A Good Old-Fashion..... Hindu Christmas?

Just yesterday, I attended the University's 'Lighting of the Quad' ceremony, where students gathered to celebrate the 'spirit of the season' and light up a tall fir tree with ornaments on it (certainly not a Christmas tree though). In the middle of the whole ceremony, amidst all the hymns about some strange 'Messiah' person, a senior female student got up and spoke about how she loved the 'spirit of the season' and the 'time of year'. Only problem was, she practiced the hajik religion or something or other; I couldn't even make out what she called her religion, much less tell you what it entailed. But that made me wonder, why was she there? If she loves the discounts and excessive shopping, well that may work for her, but that’s not exactly the 'spirit of the season'.

Unfortunately for this girl, and all the other agnostics, atheists, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and Jews present, the 'Spirit of the Season' pertains to something very specific. Something this, admittedly, non-Christian student couldn't quite put her finger on. Oh, there was a lot of talk about the 'feeling of peace' and the 'unity of mankind' that all these non-Christians feel, but no one seemed to wonder where all those feelings came from. The answer, of course, is extraordinarily simple: Jesus Christ. That's right, the 'Spirit of the Season' is all about celebrating the fact that God loved us enough to send his only Son, to save all mankind. That's powerful stuff, in fact, that’s powerful enough to induce all of those feelings of 'unity' and 'brotherhood' that everyone at the Lighting Ceremony was talking so much about.

But this brought me to a new question, the thing that was truly bugging me as I stood there and listened to this student drone on, how can non-Christians celebrate Christmas? The whole reason we have the 'Season' in the first place is because of traditions that started under the Roman Catholic Church and the Pope hundreds of years ago. And the reason that we have the Season and all these traditions, reasons non-Christians can never explain very precisely, is because of a baby that was born a little over 2,000 years ago.

If you want to celebrate Kwanza or Haunakah, that’s fine, but c'mon. When you have a Christmas tree, or are singing Christmas Carols, or are discussing Peace on Earth and goodwill towards men (hmmmm, I wonder where we got those quotes from....), its not the 'Holiday Season', it's Christmas! So please, spare me your phrases about good spirit and such, I’ve heard (read) them all before, in the New Testament. And please, if you don't believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the One true Son of God who came to save our sins, stop celebrating Christmas!! It's not your holiday! By not being Christian, you have admitted you don’t believe in Christmas!

So for all the Hindus, Pagans etc. out there, enjoy the time off from school or work, and have a happy New Year, but please, stop wishing me 'Happy Holidays'.