Losing our Christmas Culture

Wednesday night, my 9 month old daughter decided she would assert her dominance over our bed times.  Neither my wife nor I seemed to have the ability to convince her that sleeping was the best cure for her crying.  In a last ditch effort, I decided I would put her in the mini-van and drive around town.  I decided to cruise Greendale and take in the sites of Christmas.

I started in front of on 76th street with its medians dressed up with lights.  Then up Grange and over to Broad Street to look at the shops and trees that are lit up between the and the   From Broad Street we took the long way back home weaving in and out of Greendale neighborhoods looking at different houses decorated for the season.

Witnessing those lights can really put a person in the Christmas spirit.  I thought about how earlier that evening I watched my son participate in the Winter Concert.  It has always impressed me at the ability of the teachers to organize concerts like this.  I have trouble organizing events for just my family, but they are able to get all those kids to sing and to even sing in different languages.  Those kids sang their hearts outs and you could feel the pride they felt for their concert.

Yet, I didn’t think the concert truly reflects our culture.  Let me first point out, this is not a judgment against the school.  They have done nothing wrong, in fact, as a stated above both faculty and students did a phenomenal job.  This, instead, is a judgment on our society and lack of respect for the uniquely American culture.  In an effort to be politically correct and respect other cultures, we are slowly erasing our own.

There are some records indicating the founding Fathers celebrating Christmas; but the United States didn’t really get into the Christmas spirit until the 1860’s when the tradition of Santa Claus was imported from northern Europe.

Since that time, it has morphed into a month long celebration starting with Black Friday and ending after the New Year.  We shop, we decorate, we exchange gifts, we gather with family and a large portion of us will attend a Christmas church service.  The country as a whole looks forward to Christmas as a chance to spread good cheer in our neighborhoods.  For the (insert your age here) time we will sit down and watch either Charlie Brown Christmas, It’s a Wonderful Life or A Christmas Story.  Maybe you will even attend the Nutcracker Ballet or make specials plans to see A Christmas Carol at Milwaukee’s Repertory Theater.

Unfortunately, we are allowing this to fade.  The Winter Concert had more to do with ensuring other cultures were presented than a presentation of our own culture.  It becomes more about the world and less about the Christmas spirit here in Greendale.  I acknowledge that we are a society built on immigration and that each immigrant brings new traditions to the cultural table.  However, if you look at how our politically correct society approaches Christmas, it is not an attempt to morph cultures and become the melting pot we espouse.  Instead, we are burying the United States culture and replacing it with nothing.  In an effort to make everyone’s Christmas equal we isolate each individual nationality.  That is not how a melting pot works. 

Our secular Christmas fits in with every cultures morals and ideals.  The season of Christmas that we as Americans love is not something to be embarrassed of but embraced.  We could, and should, produce Christmas concerts that include only our secular Christmas music and decorations.   A  Winter Concert that could easily be void of all religion and focus on bringing good tidings of great cheer through the United States' own traditions. 

I love watching my children perform at their winter concerts.  I love the fact that our faculty enjoys teaching my kids and spends the time to organize events like this.  Still, I feel a strong sense of loss as I listen to songs that have nothing to do with the holiday season because of our misguided attempt to be politically correct.

“Christmas is a necessity. There has to be at least one day of the year to remind us that we're here for something else besides ourselves.” - Eric Sevareid