Happy Holidays!

So now that I’ve attempted to start blogging again, I’ve decided to be more forthright about my opinions. Nobody reads this anyway, so it really shouldn’t be too upsetting to the world. Along with being more forthright, I’m not going to just write about a few of my more mainline opinions on bible stuff like I have in the past but will freely blog about anything of note to me at the time, whatever the subject. What this really means is that my audience (notice how I joke) should expect a lot of drivel about not just religion, but also libertarianism and societal collapse. So there we are. All of that to preface that what I’m about to say, though also mostly of a religious nature, shouldn’t be thought of as evidence that religious drivel is the only sort of drivel that should be expected to drivel out of me in the future. 

So in this special and beautiful season of aggression between Christmas’ true crusaders and those irrationally bent on eliminating a God they know doesn’t exist, let me take just a moment to implore those out there (among my vast readership) whom call themselves Christians and fans of Christmas—those of you that see yourselves as God’s appointed champions of Christmas virtue and purity—to please, for Heaven’s sake, lay down your arms. It is not merely my abhorrence of war that motivates me in this admonition, but more the simple reality that you are fighting for an illegitimate cause, you are likely doing spiritual harm to yourself and others, and (most importantly) you are neglecting what SHOULD be your actual and legitimate mission.

Christmas is superfluous. Neither Christmas nor any celebration of Christ’s birth (or anyone’s birth) was ever commissioned by Jesus or the Apostles. December 25^th has no inherent significance in the Kingdom of God. Nothing is gained or lost in how Christians or non-Christians spend their time (or greet one another while shopping) in and around this time of year (as compared to any other time, I mean). The church will not be edified and the lost will not be found through your protests, your petitions, and your punditry. So give it up and let us focus on keeping the Christ in Christian for a change. 

Fifteen days from now, when the smoke clears and this Christmas season is just another in a long string of holiday memories, how will the Kingdom have advanced because of your ire? Is there going to be one more soul in heaven because you’ve campaigned (or just sat at home and complained) for the local department store to make sure its Christmas greeting conforms to your specifications? Celebrate Jesus’ birth on December 25^th in accordance with your desires and convictions. Or celebrate it some other time if you want. “The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of he Lord” (ESV, Rom. 14.6). Just don’t think some bit of outward scorn toward the secular world during this arbitrary time of celebration in any way amounts to “your spiritual worship” (Rom 12.1). I believe that if you stop and reflect you would find that God would have more for you and ask more of you than fighting this war on Christmas. 

Merry Christmas.