No one owns Christmas but the celebrant – Alton Telegraph

Back in 2010, Elana Kagan and Sen Lindsey Graham engaged in a delightful banter that made headlines.

The South Carolina Republican asked Kagan, who had been nominated to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, where she had been on Christmas Day. Kagan replied, You know, like all Jews, I was probably in a Chinese restaurant.

The entire room resounded in laughter and a round of applause.

The celebration of Christmas has always been part of my life and I love the season. But how do non-Christians deal with this very Christian holiday? I posted this question on my Facebook page: As of Dec. 15, I have received 146 answers.

The first the very first, mind you post confirmed the validity of Kagans response. Jews traditionally eat Chinese food and watch movies, a Jewish friend wrote. Taking in a film, although not cited by Kagan during her conversation with Graham, is indeed on the agenda for many Jewish families at Christmas. A non-Jewish friend posted, I used to work for a Jewish company, and a co-worker told me that Christmas Eve was Hebrew Night at the Nashville cinema. Maybe Christmas Day, too.

Another response reflected how national customs play a role in determining how Jews observe Christmas. By celebrating Christmas despite being Jewish. Path of least resistance. This friend wrote that Jews born in the Soviet Union grew up with the tradition of putting up a New Years tree and getting presents from a Santa-like figure on New Years Eve, followed by a feast.

My friend was referring to Ded Moroz (Grandpa Frost). Like our Santa, he wears a long fur coat and sports a beard. Unlike our Santa Claus, however, Grandpa Frost is accompanied by a female helper named Snow Maiden, who is his granddaughter.

Grandpa Frost and Snow Maiden survived the fall of communism and remain a vital part of the Russian New Years celebration. Indeed, the Wests Santa Claus is seen as an unwelcome rival who poses a threat to a beloved Russian tradition.

When I attended Altons Unitarian church, we had a traditional Christmas Eve service that included singing carols such as Silent Night. A friend from my Unitarian days posted, When she was much younger, one of my granddaughters once said that UUs [Unitarian Universalists] are like Jews except we get to have Christmas.

Another UU friend, who now lives in another state, shared I still love the Christmas hymns. We've told the kids that we are celebrating Jesus who we think was a very good man kind of like MLK.

Several friends posted that they observe pagan rituals. I celebrate Yule on the night of the solstice, a San Francisco friend wrote. I light a log with three candles maiden, mother and crone and do a full Yule ceremony. Many ancient cultures built enormous bonfires on the winter solstice to encroach on the darkness and encouraged the sun to grow strong again. This tradition lives on among contemporary pagans. A friend who lives in the Riverbend posted that her family builds a fire to welcome the sun back.

Several friends affirmed that one neednt be a Christian to enjoy Christmas. Its simply human nature and culture to celebrate abundance at the darkest hour of the year.

No one owns Christmas but the celebrant, whether Pagan, Atheist, or Christian, one noted. As though to confirm that assertion, a New Mexico friend posted, Im an atheist who loves Christmas. There are no rules I need to follow, so I simply take the parts I like gathering, giving, sharing and loving -- and ignore the nonsense parts.

Two replies were particularly memorable. My friends and I make a Christmas dinner and take it to a migrant shelter in Mexico, an old high school classmate posted. A romance writer who rescues animals wrote, I visit with a 95-year-old Christian neighbor who is alone on the holiday.

The empathy and compassion of these two women embody the very essence of Christmas.

John J. Dunphy is an author, the Godfrey 15th Precinct Democratic Committeeperson and recording secretary for the Godfrey Democrats.

Originally posted here:

No one owns Christmas but the celebrant - Alton Telegraph