What War On Christmas? The Headlines Project

The War on Christmas, as it has been called every year for some time now, gets a lot of press. So much so that I don't think I even need to link to anything; all you need to do is tune into social media or hit your favorite conservative news vendor to find the latest greatest attacks on the holidays.

I'm going to cover a few of the common issues raised every year here. Like previous headlines, I'll keep it short, so let's get to it.

Taking the Christ out of Christmas

In case you haven't heard, the common method of shortening the word "Christmas", by substituting "Christ" with "X" is one of the many wars on Christmas, and the Christian faith.

This is actually very easy to dispel. Did you know that, essentially, the "X" in Greek represents Christ? So, in a sense, you're getting closer to the original nomenclature by using "X-mas" as opposed to "Christmas". You can read more here.

Happy Holidays vs. Merry Christmas

Another simple one to dispel is the idea that saying "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas" is degrading to those of the Christian faith.

Holiday is derived from Old English, essentially a shortening of "Holy Day".

The Red Cup

If you've been on social media at all, you've probably heard about the Starbucks red cup debate.

The irony of it all is, the red color (typically combined with green, but not always) has been believed to symbolize Christ's birth and death.

The Christmas Tree's REAL History

Don't have a Christmas tree? It's ok. You're not a bad Christian. In fact, the traditional tree may have been co-opted from a number of different cultures and religious practices.

When was Christ born?

This is an interesting bit of study. Based on documentation in the Bible, Christ was most likely not born during winter, due to when the census fell, and other things referenced in the text. In fact, the date we currently celebrate Christmas is believed to have been another shift by the modern Catholic church to coincide with pagan rituals and other festivities.

So, before you claim there is a war on Christmas, study up. As it turns out, you may learn more about your own faith than you realize; possibly even affirming it! If you want to help spread the word, please download the printable headline tattoo! As always, feel free to remove my logo from the URL.

Disclaimer: I am an Athiest, but I was previously a practicing Christian, and had spent a fair amount of time studying my past faith in college.

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The Headlines Project is a social experiment where I print (using temporary tattoos) short "headlines" on my bald head with a web address on the back of my skull linking back to these posts. View the other Headlines.