CHRISTMAS EVE – AT 8:34 A.M. ET:  I have seen many Christmases and Christmas eves.  You don't have to be a religious Christian to appreciate and  honor the spiritual meaning of the day.

I recall, as a child, when a perfectly appropriate Christmas gift was a five-dollar snow shovel, and recipients were appreciative.  Today we see television ads for Mercedes automobiles, a difficult item to put under a tree.

It is a commonplace to bemoan the "commercialism" of Christmas, but I must make this observation:  I have never seen a Christmas season as devoid of religious meaning, as cold (in attitude) and as strictly commercial as this one.  We are, as a society, heading in the wrong direction.  Oh yes, I know, I know, the secularists argue that we're just more "inclusive," and less "offensive" these days.  Are we really?

I didn't see much offense, as a little boy, when Perry Como would devote his weekly television show to Christmas music.  The Constitution survived and there were no riots in the streets.  Yes, some religious leaders would occasionally make foolish or insensitive statements, but name an age when some religious leaders haven't acted badly.  The great majority of leaders and people acted well.  In fact, it is the ones who didn't act well who got singled out.

Some argue that we should de-emphasize religious observance because religion celebrates events that cannot be "proved."  But true religion is never about "what."  It's about "who and "why."  Religious stories are stories of faith, from which we can take lessons of morality and behavior.  Please remember that the concept of "peace on Earth and good will toward men" did not begin in a "peace studies" class at Northwestern.  It began as a religious concept.

I hope we can, in the future, do better.  That doesn't mean following, or respecting, the religious bomb throwers.  It does mean that religious holidays should be honored, and celebrated, not because they can be misused, but because they contain within them the bedrock of our civilization.  And that civilization is worth defending.

December 24, 2010