The term "Christmas controversy" refers to the issue surrounding the celebration or acknowledgment of the Christmas holiday in government, media, advertising, and various secular environments. In the past, Christmas-related controversy was mainly restricted to concerns of a public focus on secular Christmas themes such as Santa Claus and gift-giving, rather than what is sometimes expressed by Christians as the real reason of Christmas; the birth of Jesus. The term "Xmas", a popular shortened form of the word "Christmas" that originates from the use of the Greek letter chi to represent "Christ" (Χριστός, Christos), has been also been topic of controversy among Christians unfamiliar with the historical roots of the term.
Modern-day controversy occurs mainly in Western countries such as the United States, Canada, and to a lesser extent the United Kingdom and Ireland, and usually stems from a contrast between the holiday's significant social and economic role and its association with Christianity in an increasingly multiculturally sensitive and religiously diversifying society. In recent decades, public, corporate, and government mention of the term "Christmas" during the Christmas and holiday season has declined and been replaced with a generic term, usually "holiday(s)", to avoid referring to Christmas by name. Popular non-religious aspects of Christmas, such as Christmas carols and Christmas trees, are still prominently showcased and recognized, but are vaguely associated with unspecified "holidays" rather than with Christmas. Also, some retailers are asked to greet their customers with "Happy Holidays" or "Season's Greetings" than with the traditional "Merry Christmas".
Supporters of using terms such as "holidays" in place of "Christmas" argue that many of the symbols and traditions that Western societies have come to associate with Christmas were originally syncretized from pre-Christian pagan traditions and festivals that predate Jesus, and thus need not be directly associated with Christmas. Specifically, symbols and behaviors such as caroling, Christmas trees, mistletoe, holly wreaths and yule logs, have pre-Christian origins.
Famous quotes containing the words christmas and/or controversy:
“He asked if I would sell my Christmas trees;
My woods the young fir balsams like a place
Where houses all are churches and have spires.
I hadn’t thought of them as Christmas trees.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“And therefore, as when there is a controversy in an account, the parties must by their own accord, set up for right Reason, the Reason of some Arbitrator, or Judge, to whose sentence, they will both stand, or their controversy must either come to blows, or be undecided, for want of a right Reason constituted by Nature; so is it also in all debates of what kind soever.”
—Thomas Hobbes (1579–1688)