Christmas Wars & Christian Hegemony

How is it that members of the Christian majority in America are talking like they are really members of a persecuted minority? Aside from the fact that scriptures tells them they will be persecuted (therefore it must be true), there is a kernel of truth here: rather than being discriminated against, they are losing some of their dominant status in society.

Julian Sanchez writes for Reason Online:

While unusually visible this year, the panic over a War on Christmas is part of a more general persecution complex shared by some conservative Christians, which seems at least as strange as the minority-party style rage evidenced at this summer's Republican National Convention by people who now control every branch of government. ... Doubtless the faithful face many burdens, but it's probably worth recalling, for perspective's sake, the (almost certainly accurately) conventional wisdom that an open atheist could not be elected to national political office.

Even when genuine cases of religious speech's being squelched lead to a more prolonged battle, the narrative favored by the martyrs manqué doesn't always quite fit. When a Massachusetts high school attempted to punish Bible club members for distributing candy canes with religious messages affixed, Rev. Jerry Falwell justly fumed, but unjustly added: "And yes, students have just as much right to speak on religious topics as they do on secular topics— no matter what the ACLU might propagate." The hitch is that the ACLU successfully defended those very students. One wonders what Falwell makes of the fact that early puritans, regarding Christmas as too pagan and too papist (it's Christ's mass after all), banned its celebration, and that a few contemporary Christians remain sympathetic to that view.

To some extent, the feeling of marginalization may be the result of the very real process of cultural fragmentation. There is probably now as rich and varied a marketplace of Christian media—from Veggie Tales cartoons to the apocalyptic fantasy of the Left Behind series and its spinoffs—as there's ever been. But it's perceived as niche culture, in large part because cultural products are increasingly tailored to niches. ... What remains of the mainstream, meanwhile, steers clear of potentially divisive religious themes, not just because American society is gradually becoming more pluralistic in terms of the proportion of Christians to devotees of other faiths, or of none, but because the idea of a monolithic Christian audience is a lot of nonsense, however useful it is to demagogues.

So are we really seeing an unprecedented wave of hostility toward either Christmas or Christianity? Or is it, rather, that the waning of the cultural hegemony to which some Christians have come to feel entitled is perceived as an attack? Many of the most loudly trumpeted complaints in this vein are, after all, complaints about the absence of special treatment: no special spot for the Ten Commandments in the courthouse rotunda; no pride of place for Christmas among those happy winter holidays; no exceptions for the Christian charity.

At the end here Sanchez is describing something I've talked about before as well: conservative Christians are upset that Christianity (in particular, their form of Christianity) is no longer quite the basis of American culture. Orthodox, traditional Protestantism is no longer the assumption behind everything that people do. America is increasingly diverse and religiously pluralistic.

For some, this is an unacceptable and intolerable development — but there is also nothing they can do about it. Short of imposing their religion via a theocratic system, they can't turn back the clock and force people to assume or acknowledge their Christianity in any fashion. The government will continue with the trend of not giving special privileges to Christianity, Christian beliefs, or Christian symbols. Private business will continue to be inclusive in order to make all customers feel welcome rather than assume that people are Christians who share the same symbols, holy days, etc.

I think that's a good thing.