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Wishing for peace, joy, goodwill
(by Dave Lange - December 22, 2011)
Wishing for peace, joy, goodwill
Merry Christmas! If you're offended by that, too bad. Happy holidays! If you're offended by that, too bad. Allow me to toss in a little peace on Earth, season's greetings, joy to world and goodwill to men and women.
Christmas is one of the two holiest days for those of us who call ourselves Christians. It marks the birth of Jesus Christ, who arrived on this Earth in the most humble conditions, spent his life reaching out to the poor and downtrodden and taught that love and harmony are better than intolerance and avarice. Who could be offended by that?
Last week, I experienced the joy of one of the most beloved stories of the season, Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol," at Playhouse Square. According to the story, a heartless Ebenezer Scrooge disdains the penniless and hopeless. He pays his employee, Bob Cratchit, such meager wages that he can barely feed his family, including a disabled son, Tiny Tim, whose health is faltering. Old Scrooge changes his evil ways after revisiting his past, getting a reality check on the present and, especially, seeing the damnable end of his miserly life.
"A Christmas Carol" may not be a biblical story, but it seems to me that its message reinforces the one brought by the wondrous birth that is celebrated on this holiday.
The next morning's newspaper reported that nearly half of all Americans now are classified as low income and that one quarter of those who need emergency food assistance cannot get it.
Both major political parties in this country want to extend a reduction in Social Security taxes in these tough times. One of those parties wants to pay for that tax cut by imposing a small 1.9 percent tax increase on incomes in excess of $1 million a year. The other party would rather pay for it by reducing government programs that help the poor.
Numerous local projects, such as Geauga County's Sponsor-a-Family, police officers' Shop With a Cop and schoolchildren's collections for the City Mission, have been featured on the pages of our newspapers in recent weeks, as they always are during the holiday season. We've also reported the extra effort made by local churches throughout the Christmas season to assist the neediest people among us, regardless of their faith.
During a recent Sunday sermon, our pastor referred to what he called the "politically correct" greeting, "Happy holidays!" as opposed to his clearly preferred, "Merry Christmas!"
According to the latest Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, about 78 percent of Americans identify themselves as Christian. Many of them believe Santa Claus and decorated trees exemplify Christmas. Nearly one in 20 Americans are Jewish. Many of them celebrated Hanukkah this year on Dec. 21. About 16 percent of Americans are not affiliated with any religion. Many of them celebrate Christmas in their own way. African-Americans account for 12 percent of our country's population. Kwanzaa, a holiday created in 1966 to celebrate their universal heritage, begins on Dec. 26.
For those who believe in peace, love and goodwill, "Happy holidays!" do not make Christmas any less merry. But for many people of all faiths and ethnic groups who suffer the consequences of intolerance and greed, this Christmas will not be so merry.
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