Court Opinion

ID: 9469863
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 02:50:59.950179+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:41:36.347103
License: Public Domain

BOWNES, Circuit Judge
(concurring).
I concur fully in all of the majority opinion but write separately because I believe the dissent is incorrect when it says that Christmas originated as a religious holiday. Celebrations on or near the 25th of December predate the birth of Christ. In the First Century, B.C., Romans celebrated December 25th as the Natalis Solis Invicti, a feast in honor of the Sun God, Mithras. December 17th through the 22nd was also a festive period for the Romans — this was Saturnalia, a period dedicated to Saturn, God of agriculture, and to the renewed power of the sun. During Saturnalia, slaves were treated as equals of their masters; and a townsperson, chosen by lot, was given the throne, to rule at his whim. Tra*1036ditions of feasting, visiting, drinking, gift exchanging, and revelling are rooted in these pre-Christian festivals. School vacations for midwinter celebrations are said to trace back to pre-Christian Rome.
Not until early in the Fourth Century, in 336 A.D., do historians find evidence of celebrations on December 25th commemorating the birth of Christ. The Bible gives no direct indication of the date of Jesus’s birth. In fact, the eastern portion of the Roman Empire celebrated the birth and baptism of Christ on January 6th. Whatever the date of Christ’s birth, however, celebrating that event was intensely opposed by some Christians. The Puritans, believing that the church should not sponsor anything not found in Scriptures, objected to the celebration of Christ’s birth because such a practice had no Biblical prescription. They condemned the celebration as “popish” and a “wanton Bacchanalian feast.” Baptists, Presbyterians, and Quakers also strongly opposed the religious observance of Christ’s birth. On the other hand, Roman Catholics, the Church of England, the Dutch Reformed, and the Lutheran Church celebrated the occasion. In 1643 the English Parliament outlawed feasts of Christmas, Easter and other holy days. Not until 1660 were Christmas celebrations again legal.
The controversy over whether to celebrate Christ’s birth raged in the New World as well. In 1613, Captain John Smith celebrated with a feast among the Indians. The Puritans, however, continued their studied refusal to accept Christmas as a holiday. In 1659, the Massachusetts General Court followed Parliament’s lead and enacted a statute making the observance of Christmas Day, by absence from labor, or feasting, or in any other way, an offense carrying a five-shilling fine. Anglicans immigrating to Plymouth, Salem, and Boston gradually softened the severity of the laws concerning the celebration of Christ’s birth. Their influence led to a repeal of the statute in 1681. In contrast to the Puritans, Episcopalians throughout the colonies celebrated Christmas as a traditional religious feast. In New York, the Dutch observed an extended holiday period, both religious and secular in nature. December 6th was Saint Nicholas Day for the Dutch, when the Saint was credited with bringing presents to the children. Eventually, due to Anglican influence, the date was shifted to the 25th of December.
Several factors are recognized by historians for the gradual acceptance of Christmas as a holiday. Immigration from Germanic countries, which celebrated Christmas as both a religious holiday and a folk celebration, was an important factor. The rise of Sunday Schools in the first half of the Nineteenth Century also promoted general acceptance of the Christmas holiday embracing the folk customs of the Christmas tree and Santa Clause. K.L. Richards, How Christmas Came to Sunday Schools. The writings of Charles Dickens are credited with having had a major role in Christmas becoming a day of festive celebration; in Scrooge’s own words, “a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time.” Another important factor in the increasing acceptance of Christmas as a holiday was the first amendment, requiring the separation of Church and State. “Because of this, members of Puritan and Evangelical churches were less inclined to oppose secular celebration when it no longer symbolized the religious and political dominance of the Church of England.” J. Barnett, The American Christmas, A Study in National Culture at 60 (1954).
During the 1800’s, secular interest in the holiday spread rapidly. In 1827, an Episcopalian Bishop wrote: “The devil has stolen from us ... Christmas, the day of our spiritual redemption and converted it into a day of worldly festivity, shooting and swearing.” J. Barnett at 6 citing W.W. Maross, The Episcopal Church 1800-1840 at 178. Advertisements appealing to the gift-*1037giving tradition of Christmas appeared in New York City newspapers as early as 1820, and, by the latter half of the Nineteenth Century, the secular folk aspects were well on their way to outstripping the religious aspect of Christmas.1
In 1836, Alabama became the first state to grant legal recognition to Christmas as a holiday. The United States Congress, in 1870, declared Christmas, New Years Day, and the Fourth of July as holidays in the District of Columbia. Congressional debate on this bill was notably lacking in any discussion of the religious nature of Christmas, or of any constitutional issue involved by recognizing the day as a holiday. The stated purpose of the bill was to give the District of Columbia the same holidays recognized by most of the states. Cong.Globe, 41st Cong.2d Sess. 4529, 4805, 4833, 4849, 4973 (1869-1870). Of course, we can only speculate as to the meaning of the lack of debate. Perhaps it is evidence of widespread recognition of the secular aspect of the holiday; or perhaps it was the result of insensitivity of the Christian majority to the non-Christian segments of our society. In 1885, Congress passed a joint resolution making Christmas a paid holiday for federal employees. By 1890, every state in the Union had acknowledged Christmas as a holiday.
This brief review of the history of Christmas reveals that it is a holiday with both secular and religious dimensions. Today’s American Christmas is a result of the mixing of diverse folk customs and religious beliefs in the melting pot of the New World. Christmas has roots that are embedded deeply in the Christian religion; its roots also extend to folk customs and pagan rites that predate the birth of Christ.
The creche, however, is tied firmly to the Christian religion; it tells the story of the birth of Christ, the Son of God. Unlike today’s Christmas holiday, the creche is not the result of the combination of folk culture and tradition. The creche is purely a Christian religious symbol; this is the distinction between the creche and Christmas as a holiday. It is a distinction of constitutional significance. Although the government may recognize Christmas as a holiday and even participate in some of its secular traditions, it may not participate in or promote the Christian celebration of Christmas. To view the creche as only one of the many symbols of the Christmas holiday season is to denigrate its religious significance and misinterpret the historical background of Christmas.

. The primary historical sources for this brief exegesis are: R. Meyers, Celebrations: The Complete Book of American Holidays (1972); and J. Barnett, The American Christmas, A Study in National Culture (1954).