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Marginalizing Christianity - A Fatal Mistake During the 2005 Christmas season there was much talk about a war against Christmas. Many commentators were saying that there was such a war, while others were saying that what was being called a war was only an effort to have some balance and to keep from upsetting others who were not Christians. Yet schools allowed information about Kwanzaa, Hanukah and various other religious or celebratory occasions around Christmas time while not allowing songs about Christmas and information about Christmas to be displayed in schools. Many businesses told their employees that they could not wish people "Merry Christmas," but had to use something that was neutral, such as "Season's Greetings." These are just a few of the efforts made during the Christmas season to minimize the role of Christianity for the season and the holidays. The effort to minimize the fact of Christmas during the 2005 season represents just a small part of the efforts to marginalize Christianity in our national life. Elementary school children are encouraged to bring their favorite books to school to read from them, but then forbidden to do so when they bring a Bible to school. Teachers are told that they cannot have personal pictures of Christian scenes or of Christ on their desks in schools and cannot honestly respond to questions of students if the answer has something to do with their Christian faith. Evangelical Christians who are willing to speak out about their faith are dismissed and often derided as having a negative impact upon our social fabric. The faith of those who founded this country is often misrepresented, or their faith is portrayed as not being important. These efforts are wrong and ultimately will have a negative impact upon our society. Litigation is used to remove a cross from the seal of Los Angeles, though churches and crosses are part of the integral history of the "City of Angles." The Boy Scouts are forbidden by some communities to continue preferential use of public property because they profess a belief in God and discourage homosexual scout leaders. Even if the Christian faith has less influence in our country than it once did, it is important to understand the role that it has played in the formation of this country and, indeed, much of the Western society. The push towards freedom, self-determination and tolerance first had roots in the Jewish religion and began to blossom with the teachings of Christ and the spread of those teachings in Western civilization. There are many times in the Old Testament when the Jews were reminded to be tolerant of aliens in their lands with the admonition to remember that they were once aliens in a foreign land. Christ carried the concept of tolerance and loving efforts at correcting behavior even farther as can be seen in many ways, such as the time he spent dining with sinners, having the the good neighbor to the injured man be a Samaritan and discouraging people from killing the woman caught in adultery. Early Christians were the first to change some of the attitudes towards slavery. While the institution was still accepted early on, Christians expected masters and servants who were Christians to treat each other with the love and respect appropriate to their faith. Ultimately it was the West which made the effort to abolish slavery, with much of the impetus coming because of the belief of Christians that fellow human beings should not be enslaved. Even in science, much of the early learning and discoveries came from the efforts of members of religious orders. One of the basic precepts of Christianity is free will, the ability to choose to do good or to do evil. This precept underlies the concept of freedom which is the very foundation of our country. The importance of God was recognized by George Washington in his first inaugural address in which he devoted a substantial portion to his reliance upon God. James Monroe and Thomas Jefferson also had some reference to the importance of God in their first inaugural addresses. Our Declaration of Independence specifically indicates the right of liberty comes from God as an inalienable right. Alexis de Toqueville recognized the importance of the values of the earlier Americans when he noted the relatively few laws in New England and their not being necessary because of the strong values of the people, many of whom were Puritans or members of other Christian denominations. It is interesting that people degrade strong Christians, but buckle to the whims of Moslems who complain about any affront to their religion. But then it is easy to do so. Islam, as can be seen from the radical terrorists and some passages of the Quran, does not accept any disrespect. Sharia, the legal precepts based primarily upon teaching of some Moslem sects, provides for death for those who convert from Islam to Christianity. There is no similar provision in Christian religious teaching. The loving and encouraging nature of Christian evangelism and the belief in free will not to accept Christ makes it easy to pick on the Christian religion because the faith does not encourage hostile physical reaction. Yet these same precepts provide the underpinning for the freedoms and way of life we take for granted. By marginalizing Christianity and its impact upon our country, we risk destroying the very basis which gives us the freedoms to make this effort. This does not mean that the United States should be officially a Christian nation. That itself would be contrary to the concept of free will that is inherent in Christ's teachings. However, it does mean that we should all acknowledge the importance of Christian teachings and principles to the very existence of the freedoms we enjoy and should not try to marginalize and ultimately exclude such acknowledgement. We do so at our peril as a nation.
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