'Tis the Season

Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Festive Kwanza! I would continue, but I'm not sure I know all the holidays being celebrated around what is traditionally Christmas Day.

There has been a lot of controversy about the use of "Merry Christmas." While I am clearly a Christian that celebrates the birth of Jesus our Savior, I'm not sure I buy-in to either extreme in this controversy. I do, however, have some strong convictions about the use of Christmas expressions and terminiology.

Can I be a devotee to my Christian faith and still express sincere best wishes to someone who celebrates a different religious or secular holiday? I believe so. However, the issue goes much deeper than that.

Our culture has grown increasingly secular since the late 1950's and early 1960's. I know, because I was raised at the cusp of the transition and have observed the changes first hand. Our culture, in the interest of what is termed tolerance, has grown increasingly permissive of what was once deemed wrong, anti-social, and, yes, even evil. The result is a culture that has had a "brain switch" and is now intolerant of anything deemed Christian or absolute. Your right to disagree is respected. The truth, however, is apparent in every segment of our culture.

With this being stated, I continue to assert that expressing a sincere best wish to someone celebrating a holiday in which I don't participate is hardly wrong. On the other hand, it is also socially acceptable and proper to wish a follower of Christ a sincere "Merry Christmas."

It is also right for commercial establishments to acknowledge the Christmas holiday and permit their employees to express their Christmas best wishes. Preventing such, embraces a secularism that doesn't conform with the foundational principles of our nation.

Difference Makers wishes each and everyone a joyous holiday. Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Festive Kwanza!

Let's celebrate the melting pot called America that permits the practice of our faith without oppression or fear of retribution. Let's make a genuine difference this holiday season.