Ignorance Plays A Big Part

The Merry Chri$tma$ V. Happy Holiday$ "Debate"

Fellow Christians I admire most are the ones who show you how to live the Christian life by the example. The ones who confuse me the most are the ones who get in your face and push their version of the Christian life on you by parroting a string of Bible verse quotes they have been spoon-fed. I do not usually question their sincerity, but I often question their depth of study, analysis and motives. In many ways, these are "puppy love" Christians.

What am I suppose to make of a person who has a long history of say drinking or drug use or whatever who suddenly gets “born again” and then goods on their mission to make everybody see the light exactly as they do? If you been around the block enough times, you will know people who have gotten the fever, seen the light and say they will never go back to where they came from. A year later, they are right back where they said they would never return.

I believe these types of “Christian soldiers” tend to be evangelicals and fundamentalists. I also believe these “Christians” are the ones so vocal about the Merry Christmas v. Happy Holidays issue are part of this group. James Dobson's Alliance Defense Fund is running a "Christmas Project" with the motto: "Merry Christmas. It's okay to say it." Jerry Falwell's Liberty Counsel is running a "Friend or Foe Christmas Campaign.” This group has been threatening two public, elementary schools about the song selection in their holiday program. Liberty Counsel does not like the inclusion of a song titled “Cold in The Night” that is set to the tune of “Silent Night.”

“What we are seeing with these two schools is that this holiday is merely a ghost of Christmas past,” said Mat Staver, president of the Falwell endorsed Liberty Counsel, “They’re discriminating based on religious view point. It sends a tremendous disconnect to the young person when you’re familiar with the song ‘Silent Night’ and tune and all of a sudden you learn the same tune with totally secular words.”

The programs at both these schools include “Angels We Have Heard on High” and “Let There Be Peace on Earth.” Of course, the Liberty Counsel’s ignorance on the history of where most of our familiar Christmas carols come from is no surprise to me.

The fact is most of the long-familiar Christmas carols came from Europe and the verses were adapted to familiar folk tunes and melodies. The song “What Child Is This?” is written to the melody of “Green Sleeves.” This is the folk tradition. It is about adaptability and innovation centered on the familiar. Union songs are a big part of this tradition.

Just how much of a traumatic experience it will be for the schoolchildren to learn “Cold In The Night” to the tune of “Silent Night,” only time can tell. My just is it will do little to change the individual outcomes of these children’s lives. However, it does help to provide evidence as to how ignorance of history wastes a great deal of time and resources.

Personally, thinking back to our Christmas programs at St. Pat’s, I will never forget how, in the practice sessions leading up to the program, Sister Vivian kept telling me -- in front of everyone in the class -- to just move my lips and not sing. What songs they were, I can't remember. However, I will give her the credit and blame for buying a guitar and learning how to sing songs in the folk tradition.