Words matter. A lot. As the philosopher Peter Kreeft says, words serve as houses for ideas.
When you wish people “Merry Christmas,” you endorse the idea that the birth of the Christ is the apotheosis, in every sense of the word, of the season. When you wish people the words “Happy Holidays,” you endorse the idea that other holidays are equally as important as the birth of Christ — a sentiment that is not only disingenuous, but also reeks of cognitive dissonance.
The Left denies the existence of the “War on Christmas.” Yet, they defend the phrase “Happy Holidays” with almost as much fervor as they defend “reproductive rights.” Now a Jesuit priest is helping to advance their cause.
For those non-Catholics out there, when you see the word “Jesuit” before the word “Priest,” prepare to hear statements that sound more like leftwing talking points than theological truths. The once mighty religious order has fallen into such disarray that their chief head now says that Satan is just a “symbol” rather than a real being.
Speaking with MIC, Rev. Kevin O’Brien, Dean of the Jesuit School of Theology at Santa Clara University, lit Christians a giant gaslight in the “War on Christmas,” arguing that Jesus probably would not care if you honored His name with the word “Christmas” or decided to hide His name with the word “Holiday.”
“It should not be about litmus tests, about whether I say ‘happy holidays’ or ‘merry Christmas,'” O’Brien said. “I don’t like the concept of a ‘War on Christmas.’ To me, that’s an easy way out to prove your Christianity.”
Father O’Brien not only gaslights Christians, but he also straw-mans them by suggesting they view “Merry Christmas” as some kind of test of faith. Nobody thinks that because they say “Merry Christmas,” they earn “party posse points” to gain favor with St. Peter at Heaven’s gate. People just really hate bowing to the agenda of multiculturalism.
Speaking of the multicultural agenda, Father O’Brien thinks that Christians should be well and good with that too.
“We have to be careful about the language we use in a pluralistic society like ourselves, because in it we encounter people of different faith traditions,” O’Brien said. “This means listening to people and respecting people who are different than us. We listen to them not just simply to be nice, but to learn.”
His sentiment echoes this meme, which shows a pentagram on the same level as a cross:
There really are only two holidays during Christmas that warrant mention: New Year’s and Hanukkah. New Year’s is basically a fortune cookie. You know it’s coming, you get a smile out of it, but it’s not why you came to the restaurant. For Hanukkah, Americans have done a terrific job of including that in public celebrations; however, it has never been the focal point of the season.
Kwanzaa deserves consideration as a genuine holiday about as much as Scientology deserves consideration as a genuine religion. Holidays invented just 50 years ago by convicted felons don’t count.
Just another one of the many “Top 10 ‘War On Christmas’ Fails Of All Time.”