Every year we hear more and more about the so-called Christmas Wars. According to its promoters and alleged "defenders" of Christmas, the godless liberals and atheists are trying to undermine wholesome Christmas traditions as part of their agenda of undermining Christianity. For these people, this is less about Christmas than it is about cultural dominance: they think they should have the authority to determine how Christmas is celebrated and what status it has in American society as part of their belief that, as Christians, they should determine the course and nature of American society generally.
The idea that Christmas celebrations of and attitudes towards Christmas are changing because of basic trends in American culture is dismissed or never even considered. The real cause is supposed to be "godless liberals," though most liberals are theists. How small numbers of atheists acquired the power to change Christmas when large numbers of Christians are unable to change things back is never addressed. If people had to deal with broader cultural trends, they might have to acknowledge that American culture generally is turning away from traditional Christianity.
If Christmas has any enemies, chief among them may be Protestantism — the form of Christianity adhered to by most of those dedicated to "saving" Christmas from godless atheists. The reason is because Protestantism eliminated most of the many holy days that once made up the long Christmas holiday season. Protestants removed much of the religious significance of the holidays, leaving behind very little that could stand up to the relentless commercialization and secularization that characterize modern society. Read More...
The second biggest enemies of Christmas are the commercial retailers to whom supporters of the War on Christmas turn first to defend Christmas. These retailers have led the drive to transform Christmas from a time of religious contemplation to one of material excess. At the same time, some imagine that if these same retailers keep using "Christmas" instead of the generic "Holidays," Christmas can be saved. Just the opposite is likely true: it will only reinforce the association between Christmas and commerce, serving to accelerate the secularization of the Christmas holidays.
The more non-Christians there are in America, the less tenable it is to assume that everyone celebrates a Christian Christmas in any traditional manner. America's growing religious diversity ensures that there will be decreased tolerance for Christian supremacism and disregard of other religious traditions. People will adopt Christmas and transform it to meet their own cultural and religious circumstances or they will ignore it entirely. Either way, Christmas will have to change and adapt to the new circumstances.
Religious conservatives generally act as though secularism is the enemy of Christmas; while that isn't true, secularism does impact the public character of Christmas. As the American government becomes more explicitly secularized, it can no longer publicly support, endorse, or encourage explicitly religious aspects of Christmas celebrations. Secular aspects of Christmas, like Christmas trees, will retain support while religious displays like creches cannot. None of this can be changed by complaining about secularism, however.
One thing which religious conservatives don't seem to understand or are unwilling to admit is that culture is not and cannot be static. Culture is always changing and will always be in the process of changing. In their pursuit of their war against modernity, religious conservatives act like they think they can permanently return America to some idealized version of the 1950s where white Protestants were in charge and everyone else learned to submit. Not only will this not happen, but it isn't even remotely desirable.
Industrialization doesn't just produce rapid changes, it produces a context where change happens more rapidly. Christmas changed more in the 20th century that it did through the 18th and 19th. People from 1750 or 1850 may not have recognized Christmas in 1950, but people from 1950 would already have trouble with Christmas today. This is precisely what inspires conservative reactions: rapid changes that can't be easily integrated with tradition leads to nostalgic ideals that are treated as orthodoxy.
Predicting the future direction any culture will take is a difficult proposition at best. Some broad trends can, however, be discerned with regards to American culture generally and Christmas in particular. We can't say with any precision what will happen, but we can make informed guesses about the general direction things are likely to take — and based upon what I can see, that direction is not favorable to the agenda of conservative evangelicals who want American culture to be defined by their religious beliefs.
Both immigration and internal forces are causing American society to become increasingly pluralistic, especially with regards to religion. Belief in God remains high, but the religious structures and doctrines that surround theism are much more diverse than they were 50 years ago, and this diversity will only increase over time. The ability of conservative Christians to assume that others believe and act much like themselves must also decrease; this, in turn, prevents them from using their beliefs as a public standard of behavior.
Due in part to this increasing pluralization is the increasing secularization of America's public institutions. Because people are less homogenous in their religious or even their Christian outlook, public institutions have to be ready to treat everyone equally. Religious neutrality is ultimately dependent upon being secular. For this reason, traditional Christianity isn't part of the background assumptions of how most public institutions operate anymore. Christians, Christian beliefs, and Christian events are no longer favored or supported as they once were. This includes traditional Christian celebrations of a religious Christmas.
What this all means is that public recognition and support of Christmas will be increasingly secular in nature. Specifically religious symbols and celebrations of Christmas will fade into the background, being supported and expressed only in private and personal contexts. Governments, business, and other public areas will focus on Christmas in a way that is accessible to all: non-religious symbols like Santa and non-religious events such as parties.
