A Christmas Reality

Image by Bergeron

December 25^th can be somewhat of a challenge for Christians, because there is the constant struggle to keep the commemoration of this day in faithful balance and, therefore, in its proper context. 

Its significance is rooted in the meaning of the event of the birth of Jesus.  But it also has enormous economic implications in the West because of the massive spending associated with it, as people celebrate the occasion with an exchange of gifts. 

A paradox of this Christian feast is that it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep in balance the contrast between the religious and the secular aspects associated with honoring the birth of Christ. 

Each year at this time, the bigots come out from the darkness of their closets, fully arrayed in the armor of their anti-Christian bias and bigotry, targeting the slightest perceived injustice, as they march to courtrooms across the U.S. waving the Constitution before judges in well-planned attempts to snuff out the joy of Christmas.


Example:  A Wisconsin-based atheist group recently flexed its muscles with lawsuits attempting to remove the Nativity scene in front of a courthouse in Henderson, Texas.  It then aimed its guns towards Pitman, New Jersey, where the Knights of Columbus sponsor an annual banner entitled “Keep Christ in Christmas.”

I point this out, because the onslaught against Christians is not a trivial matter:  Just ask the estimated 700,000 of them who have been forced out of Iraq through harassment, murders, and church bombings since the Second Gulf War.

To underscore the issue, The Wall Street Journal featured a front-page article on Saturday.  It describes in disturbing detail the crescendo of extremist-inspired persecutions against the centuries-old minority population of Christian Copts who are struggling for survival against the anarchy resulting from the so-called “Arab Spring.”

Thanks for reading, and be grateful as I am this Christmas that we live in these United States.