All this reminds me of how the season of Christmas is ever changing in its meaning. In Germany of the 1930s the Nazi party made a concerted effort to redefine Christmas. I found an interesting 2007 article by David Sutton in Fortean Times UK detailing this process: How the Nazis Stole Christmas | Articles | Features | Fortean Times UK. He asks,
What’s Wrong With This Picture?
"Imagine the scene. It’s December 1936, and the shadow of war has not yet fallen over the people of Germany, who are now experiencing their fourth Christmas since Hitler’s National Socialist Party came to power and began its transformation of modern Germany. The streets of every town and city are busy with last-minute shoppers; the sounds of carol-singing and the rattle of Winter Relief collection tins fills the evening air; people wish one another a Happy Christmas as they stand before a great tree, proudly decorated and topped with a huge swastika."He then goes on to demonstrate that the Nazis had no real interest in turning their party into a religious movement. It was political. However, they did believe in the unifying power of religion and religious holidays. They emphasized the importance of a unified nationalism. So they systematically redefined Christmas as a national holiday.
"Christmas, of course, was one of the most important dates in the calendar for German Christians of both Confessions (Catholic and Protestant); but for the Nazis it also offered a priceless opportunity to capitalize on a festival that traditionally brought people and families together and to overlay it with meanings central to a new conception of the German state."
Makes one wonder what Christmas has become in the United States.
Could something like this happen in our country and in our time? Could this become part of "the change" that President Obama promised?-- an' Xmas', a "holiday", a new "saturnalia",etc,?
ReplyDeleteIf a president actually believes that the Son of God "became flesh for us and our salvation", why can't he share with the population that this is HIS particular celebration at this time of the year? and encourage ALL peoples to joyfully and thankfully celebrate THEIR holiday and vacation time with their families, and loved ones, without asking others to follow HIS way of celebration? However, if a president would do that, the non-Christians would claim that he was proselytizing.