(Originally posted on The Subjective Scribe)


Sage has an excellent post on his blog "Musings" about the current battle to save Christmas:


Suzie's stirring the pot again over at Assorted Babble, supposedly exposing some liberal conspiracy to neuter Christmas by ripping Christ out of the holiday. As I often do, I added my two cents worth. Just in case you’re wondering… I don’t think there is a vast left wing conspiracy to take away Christmas. Sure, there are a few radicals out there, but then again, the further right or left one gets from the mainstream, the crazier the folks get. As Christians, we make ourselves look bad when we feel threatened and start shooting from the hip. Such a response isn’t "Christ-like" nor does it bring out the best in us. So I don’t worry about folks trying to take Christ out of Christmas or whether or not the 10 Commandments are planted on the courthouse lawn. (another big issue for this group.)

I think some of the people leading such crusades to keep Chirst in Christmas or to keep the Commandments posted are prideful and want to be seen as the savior of Christianity. But Christianity doesn’t need a savior; unless I'm greatly mistaken and we're all fools, we already have the Savior. Secondly, they feel they are leading a righteous campaign, but in doing so they ignore the greater picture. If they want to be a Fundamentalist, they should realize there are a lot of things in our society that doesn’t conform to the teachings of Jesus—and shoving our symbols down the throats of others isn’t one of them. If we really wanted to be radical as Christians, we’d take serious the teachings of Jesus or the meaning of all ten of the commandments, instead of randomly picking and choosing those we want to follow.

[continued]
Sage comments echo what I've been saying for quite some time. Many Christians, particularly the Religious Right, are so focused on defending their rights and fighting to keep Christian symbols in public places that they are losing the over all "battle" for people's souls. When issues like these come up, I simply ask, "What would Jesus do?" What did Jesus do during His life here on this earth? Did he spend his time warring against the secular authorities or non-religious? No, he challenged his own religious leaders for their religiosity. Did he crusade to make sure religious symbols (Hebrew at the time) were included in the public places? I can't find where he did.

Why then is the American Church so consumed with these petty, superficial issues and ignoring the very things God actually commanded us to do? Feed the hungry, clothe the needy, care for the sick and visit those in prison … "Love your neighbor as yourself" ... "Love your enemy" ... (How does God define Love? "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." In all that the Religious Right doing in their battle over the word "Christmas" in secular settings and their crusade to keep or even put the Ten Commandments in public buildings and their political efforts to pass more morality laws, how is it not "self-seeking"?

It's all about Christians and Christian "rights" and not about Christ. And that's the problem.