Living in a 'Christian' Country?

Don't get me wrong there's absolutely nothing wrong being wished Merry Christmas by someone who doesn't know I'm jewish.  It's nice that someone is so joyous in their celebration of their religious holiday they want to share that joyful wish. Yet, I repeatedly hear and see the argument by Christians at this time of year that they don't want the 'Christ' taken out of 'Christ'mas. NObody asked Christians to remove Christ out of their holiday. Wishing somebody Happy Holidays is not diminishing Christmas. Examination of the word holiday we see two words  'holy' day.


The fact is not everybody celebrates the same holy days.  In fact most of the world does not celebrate Christmas. Christmas is about Christ, his birth and about a Savior being born for 'Christ'ians not for Buddhists, Muslims nor a myriad of other religions besides judaism. 

This past week two international students came over during Chanuka. They never had heard of Chanuka before. Natureman and I shared our holiday.  It wasn't trying to convert them just to explain why we would be lighting candles, eating some fried food, even doing a small gift exchange. 

 My global buddy had handed me a Christmas card when I had picked her up. At the evening's end when I dropped her off at the dorm, I thanked her for the card she apologized because she didn't know that Jews didn't celebrate Christmas and it was a Christmas card.  She 'got it'. After a couple of hours at our home she understood not everybody in the U.S. celebrates Christmas. I told her and I meant it that I appreciated that she had shared her celebration with me with the card giving but after saying that I should have added how much it meant to me that she understood more about my religion.  

You see it's so much more than just these last 2 months of  Christmas taking over the airspace in this country as radio, tv and stores start pedaling their wares earlier and earlier. It's not just the merchandising. It's about a country founded on the principle of religious freedom. To allow peoples to practice their religions as they wish. 

The U.S. government's purpose is not to make "Christian" laws enforcing Christian beliefs, not respecting the beliefs/rights of others. Public servants are to represent all the people. Public schools are just that, public. Teaching our nation's children to respect differences, not resent them. Our job is to show children by example to be a 'good' person, a virtue not owned solely by Christians lest we forget Jesus was a Jew. 

Our emphasis at his holiday time should be we can all be better and work towards Peace. Peace for all mankind certainly shouldn't be limited to one month of the year. 

Let There Be Peace on Earth and let it begin with me...

Wishes of Peace from the End of the Rainbow Valley.