Unemployed Theologian

At Christmastime it's hard to avoid religious iconography. It seems just about everywhere you look is a baby Jesus or the Christmas star, while everyone's singing or blasting old hymns about the Child, the Virgin, the curse of sin or the Angelic Host. From a cultural standpoint it's actually pretty fascinating we Americans allow ourselves to get so blatantly religious for one month a year (or longer, depending on the state of the economy), when the balance of the year we pride ourselves on our tolerance and inclusivity (real or imagined). But December belongs to the Christmas spectacle, to the trappings and traditions of the Christian holiday. Granted, what we celebrate now is often more commercial than it is Christian, more Santa than Christ, but the observation stands. I always forget the part where the baby Jesus is visited by Santa. It's actually a little surreal, a bit disorienting to see the Christian story, the story in which I find my life's meaning,...

I don't mean to be petty or argumentative, but something has really gotten under my skin lately. Every year as Christmas approaches I start to hear the same squabbles popping up left and right, causing a bizarre tension between groups of people I love very much. The Grand Poobah of these conflicts centers on the "secularization of the holiday" or more provocatively put, the "war on Christmas." The war. On Christmas. Apparently somebody's waging a war on Christmas. They better stop it, huh? Cut it out! I love Christmas! See, that's the trouble with words. "War on Christmas" is a phrase carefully engineered to draw ire from holly, jolly American Christians, and all those who enjoy Christmas (not limited to Christians). The idea is supposedly that Christmas is being cast out from the public sphere by those vicious, sneaky Communists (or whatever), or else sanitized to become a generic holiday for all people of all religions (God forbid). Ind...

It's the most wonderful time of the year, or so they tell me. I've said it too, sang it, and I believe it mostly. To be perfectly frank, though, I'm not sure what it means anymore. Why is it the most wonderful time of the year? Peace on earth, good will toward men and all that? But I'm afraid those things don't seem terribly true right now. No, the Christmas spirit has been kept at bay by the cold specter of tragedy as the television screen paints a picture of hell on earth and ill will toward all. Americans taste and see that all is not right with the world as each image from the Newtown massacre flits before our eyes: lives taken at the hands of a deranged killer. The most innocent among us (young children), as well as some of the noblest (teachers), gone too soon. It is maddening, sickening, and unbelievable yet tragically true. Newtown is only the epicenter of these tremors, however, as unfathomable loss and unshakable terror ripple across our country. Bomb th...