Christmas, which did very well at the 
==External links==
*War on Christmas Official Dispatches Aggregated headlines and satirical rebuttals
*Wingnuts vs. ACLU debate
*Faux News has an interactive map showing the "battles" in the WoC.
*Controversy over public religious Christmas displays in America is fueled by differing beliefs regarding Christmas and American history, London School of Economics
*"The War on Christmas, or How to Build Mass Support for Right Wing Ideology" An article that traces the intellectual roots of the war on Christmas in the conservative movement.
*"The War on Christmas: A Measured Response" by Hbomberguy
==Notes==
==References==
Category:Antisemitism
Category:Atheophobia
Category:Blasphemy (probably)
Category:Christianity
Category:Christmas
Category:Conspiracy theories
Category:Conspiracy theorist scapegoats
Category:Media hysteria
Category:Moral panics
Category:Propaganda