From my sons:

From my wife:

Since I did most of my Christmas shopping online, at Toys ‘R’ Us, and at Best Buy this year, I somehow missed out on the release of Enya’s Sounds of the Season, a six-track CD exclusive to Target (in the USA). Although my musical choices usually run to movie soundtracks (if I’m working and need non-intrusive background music) or alternative/adult alternative/alt-rock/grunge/post-grunge/post-punk (what dumb genre labels those are), my favorite singer, without question, is Enya. Sounds of the Season features six tracks, two of which are old news (”Amid the Falling Snow” from Amarantine and “Oíche Chiún”—a Gaelic version of “Silent Night” that was released on its on EP several years ago). Among the four new recordings, somehow Enya manages to make “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” sound relaxing and peaceful, but it’s still an old Christmas standby that is really worth listening to only because of the lush vocals. The other two new songs in English, “The Magic of the Night” and “Christmas Secrets,” are lovely and ethereal. But the real gem of the collection is Enya’s beautiful rendition of “Adeste Fideles” in Latin.

The Los Angeles Times has an interesting story today on how much religious organizations are profiting from whipping the faithful up into a frenzy over the nonexistent “war on Christmas.” According to the article,

Apparently so. A Zogby International poll conducted last month found that 46% of Americans are offended when a store clerk greets them with “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas.” More than a third of the 12,800 adults surveyed said they had walked out of a store or resolved to avoid it in the future because the clerks didn’t show enough Christmas spirit.

“It’s the whole peace-on-earth and goodwill-toward-man thing. It lifts us up when people can say ‘Merry Christmas’ without worrying about whether it’s politically correct,” said Jennifer Giroux, a Cincinnati entrepreneur.

She began marketing rubber bracelets urging “Just Say ‘Merry Christmas’ ” last December; this season, she has sold more than 50,000, at $2 apiece. She plans to donate her profits to a Christian charity. “It’s never been about the money,” she said. “It’s about the message.”

The United States is a diverse nation, populated by individuals who adhere to many different religions, or to none at all. Taking offense because of someone’s choice of words when they try to wish you well hardly promotes “the whole peace-on-earth and goodwill-toward-man thing.” The “war on Christmas” is a creation of Christians themselves, trying desperately to claim a coveted “victim” status—never mind to whip up “team spirit” and make some money in the process. But attempting to manipulate other people’s seasonal speech through boycotts and other such behaviors is antithetical to Jesus’s “golden rule.” Imagine how Christian business owners would feel if customers walked out or targeted them with boycotts over clerks’ failures to give appropriate Chanukkah, Kwanzaa, or even (to move slightly earlier in the year) Ramadan greetings! I’m really disgusted by this behavior on the part of prominent groups like the American Family Association. Just have yourself a merry little Christmas and quit obsessing over whether the Wal-Mart greeter said “Merry Christmas” or “Happy holidays”!

The Los Angeles Times has a funny editorial today by Joel Stein, talking about the “war on Hanukkah.” It’s a really funny piece, and I commend it to you if you, like me, appreciate wry humor.

However, buried in the piece is a gem that needs to be taken very, very seriously. Stein writes:

Because if you’re going tribal, we’re going tribal. And though our tribe is small and often out of shape, we’re scrappy. So think twice before you spill out too much vitriol about this war on Christmas that you’re winning. When the empowered convince themselves that they’re under attack, they often convince themselves that cruelty to the powerless is justified. These are the scary sugar plums that dance in Lou Dobbs’ head. (Italics added—RCH)

Sometimes, when Christians act like Christians are “victimized” in the USA, it drives me batty. Christianity is still the majority religion in this country, both in terms of raw numbers and in terms of social and political influence. But playing the “victim” or “under attack” card allows some Christians to feel justified in “fighting back,” which usually translates into either verbally or legislatively beating up on non-Christians—a very un-Christian thing to do.

That is, the seventeenth-century war on Christmas—waged by Christians, no less. See Andreas Kostenburger’s post for more.

I propose an indefinite ban and moratorium on any Christmas song with the word “baby” in the title, unless that word refers to “baby Jesus.” Specifically, I am really, really tired of “Merry Christmas, Baby” and “Santa Baby”; every single recording artist currently or formerly working in the USA seems to feel a compulsion to cover one or both of these dreadful ditties. Enough already!