Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all of my readers and supporters. Allow me to share my Christmas column that I wrote for the Calgary Sun back in 2004. With a few tweaks (I think my theological language about Jesus's birth is slightly inaccurate), I think it could run today:

Allow me to be the first Jew to say to you "Merry Christmas."

Not "season's greetings." Not "happy holidays." Merry Christmas. Nothing added, nothing taken away.

Once, not so long ago, the chief challenge for Christians at this time of year was putting Christ back into Christmas -- reminding the faithful that Christmas isn't just about egg nog and presents, but that it was a celebration of the Christian God and His birth.

Today, the battle isn't to keep Christ in Christmas -- it's to keep Christmas at all.

Foremost in the war to deracinate anything Christian in society is the government, especially the federal government. At official memorial ceremonies, ranging from the Swiss Air memorial to the one after 9/11, the mention of Jesus is expressly forbidden. Even the military's chaplains are facing their emblem -- a stylized cross -- being removed from their caps, lest it offend. By contrast, immediately after 9/11, Jean Chretien visited a Muslim mosque. Paul Martin underwent an aboriginal "smudge ceremony" when he became PM.

But both men each swore that their own religion, mere Christianity, would never affect their political decisions, especially on matters of morality.

Both authorized campaign attacks against their political challengers -- Preston Manning, Stockwell Day and Stephen Harper -- for daring not to abandon their own faiths upon entering the public square, too.

This year, an agent of Revenue Canada telephoned Calgary's bishop, Fred Henry, and threatened that if the priest dared to criticize the Liberal government's policies on moral issues, he'd risk having the church's charitable status removed -- and thus subjected to massive taxes. The prime minister's spokesman called the bishop a liar. Really? I know who I believe.

Once, people feared entering politics if they committed a moral sin in their private life. Now, they fear entering politics if they promote moral virtue in public life.

Secular fundamentalists say this is necessary for separation of church and state. But that concept is an American one, not Canadian (even there, the only prohibition in the U.S. Constitution is against government abridging religious rights). Their motto is "In God We Trust."

In Canada, our Constitution is positively stuffed with religious rights, including government support for religious education. The very first sentence in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms reads "Whereas Canada is founded upon principles that recognize the supremacy of God and rule of law."

Freedom of religion is the first freedom listed in the Charter, ahead of freedom of speech or the right to vote. Our head of state, Queen Elizabeth, is also head of the Church of England.

Our anthem asks God to keep our land glorious and free. Parliament and legislatures open with a prayer.

This is not just about ornaments or incidentals. It is an outward reflection of the core values that make us different from, say, Iran, or Togo. We are not just another country. We are a great country, not because of our geography or economy, but because our culture is rooted in the highest ideals. They are Christian principles - call them Judeo-Christian principles, if it makes you more comfortable. But that is what makes Canada great -- not our forests, or weather, or government spending.

Those principles are being attacked. Sometimes frontally, as with the latest assault from the Supreme Court.

Sometimes subtly, as with the advent of "seasons greetings" and "winter holidays." There are many solutions needed. But the simplest is to start saying "Merry Christmas," and correcting those who don't.