Since the season for joy is rapidly approaching, riddle me this: What is the proper name of something 65 feet tall [often referred to initially as a Spruce] that first falls to the ground in New Mexico in response to a saw blade, is then wrapped and shipped to Washington, D.C., and ultimately finds itself erected on the grounds of our Nation’s Capitol, adorned with 10,000 lights and 5,000 ornaments just several weeks prior to December 25th?
A pathetic few of you out there probably are thinking it should be called a “Christmas Tree.” (Come on you countercultural small-minded extremist right-wing evangelical hate-mongering bigots out there, you know who you are.) Well … you’re wrong. That’s what it used to be called, but not today. Try again.
Okay. … time is up. The answer? According to our enlightened U.S. Congress, its politically correct name today is … [insert drum role] … “Holiday Tree.” And, we are told rightfully so by those among us who like to think of themselves as self-professed members of the “rational, scientific, modern, post-Enlightenment world”.
Evidently, these paragons of enlightenment have currently intimidated the rest of us into at least accepting, if not actually believing, that any word in our culture’s lexicon that includes a reference to Christ is somehow a “bad thing”. Why? Because we are informed that Christians are a countercultural minority of … well … small-minded extremist right-wing evangelical hate-mongering bigots who secretly, and we are told, gleefully, look forward to an eventual joyous genocide of all those with whom they happen to disagree.
If you think even somebody claiming to be “rationale, scientific and modern” surely could not possibly believe such a thing about Christians, consider the following excerpts from a Vanity Fair article published this month entitled “American Rapture”. In the course of disparaging the extremely popular “Left Behind” series, the author says:
“As befits the manifesto of a counterculture, the ‘Left Behind’ series is a revenge fantasy, in which right-wing Christians win out over the rational, scientific, modern, post-Enlightenment world. The books represent the apotheosis of a culture [of Christians] that is waging war against liberals, gays, Muslims, Arabs, the U.N., and ‘militant secularists’ of all stripes …” Vanity Fair, page 208.
“Far from being a Prince of Peace, the Christ depicted in the ‘Left Behind’ series is a vengeful Messiah – so vengeful that the death and destruction he causes to unconverted Jews, to secularists, to anyone who is not born again, is far, far greater than the crimes committed by the most brutal dictators in human history. …
“According to LaHaye and Jenkins [the ‘Left Behind’ series authors], it is God’s intent ‘that the millennium start with a clean slate.’ Committing mass murder hundreds of times greater than the Holocaust, the Lord – not the Antichrist, mind you – makes sure that ‘all unbelievers would soon die.’” Vanity Fair, page 222.
I agree, were all of that true, it would be horrendous. There’s only one problem. In my humble opinion, it’s simply not an accurate depiction of either the “Left Behind” series or the Biblical account of the last days … and thus … it’s simply not true.
In my even more humble opinion, what is true is the following. In chapter four of Luke’s Gospel we are told that Christ described the purpose of his first junket to earth, which I will leave for you to read. It is interesting for our purposes, however, that in doing so Jesus opened the Book of Isaiah to what is now chapter 61 and read only the first half of the first sentence before closing the book. In turn, that has led some to suggest that the remainder of that sentence pertains to what will be Christ’s purpose should He fulfill His promise to return to earth a second time. Yes, the word vengeance does appear, but in the context of effecting His greater goal of closing up shop on the world as we know it, in order to establish His Kingdom that He said had been ordained by His Father from the beginning. To do so, however, requires attending to just one small detail: Satan and those allied with him must be defeated and removed. So, the Bible first prophesies that a battle will be initiated by Satan to prevent Christ’s purpose and then goes on to predict that, in all probability, Christ will emerge as the victor.
First I would ask, were this scenario actually to come to pass, are there any among us who would prefer a different outcome, and if so, why? Next, I would ask, in the context of a war instigated by Satan, are there any among us who think it is even remotely fair to characterize Christ’s defeat of Satan and those allied with him as “murder”, and if so, why? Then I need to ask, can anyone show me in the Bible where Christians, as the Vanity Fair article implies, should derive joy from the death of those who sadly choose such a tragic alliance?
On the contrary, just the opposite is true. Both Christ and Christians would have it that nobody would choose such an alliance should these events come to pass, and in fact, are grieved at even the thought that some may. That is why, especially at this time of year, Christians believe it is so important to demonstrate to all people everywhere how much Christ’s Father loves each and every one of them. So much so, in fact, that He came in person to tell all of mankind that very thing.
Christmas is nothing more or less than Christians’ celebrating the arrival of both that messenger and the message He brought. So, with your permission, allow me to close by asking, is that a “bad thing”? Because if it’s not, can we who are Christian please feel free now to once again call it a “Christmas Tree” without being made, somehow, to feel either guilty or culturally marginalized? Thank you. Oh, and by the way, before I forget … Merry Christmas to one and all.
© 2005 Clifford C. Nichols, Esq.
Cliff Nichols is an attorney practicing criminal defense/entertainment law in Santa Monica, California. He may be contacted regarding this editorial at either (310) 917-1083, cliff@cliffnicholslaw.com or www.cliffnicholslaw.com and you may join his blog at www.thedailystand.com