Timothy Buchanan
Avoiding Christmas mania
By Timothy Buchanan
Each year, new challenges invade the Christmas season. New obstacles are erected that make it more difficult to keep our focus on the singular event that shaped all of human history forevermore. It's always helpful to scrutinize the plans and practices of our secular culture, even when they are ostensibly honorable and noble. Or perhaps, especially then.
Is it possible to go overboard celebrating Christmas? It is, when the exuberance and excess distracts from the holy event or perverts it in some bizarre way. Then, we celebrate the celebration instead of the Savior. Retailers have been doing their part to co-opt the Christmas season for financial gain for decades, changing its character and essence.
Where television commercials for pharmaceuticals dominate program breaks during most of the year, retail advertising now saturates the programming. Not surprisingly, none of these commercial messages includes any allusion to God, any mention of Jesus or even a hint of the reason for the Christmas gift-buying obsession. Few of the national retail advertisers even identifies the holiday as Christmas. Usually, it's simply referred to ambiguously as "the holiday season."
It's been said that good is the enemy of best. Few places is this truth more apparent than in America at Christmastime. In the frenzy of gift-giving and holiday cheer, the source of joy is frequently lost. Even in charity, the message of God's gift in answer to human poverty becomes obscured. Angel trees, Toys for Tots and Salvation Army workers may help to alleviate needs, but without the gospel of hope, all become futile and insignificant. Cheap toys, clothing and hot meals without cannot restore hope to the hopeless, but any one of these with the gospel can change a life.
At this time of year, our news media will spotlight the sacrifices of members of the armed forces like they do at no other time. News networks celebrate specious acts of kindness by their favorite ideological cronies in an effort to show them as kind and generous.
In much the same way that Democrats and the fake news media have used the bogus Mueller probe to distract from the beneficial effects of Trump administration policies, media corporations are using movies and television programs to advance their disturbing and destructive goals.
One obscene defilement of the season is Disney/ABC's popular television special, The Great Christmas Light Fight. Excessive and ostentatious Christmas lighting displays are the theme of this program. Secular images of Santa Claus and elves, reindeer and nutcrackers adorn the homes and lawns of contestants – and lights – thousands, even millions of lights. Bigger, brighter and more is the rule. A cheap battery-powered trophy is awarded to the winner along with a cash prize.
Aside from the fact that the word "fight" is no more appropriate to Christmas than compassionate health care is to Planned Parenthood, the mega-lumens of colored lights glorify man rather than reflect the glory of God. And since the series is produced by pro-gay Disney/ABC, homosexual couples must necessarily be included among the competitors. This proves that it's possible to decorate for a holiday and simultaneously defile it, living in denial of its purpose. Transvestites will likely appear in future episodes, if they haven't already.
America's propensity for excess, hyperbole and drama leads people away from the rich wealth of truth and wisdom in God's wonderful plan of redemption. In much the same way that over-inflating a balloon diminishes its brilliant color and resilience, gaudy Christmas displays and an absurd emphasis on gift-giving weaken and distort the most important message of the holy season. And that's not by accident.
While it may it may seem encouraging that our nation still "celebrates" Christmas freely, it's important to remember that a deep hostility to Christ roils just beneath the surface. Perhaps, when it comes to Christmas, less, really is more.
© Timothy Buchanan
December 8, 2018
Each year, new challenges invade the Christmas season. New obstacles are erected that make it more difficult to keep our focus on the singular event that shaped all of human history forevermore. It's always helpful to scrutinize the plans and practices of our secular culture, even when they are ostensibly honorable and noble. Or perhaps, especially then.
Is it possible to go overboard celebrating Christmas? It is, when the exuberance and excess distracts from the holy event or perverts it in some bizarre way. Then, we celebrate the celebration instead of the Savior. Retailers have been doing their part to co-opt the Christmas season for financial gain for decades, changing its character and essence.
Where television commercials for pharmaceuticals dominate program breaks during most of the year, retail advertising now saturates the programming. Not surprisingly, none of these commercial messages includes any allusion to God, any mention of Jesus or even a hint of the reason for the Christmas gift-buying obsession. Few of the national retail advertisers even identifies the holiday as Christmas. Usually, it's simply referred to ambiguously as "the holiday season."
It's been said that good is the enemy of best. Few places is this truth more apparent than in America at Christmastime. In the frenzy of gift-giving and holiday cheer, the source of joy is frequently lost. Even in charity, the message of God's gift in answer to human poverty becomes obscured. Angel trees, Toys for Tots and Salvation Army workers may help to alleviate needs, but without the gospel of hope, all become futile and insignificant. Cheap toys, clothing and hot meals without cannot restore hope to the hopeless, but any one of these with the gospel can change a life.
At this time of year, our news media will spotlight the sacrifices of members of the armed forces like they do at no other time. News networks celebrate specious acts of kindness by their favorite ideological cronies in an effort to show them as kind and generous.
In much the same way that Democrats and the fake news media have used the bogus Mueller probe to distract from the beneficial effects of Trump administration policies, media corporations are using movies and television programs to advance their disturbing and destructive goals.
One obscene defilement of the season is Disney/ABC's popular television special, The Great Christmas Light Fight. Excessive and ostentatious Christmas lighting displays are the theme of this program. Secular images of Santa Claus and elves, reindeer and nutcrackers adorn the homes and lawns of contestants – and lights – thousands, even millions of lights. Bigger, brighter and more is the rule. A cheap battery-powered trophy is awarded to the winner along with a cash prize.
Aside from the fact that the word "fight" is no more appropriate to Christmas than compassionate health care is to Planned Parenthood, the mega-lumens of colored lights glorify man rather than reflect the glory of God. And since the series is produced by pro-gay Disney/ABC, homosexual couples must necessarily be included among the competitors. This proves that it's possible to decorate for a holiday and simultaneously defile it, living in denial of its purpose. Transvestites will likely appear in future episodes, if they haven't already.
America's propensity for excess, hyperbole and drama leads people away from the rich wealth of truth and wisdom in God's wonderful plan of redemption. In much the same way that over-inflating a balloon diminishes its brilliant color and resilience, gaudy Christmas displays and an absurd emphasis on gift-giving weaken and distort the most important message of the holy season. And that's not by accident.
While it may it may seem encouraging that our nation still "celebrates" Christmas freely, it's important to remember that a deep hostility to Christ roils just beneath the surface. Perhaps, when it comes to Christmas, less, really is more.
© Timothy Buchanan
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