The two words “in public?” at the end of the headline are critical. Certainly every Christian should endeavor to keep Christ in Christmas in their home privately, and in their church. But what about in public? Is it still important to keep Christ in Christmas in the public sector or is saying “Happy holidays” and calling it a “Holiday Tree’ acceptable?

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) has worked tirelessly to ensure the rights of people wanting to celebrate Christmas are protected. Each year people put up trees, nativity scenes, and exchange gifts. And each year special interest groups sue to remove all mentions of God from public sight. Such efforts include threatening schools with lawsuits if they allow any traditional Christmas carols, seeking to remove nativity scenes from public property, and keeping any religious themed floats out of parades.

Much confusion abounds concerning what is legal and what is not for people in public, in the workplace, and in schools regarding celebrating Christmas. ADF made this comment in a recent article:

“But virtually none of these battles have to end by capitulating to the shrill demands of those who claim celebrating Christmas is unconstitutional.  The truth is that public acknowledgements of the Christmas holiday are not unconstitutional and never have been.  It is constitutional to say “Merry Christmas.”  It is constitutional to sing or perform religious Christmas carols at public school concerts.  It is constitutional to have a Christmas tree, and there is nothing in the Constitution requiring the absurd step of calling it a holiday tree.  It is also constitutional to have a nativity scene on public property, under certain conditions.”

Personally I believe it is important for Christians to preserve the freedom to celebrate Christmas in public. As a Christian I am not offended if a Jewish person wishes me a “Happy Hanukkah,” and neither should they or anyone else be offended by “Merry Christmas.” I find it ironic that people want to celebrate this holiday by changing the names and words that define it. If you want to create your own holiday, please feel free to do so. However, you don’t have the right to try and alter Christmas to suit your views.

The reality is that Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Christ. Without the birth of Christ in Bethlehem over two-thousand years ago Christmas would not exist. Eliminating the inherent religious connotations associated with Christmas is at the heart of efforts to change it. The push to completely secularize our society knows no bounds and nothing is sacred or off limits. For this reason even an inherently religious holiday is fair game for secularists seeking to remove God from every corner of society.

So yes, I do believe it is important to protect the public celebration of this holiday and all the traditions that go along with it. Our society needs to hear people saying “Merry Christmas.” We need to encourage children to make and send cards to friends, relatives, veterans, and children they don’t know an ocean away. We need to sing songs about a “Silent Night” in the “Little Town of Bethlehem” and “peace on earth good will toward men.”

Without the true meaning of this sacred day we’re left with another empty, meaningless, consumer-driven day to further self-aggrandize ourselves. (We’re in danger of that already.) Christmas is a reminder that the materialism our society is drenched in is minuscule compared with the greatest of what Jesus did for humanity. I understand some don’t believe that or want to think about it; that does not remove the truth that is inherent in the day.

The effort to remove God from Christmas also reminds us that it’s not merely an effort to secularize our culture, but is a direct attack on Christianity. Our president has no problem recognizing and celebrating Kwanza or Ramadan with all the traditional elements to those holidays. Our society encourages everyone to “coexist” and be “tolerant” of other beliefs and faiths. That is, as long as it isn’t Christianity. Muslim, Buddhist, Atheist, and Wiccan celebrations are acceptable, but Jesus and anything remotely “Christian” is anathema.

Listen, you don’t have to celebrate Christmas. You don’t have to say “Merry Christmas” when someone says it to you. You don’t have to look at nativity scenes, attend parade’s, or even acknowledge that “Jesus is the reason for the season.” I don’t celebrate Hanukkah, pay attention to Kwanza, or even know when Ramadan occurs because I don’t celebrate or believe in them. But I’m not offended by them either. And I support the right of people to celebrate these holidays as they choose.

Somehow the irony of calling or people to “coexist” and “tolerate” the views of others is lost on those who attack the inherent religious meaning of Christmas. The altar of secularism knows no irony or hypocrisy.

I, for one, intend to keep Christmas as I was taught in my childhood; by celebrating the birth of Christ both privately and publicly. I hope more Christians will do the same. I also hope parents will teach their children the true meaning of this day and how to celebrate it well.