What do the Jacobins, Soviets, Nazis, and Democrats have in common? All four breeds of ideologue have waged war against a common enemy: Christmas. The War on Christmas rages on in 2016, despite the belligerents’ persistent gaslighting. Not even the funny papers have escaped the crosshairs of the anti-Christmas crusaders: two weeks ago in Killeen, Texas, a middle school administrator was forced to remove decorations featuring Linus from A Charlie Brown Christmas out of fear that the display created “an issue of separation of church and state.” Three days before Christmas Eve, the phrase “Jesus never existed” trended on Twitter.
The War on Christmas is a centuries-old struggle, and ironically the earliest American Christians may have kicked off the conflict. In the 16th and 17th centuries, Puritans in England and New England passed laws forbidding the celebration of Christmas, which they considered to contain the “trappings of popery” and “rags of the beast.” But whereas the Puritans fought the holiday for not being Christian enough, four major groups have attacked Christmas precisely because it is Christian.
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