ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Thursday, Dec. 17 2009

"Christmas Wars" begin within
By Colleen Carroll Campbell

It has become an American tradition this time of year: Aggressive atheists roll
out holiday campaigns calling for a God-free Christmas; strident secularists go
to war against manger scenes and "Merry Christmas" greetings; and Christians
wring their hands about the "Christmas Wars" that threaten to obscure the
religious reason for the season.

Comforting as it may be to blame the grinches among us for the secularization
of the holiday, atheism and anti-Christmas zeal are not the main culprits. A
new Pew poll suggests that theological confusion and consumerism among
Christians pose far greater threats to the Christian character of Christmas
than anything the ACLU or American Humanist Association could cook up.

The survey, released last week, painted a picture of Americans as
overwhelmingly Christian in their declared religious affiliation but
increasingly likely to mix and match contradictory beliefs to suit their
personal tastes and current fashions. New Age and Eastern beliefs are
particularly in vogue right now: The poll found that 22 percent of Christians
believe in reincarnation, 23 percent believe in astrology, 23 percent believe
that spiritual energy resides in such objects as trees and crystals, 17 percent
believe in the casting of curses, 17 percent say they have seen or been in the
presence of ghosts and 14 percent consult fortune tellers or psychics.

That such practices and beliefs run counter to traditional Christian doctrine —
and to the biblical Christmas story of a God-made-man who came to earth to
liberate mankind from seeking salvation in inanimate objects or favorable
planetary alignments — seems unimportant to many American Christians. These
spiritual freelancers are not willing to reject Christianity and embrace
another religious tradition. They prefer instead to take a syncretistic and
consumeristic approach to faith, to shop among the various religions and houses
of worship to create an individualistic blend of often conflicting beliefs.
According to the survey, more than a third of Americans attend religious
services at more than one place and nearly a quarter attend religious services
of a faith different from their own.

Such flexibility has its benefits in a pluralistic society. Greater exposure to
traditions other than one's own can lead to greater empathy for those who
believe differently. But the unwillingness to take any belief system or moral
tradition seriously enough to commit wholeheartedly to it can pose problems in
a democracy that depends on the ability of citizens to regulate their passions
and use their freedoms responsibly. Commitment to a religious tradition often
serves as a stabilizing force in the lives of citizens, allowing them to become
anchored in a particular faith community, guided by moral norms that don't
change with their moods and held accountable to someone other than themselves.

Such sincere, specific religious commitment also can inoculate against the
self-absorption and materialism that drives our consumer culture. The
commercialization of Christmas that so many Christians deplore could not have
happened without the complicity of Christians. And it is no coincidence that
the more we treat religious belief as just another consumer item to be chosen,
discarded or ignored at whim, the more difficult we find it to remember the
spiritual significance of Christmas. The real "War on Christmas" is less about
external battles over the placement of manger scenes than about internal
battles in the hearts of believers over what that manger scene means and how
much it really matters.

A growing number of American Christians are recognizing this. One example of
this awakening: "Advent Conspiracy" (www.adventconspiracy.org), a new web-based
push to convince Christians to "spend less and give more" this holiday season.
The campaign calls on Christians fretting about the secularization of Christmas
to do something tangible about their concern, by foregoing some
shop-till-you-drop madness in favor of donating more to charity, giving the
kids more face time than toys and gathering in community to remember the child
whose birthday started it all.

Colleen Carroll Campbell is an author, television and radio host and St.
Louis-based fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. Her website is
www.colleen-campbell.com.