While many may try to claim that there is no actual War on Christmas, those who try to make such a claim are often the ones perpetuating it. On the morning of Christmas Eve, The Washington Post published "How to have the perfect secular Christmas in 6 cities by Gabe Hiatt.
His piece starts off as annoyingly as you'd expect, unfortunately. "Christmas can be a tedious day in America if you’re not a Christian," he complains, "but without an obligation to work or celebrate, there’s also an opportunity to make up your own holiday."
Not everyone celebrates Christmas in the United States, though most do. That's perfectly all right in a nation as free as ours. It's by nature a religious holiday, though, which celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ who came down in human flesh as a humble baby to save humanity.
"Depending on the size and demographics of your town, it can be tough to find a place to go," Hiatt also complains, neglecting to point out how Christmas is a federal holiday, which explains why there would be so many closures.
The rest of Hiatt's piece includes excerpts to guides for what to do in cities that are already liberal, large, and diverse with plenty to do, including Washington, D.C.; New York; Chicago; Houston; Seattle; and Los Angeles.
What excerpts that Hiatt include in his article are indeed a nifty guide for what to do around the city, especially when it comes to contributors sharing their own traditions, though they all do pretty much share the same ideas. They're fine on their own; there's no reason for Hiatt to have to throw Christmas and the reason for the holiday under the bus to share it, unless he is perhaps looking to show a hostility to the faith.
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Not the Bee provided some wonderfully pithy commentary about the sheer uselessness of the guides, pointing out how they read a lot like plans one would make any other time of the year, and that it's just all the same:
Want to know the secret of how to spend a secular Christmas in Washington DC?!
Get Chinese food and go to the movies.
So, date night, only more secularly.
...
Still, I was intrigued by these imaginative ways to spend a secular Christmas that very much resemble a completely normal weekend, so I explored some of the other cities for which the Washington Post felt it necessary to post guides.
I started with New York, as I used to live there.
Want to know how you can spend a secular Christmas in New York?
Get Chinese food and go to the movies.
Oh, and… wait for it… go see things outside.
Wow, I'm not sure I would have ever thought to get Chinese food, watch a movie, and look at things outside absent this useful guide totally customized for New York City.
I decided to take a look at a west coast city, see how they spend a secular Christmas in their own, unique…
Okay, fine, Chinese food, movie, look at things.
Despite trying to actively destroy the religious nature of a religious holiday, The Washington Post also shared an opinion piece on December 23 from Stephen L. Carter at Bloomberg, "Nothing Says ‘Christmas’ Like a Lawsuit," published in The Washington Post's "Business" section.
The outlet also published "The war on ‘Happy Holidays’ isn’t about Christmas," an opinion piece for the outlet by Kate Cohen, on December 19. She begins by claiming that by wishing people "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas," she is "declaring my allegiance to one idea of America that opposes another: inclusive vs. exclusive." The rest of her piece is a rant about "inclusivity."
For all this mockery, many liberal power that be are declaring war on Christmas, and religion in general. Last week, for instance, Becket granted King County in Washington state their 2022 Ebenezer Award, as county employees have been banned from having religious symbols in their video display backgrounds.
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