Is There a War on Christmas? Well, Obviously….

Posted on December 1, 2012 by Dave

On the one hand, the answer to the question “Is there a war on Christmas” might seem intuitive: Since there is now a war on everything, why not Christmas. There’s a war on women, a war on men, a war on terror, a war on the war on terror, etc.

The folks over at Fox News believe there is a war on Christmas from tax raising liberals who want to end our American way of life. (Note that, as of my posting this, to the right of the page about the “war on Christmas,” Fox also the “Pic of the day,” which today is a supermodel showing off swimwear; not that I have anything against supermodels, but I thought the image presented interesting contrast with the “war on Christmas” from the Fox News angle).

Of course, no one can deny that the long transition from ubiquitous “Merry Christmas” to “Happy Holidays” as well as the diminishing presence of public nativities are just minor marks in the well known secularist transition. In the subversive Thomist worldview (and I would argue it is part and parcel of Catholic thinking) the secular is good, because it is where God moves and reveals himself. But secularism, which is a worldview, one which denies the beauty of divinity and which seeks to strip nature of its sacramentality and impose at least marginal atheism on society, is bad.

Be that as it may, we might still ask: Is there really a war on Christmas? That is, beyond the transition to secularism (which seems to be inevitable in any liberal democratic society, and in that case asking if secularism is bad is like asking if it is bad that I have to eat right to stay healthy), is there something especially at stake in Christmas?

It’s barely been over a week since we saw the American tradition of honoring Christ in the manger by stampeding into our local WalMarts to get the best Christmas sales. Two especially pious men beat a man to death for shop-lifting.

It’s also apparent that this year more people will have to work on Christmas than in previous years. I’m not referring to crucial jobs like hospital and security and non-optional maintenance. I mean retail and restaurant jobs. Every year I see more and more stores and even fast food shops open on Christmas. I notice that Fox News never bothers to mention this when they rant about the “war on Christmas.” Apparently if it is pro-profit, it must be good for Christmas. But if you think Christmas has something to do with taking time with family for recreation and reflection, you’re not really on the Fox horizon.

I won’t deny that there are a handful of radical secularists out there willing to try to strip culture of any memory of its Christian heritage. They will always be around. For the most part, they will have about as much influence as extreme fundamentalists who seek to impose theocracy. The two groups are about equal in number and, although an interesting side show, are really irrelevant.

But I suspect the far greater threat to Christmas comes from the ghosts in the Capitalist machine: What this time of year should be about will be, once again, transformed into a giant commercial headache. People will drain their credit cards; parking spots will be fought over; and a few good drinking parties are sure to be heard.

But in all of this, will Christmas do what it is supposed to do: Will it make us better people? The whole point of Christmas is to remind us of sublime truths that transform us toward the divine: that God is really present in human history; that God comes to us in humble ways that we shouldn’t be afraid to approach. That God works amongst the poor and raises them up. In our Advent readings, we even see an emphasis on peace in the readings from Isaiah. Over and over again this month we will hear that God is going take away our spears and swords to turn them into plowshares and pruning hooks.

Christmas is about the divinization of the world. It is about overturning systems of greed to create equality and justice. It is about ending war and ushering in peace. Yes, there is a war on Christmas, and it might be that Fox News is yet another part of it.

On Superheroes, Hope, and Politics

Posted on November 29, 2011 by Jeff

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to talk about hope in relation to superheroes. Superheroes represent an essential hope and optimism for humanity. On the one hand, superheroes are a sign that we human beings have hope that good will win in the end. Superman, Batman, Spiderman — all of our heroes struggle, no doubt — just as we struggle every day. Yet, they survive through the struggles and bring about a better future. On the other hand, our love of superheroes represents a basic hope in our hearts for a better future.

Superheroes, then, are very much a part of Advent. Advent is about the coming of hope — Jesus is our hope. He is our Savior, our Lord, our Brother. He promises a better future:

O come, O Come, Emmanuel

And Ransom Captive Israel

We are all captive — captive to sin, captive to selfishness, captive to despair. But in our hearts resides the divine, because we, in the end, are imago Dei — made in the image of God. What is interesting is that, so often, these Superheroes represent the best of ourselves. Superman stands out here, of course, because he comes from another world, grows up poor and marginalized from the others of his community, and then rises as a star that saves us from evil. He turns aside from selfishness and despair. We, too, can turn aside.

What Advent represents is one more opportunity to turn aside from despair and embrace hope.

In this light, we can see that the people of Occupy and the people of the Tea Party represent a cry for hope. They both in their own ways cry out for a better future, and while they disagree over the way to get there — much more unites them than divides them.

And that itself is hopeful

NEW YEAR’S REVOLUTIONS

Posted on November 23, 2011 by Dave

NEW YEARS REVOLUTIONS
By Dave Kovacs

Some people will say that it is too early to talk about New Year’s Resolutions. But for Catholics, a new year starts this weekend, Saturday evening to be precise, with the introduction of a new liturgical year on the first Sunday of Advent. And since the legal New Year isn’t too far behind, I wanted to offer some thoughts on how we might improve ourselves and our society in the coming year.

Since this blog tends to discuss three areas of our life, it seems appropriate to discuss three areas where we can revolutionize our life and our society in the coming year. Those three areas are the spiritual, the social, and the political.

I always look forward to Advent, as well as January 1, as a time to think about what new spiritual practice I might incorporate into my life. If you don’t have some daily spiritual discipline in your life, this weekend offers a good time to start trying to think of a way to revolutionize your spiritual life. Many years ago, on a similar first Sunday of Advent, I decided to start practicing Lectio Divina (an ancient form of Christian meditation wherein the Scriptures become a personal conversation with God) every morning. This year, I am resolving to do two things: To practice some form of mindfulness every day, and to commit a year to the study of the Gospel of Mark (the liturgy’s focal Gospel for next year, Year B) with the aid of commentaries. As our world undergoes a revolution, as we begin to focus our values away from the commercial and material and toward the transcendent, toward the way of love, I urge everyone to find some daily spiritual practice that will nourish your inner-life.

The spiritual life drives us to love God and neighbor, and should serve as a place where we find ways to do more for our neighbor. So I also hope to find ways to be more supportive of those around me this year. I have decided to be more aware in the upcoming year of how my transactions in the marketplace affect my fellow man. I expect this will mean consuming less, trying to acquire goods from local businesses, purchasing less meat from factory farms (and less meat in general), and finding ways to donate a little more money to charity. I am currently writing my own action plan which will allow me to monitor how my economic activities affect my fellow man; once I have decided on a method, I will post it to this blog.

Lastly, we might all consider our political life. Some people today never read the news, never vote, never get involved in their local politics. This is irresponsible. We all have a responsibility toward the social and political structures we find ourselves in. We can be sure that 2012 will be an exciting and active political year. Between a big election and the evolving Occupy movement, there is something for us all to do. Please find a way you can dedicate yourself toward political justice.

In our society politics has become such a nasty word that we are afraid to talk to strangers about it. That very fear strikes me as the antithesis of democracy and free speech. Therefore, in 2012 I am resolving to, at least once a week, try to strike up a conversation about important political issues with someone who I normally would not bring it up to, to have more debates and discussions about the pressing issues, and perhaps to turn a few people on to the important problems facing the country who otherwise would not have taken interest.

I hope all of our readers will experience their own positive revolutions this year as we work together to find inner-peace, world peace, and social harmony.

Subversive Thomism

Living Justly and Loving Kindness in a World on the Brink of Collapse

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