The Christmas wars:

Introduction to the conflict

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The players:

As December approaches in the U.S. and Canada, the annual conflict over Christmas surfaces -- a dispute that appears to be increasing in intensity in recent years.

This type of quarrel is generally portrayed as being two-sided -- between the good guys (your side) and the bad guys (the rest of the population). Humans have a propensity to look upon conflict in this way. However, there appear to be at least three main actors in this particular war:

"I just want to commend Wal-Mart on their current/new standing regarding the term 'Merry Christmas,' It has been a long time since I have been in a store that has used this term freely. I think it was an absolute 'smack in the face' that we have been robbed of our tradition [by stores that wished their customers 'Happy Holidays']." ₁

From the rather angry Emails that we have received on this topic, many people who object to "Happy Holidays" take an attitude of Christian triumphalism -- the belief that Christianity is superior to all other religions, that the U.S. is a Christian country, and that non-Christians should not expect their faith to be considered or recognized at Christmastime or at other times of year.

"I think that Wal-Mart is wrong, wrong, wrong in going back to 'Christmas Holiday' in their ads. Christmas is a religious holiday. I respect people's right to celebrate it. But I am not a Christian. I am offended by the fact that my religion is not represented in their displays as prominently as Christmas is." ₁

"The First Amendment of our Constitution ensures every American’s right to observe religious holidays or to refrain from doing so. ... I think we all know what’s really going on with your campaign. You want an America where there is no separation of church and state and where your rather narrow interpretation of Christianity is forced on everyone. If you can convince Americans that their cherished Christmas traditions are under fire, you think maybe they will join your nefarious crusade to tear down the protective church-state wall that guarantees our freedoms. ₂

Concerns:

The conflict was particularly intense in 2004, perhaps because of the political gains made by religious conservatives in the 2004-NOV elections. It continued in 2005 and appears to be intensifying, partly because of economic boycotts by religious conservatives. We seem to be on-track for another serious end-of-year conflict in 2006. The Alliance Defense Fund, a fundamentalist Christian legal defense group, is mobilizing over 950 attorneys across the U.S. to combat attempts to restrict Christmastime faith expression. ₃

The Christmas wars are creating a great deal of animosity, inter-religious friction and intra-religious conflict in the U.S. and Canada. This is a region of the world that has been noted for widespread religious peace and tolerance. If too much hatred and animosity is created, a tipping point may be reached. North America could follow the path of religiously-motivated conflicts, murder, mass murder and genocide as has been seen in Northern Ireland, Bosnia Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Cyprus, Nigeria, Sudan, Middle East, Iraq/Iran, Afghanistan, India, Sri Lanka, Philippines, etc.

The conflict probably generates an significant financial support for the groups who are promoting various sides in the conflict. It also maintains a higher level of anxiety among their supporters. Thus, it is probable that the Christmas wars will continue and may possibly intensify in the future.

A welcome sign by The Bay in Canada:

We noted the following sign on the outside doors of The Bay department store in Kingston, ON Canada. The Bay is one of the Hudson Bay Company (Hbc) family of stores. Hbc was founded in 1670 "and has grown with Canada [to] ... become the nation's largest department store retailer." ₄

The sign was posted in late 2006-NOV. It is an example of an inclusive approach to the holiday season. The central image of the rose picks up a theme seen in other posters at The Bay.

Ramadan, Diwali, and Chanukah are Muslim, Hindu and Jewish celebrations. Missing from the list are the Wiccan celebration of Yule, the Atheist and Native American celebration of the Winter Solstice, the Buddhist celebration of Bodhi Day, and the Zoroastrian observation of Zartusht-no-diso.

Reaction will probably be mixed, because it is apparently impossible to find a win-win situation at this time of year:

References used:

The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.

1. Allen Wastler, "And Merry Christmas to you, Wal-Mart. Pleasing your customers isn't a wrong move. But you'll get some backlash," CNN Money, 2006-NOV-10, at: http://money.cnn.com/
2. "An open letter to Jerry Falwell," Americans United, 2005-DEC, at: http://www.au.org/site/
3. "More than 950 attorneys nationwide ready to combat attempts to censor Christmas. Fourth annual Christmas Project declares, 'Merry Christmas. It's okay to say it'," Alliance Defense Fund, 2006-NOV-15, at: http://www.alliancedefensefund.org/
4. Hudson's Bay Company home page at: http://www.hbc.com/

Copyright © 2004 to 2006 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Originally posted: 2004-DEC-04
Latest update: 2006-NOV-30
Author: B.A. Robinson