Last week on WGN Radio's Extension 720 with Milt Rosenberg program the topic turned one evening to the increasing secularization of Christmas. The panel included an official from the american Jewish Committee, a lawyer specializing in religious issues, a state aCLU board member, and this columnist.
The representative from the aCLU is a multitasker. He is also a Protestant clergyman and an executive in a church association. Bright and amiable, it's easy to understand why he's a leader in his organizations.
One of the arguments he advanced is a common one, if not among aCLU types, then certainly with many self-identified religious progressives. The word "liberal" in such circles has generally gone the way of Nehru suits.
"In terms of taking Christ out of Christmas," he said, "look at the Congress. It just gave the wealthy $90 billion. at the expense of who? The poor! Now read the New Testament over against that."
The erudite Dr. Rosenberg pointed out that the statement was a political interpretation rather than a matter of demonstrable fact. I chimed in with an observation that there's an enormous difference between the government giving money to people and merely permitting them to keep more of their hard-earned dollars.
Mikhail Gorbachev has been quoted as claiming Jesus Christ was the first socialist. Many Christians of various denominations seem to think that Jesus' principal message was one of economic redistribution. as a Catholic, I've seen parish peace and justice committees that serve as little more than auxiliaries of the Democratic party.
If you're truly a follower of Christ, the line of argument goes, you are obliged to support colossal welfare spending and the massive bureaucracy it takes to operate it. This is interpreted as an acceptance of Jesus' teaching, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
I'm no theologian. I don't even play one on the radio.
But I've read enough of the Bible to think that it's hardly a socialist manifesto. Two of the Ten Commandments deal with private property. The notion of private property, of people having money and possessing assets that only they control, isn't consistent with extensive government redistribution.
Some believers claim that expanding the welfare state isn't even a political question. It's purely a matter of Christian charity. Jesus instructed us to help the poor, they say, and through the state we are doing exactly that.
True charity, like true love, cannot be forced. In the words of St. Paul, "Everyone must give according to what he has inwardly decided, not sadly, not grudgingly, for God loves a cheerful giver." authentic generosity cannot be mandated by government.
If, as assorted examinations of the subject over the years have suggested, welfare programs often hurt the very people they were designed to help, then demanding them is something Christians should have no part in. Correct me if I'm wrong, but there is no New Testament injunction that citizens need become slavishly reliant on state handouts.
Much of the Bible that I've read doesn't offer direction on how we should relate to government. Rather, it provides guidance on how we should treat one another as individuals. This is usually with love, charity, mercy and forgiveness. Importantly, this must be done willingly and voluntarily, not because of force.
So what does all this have to do with Christmas? The holy day can serve as a reminder of the power of love.
John writes: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." Jesus came into this world so that men might have life, and have it more abundantly. He taught love, sacrifice and faith.
Those who profess to be His followers will always fall short of His teachings. Some of us more than others, as I know from personal experience.
We can only keep trying. The changes Jesus Christ brings cannot be coerced. They can't be ordered by Washington. They have to come from within ourselves.
I wish all readers, left, right and everywhere in between, a very Merry Christmas.
This appears in the December 22, 2005 Oak Lawn (IL) Reporter. Mike Bates is the author of Right angles and Other Obstinate Truths.
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