Happy holidays? No way!

John Hatcher is pastor of Outreach International Center, 1091 South Jeff Davis Drive, Fayetteville, Georgia 30215. 770-719-0303

By John Hatcher
Contributing Writer

Happy Holidays. Hogwash! Season’s Greetings. Balderdash! It’s “Merry Christmas” because the holidays are all about Jesus Christ!

Very frankly, I am getting fed up with the likes of Federated Department Stores and their local expressions like Macys and Lazarus and Rich’s. They are encouraging the use of the above mentioned sayings this Christmas season. The huge conglomerate issued a recent response saying it has no policy with regards to Christmas. And it says phrases such as “Season’s Greetings” and “Happy Holidays” embrace a diverse spectrum of celebrations.

Hey, there would be no After Christmas Sales in department stores of any kind if it were not for the birth of Jesus Christ in the first place. How on earth do you have After Christmas Sales if there were not a period of time before Christmas Day? Christmas is December 25 by most of the world’s calendars. Christmas Day is observed over most of the world as the annual birthday observance of Jesus Christ. It is his birth and no other that makes the cash registers ring before and after Christmas Day. Cha-ching!

Federated added it is regrettable that what it calls its attempt to bring all people together in peace and love is perceived as offensive when its intent is to be inclusive. Now that is very interesting, isn’t it? For the sake of love and peace, we will just re-write history. That’s what Federated sounds like to me.

Example: July 4 is the national observance of the birthday of the United States of America. July 4 was the day in 1776 when the Continental Congress passed the Declaration of Independence. To use Federated’s model, in order to be inclusive and bring all the people of the world together, we should celebrate the birthdays of all nations. Instead of Old Glory being carried down Main Streets of America on July 4, the flags of all nations will be carried, even the flags of Iran and North Korea.

Another example: on your birthday, we will no longer celebrate your birthday, but everyone who has been invited to your party. Everyone will receive gifts from everyone else. Sounds absurd? Yes!

We know beyond a shadow of doubt that the birth of Jesus has been formally observed for more than 1600 years. First it was known as the Feast of the Nativity. But nativity means birth and that birth was Jesus.

For at least 135 years Christmas Day has been observed in this United States of America as a national holiday by declaration of Congress and signature of the President. The day was not proclaimed a national holiday because it’s a “season” or because people needed a day to celebrate “happiness.” The members of Congress and President were very clear that December 25 was all about the birth of one man, the God-man, Jesus Christ.

So, watch out. The forces of secularism are hard at work. They have been successful at taking God out of the public schoolroom. They have been successful at robbing the womb of sanctity of life. Now, they are hard at work taking Christ out of Christmas. They want to take God out of Thanksgiving and Christ out of Christmas. They want to thoroughly secularize America. With them at the helm of this country, we will sing, “Hmmm, Bless America, Hmmm Bless America, Hmmm shed hmmm grace on thee.”

What are you going to do? Tell you what I am going to do. I am going to wish as many people as I can a Merry Christmas. I am going to go shopping at Federated Stores and wish every salesperson and every member of management I see a Merry Christmas. Not in the sense of protest, but in the sense of the season — a season wrought by the birth of Jesus Christ, the prince of peace.

And this I believe: there won’t be any peace anywhere, even in Bethlehem, until all come to the table with Jesus.

Merry Christmas, world!