The Unauthorized Homily

By Bill Dunn

A commentary on the Scripture readings from the Sunday Lectionary

(Scripture readings for the 3rd Sunday of Advent, December 13th: Zephaniah 3:14-18; Philippians 4:4-7; Luke 3:10-18)

WAR AGAINST CHRISTMAS IS NOW WAR AGAINST CHRISTIANITY

Here we are already, the third Sunday of Advent. There are less than two weeks remaining until Christmas Day. As has become common in the past few years, right about now we’re hearing all kinds of stories about the “War on Christmas.” Various communities and organizations, out of fear of being sued, are white-washing the word “Christmas” from all December events. Now it’s the “holiday party,” the “holiday parade,” and the “holiday tree.”

Employees in some retail stores are instructed to greet shoppers with, “Happy holidays.” They are not allowed to say, “Merry Christmas.”

In some school systems the colors red and green are forbidden. In other towns, legal battles are being waged to remove crèches and crosses from public property. Even completely non-religious items—such as Santa Claus, reindeer, and candy canes—are banned.

The claim, of course, is that anything that might remind someone of Christmas, however remotely, is a gross violation of the separation of church and state. As a society, we cannot risk that someone, somewhere, sometime, somehow, might be offended by a public expression of Christmas, so it’s all got to go.

When commentators such as Bill O’Reilly report on the “War on Christmas,” other commentators immediately counter that there is no so-called “war”; everything is being blown out of proportion by whiny Christians; stop being so thin-skinned; etc., etc., etc.; blah, blah, blah.

Well, decide for yourself whether the war on Christmas is real or just the figment of the imaginations of whiny Christians. (They report, you decide.)

However, in recent months I’ve noticed a trend in our culture the goes far beyond simply trying to ban certain words and displays, using the ol’ separation of church and state argument. There is now an outright, overt hostility toward Christians. The war on Christmas has become a December tradition; but the war on Christianity flourishes twelve months a year.

Noted author and outspoken atheist Christopher Hitchens appeared on Dennis Miller’s radio show back in October. Hitchens has been a harsh critic of Mother Teresa, both during her lifetime and since her death, but what he said about her this time was a new low. Regarding Mother Teresa, Hitchens declared: “The woman was a fanatic and a fundamentalist and a fraud, and millions of people are much worse off because of her life, and it’s a shame there is no hell for your bitch to go to.”

Nice, Chris. Real nice.

Another outspoken critic of all things Christian is Richard Dawkins, a professor of evolutionary biology at Oxford University. Dawkins is probably the most prominent of a new generation of militant atheists. His 2006 book “The God Delusion” was a best-seller. A couple of months ago Dawkins said the Catholic Church was “surely up there among the leaders” as “the greatest force for evil in the world.”

No doubt the Catholic Church has made many mistakes over the centuries, and at various times has had some startling sinful people in leadership positions, but “the greatest force of evil in the world”? Hmm, Dawkins has never been known for being subtle. I guess all those hospitals, universities, homeless shelters, soup kitchens, etc. don’t count. And all the spiritual comfort the Church and her clergy have brought to millions of deathbeds and funerals doesn’t count either. On the other hand, forces such as communism, Nazism, and Islamic terrorism haven’t really done anything too bad, I guess. Certainly nothing Professor Dawkins can label “evil.”

Thank you, Richard, for such an, um, “interesting” perspective on history.

These are just a couple of recent examples. For some other really hateful statements against Christianity generally, and Catholicism specifically, do an Internet search for well-known public figures such as Bill Maher, Penn Gillette, Maureen Dowd, virtually anyone named Kennedy, and more than a few people currently holding extremely powerful positions in the Obama administration.

Nowadays you are immediately labeled intolerant and bigoted if you say anything critical of gays, feminists, Marxists, blacks, illegal immigrants, Jews, or Muslims. But it is open season on Evangelical Christians and conservative Catholics. If you want to spew all kinds of hatred and defamatory statements toward these groups, go right ahead. It’s perfectly OK, and even encouraged. It’s the last remaining acceptable prejudice.

As Christians, what should our response be to all this? Well, the Christian-bashers hope our response will be to slink away in shame and remove ourselves and our values from the culture.

Personally, I think if Christian values were removed suddenly from our culture, our culture at that moment would cease to exist. The Judeo-Christian moral code is the only thing keeping us from devolving into complete chaos and anarchy. But that’s another topic for another day.

If the enemies of Christianity want us to go away, then obviously that is not the correct response. Some people might say our response should be to fight fire with fire. They insult us? We insult them. They defame us? We defame them. They file lawsuits? We counter-sue. They scream and yell that Christianity offends them? We scream and yell that secularism offends us.

I’m not too sure about that tactic. I think we should look to our Savior for guidance. First and foremost, we really shouldn’t be too surprised by the viciousness of the attacks against the faith these days. After all, Jesus promised us that we would be persecuted because of our faith in Him (see: Matthew 5:11). The surprise is not that secularists are attacking Christianity today, the real surprise is that they were so polite for so long up until now.

Our response needs to be based on a couple of key points Jesus taught: turn the other cheek and love your enemies. Admittedly, these are incredibly difficult things to do. Especially when our instincts urge us to attack them with as much ferocity as they use against us.

But we are called to live life on a higher plane, a spiritual rather than worldly plane. If we turn the other cheek and refuse to fight fire with fire, we often can defuse the situation and keep things from escalating to an all out war. If we love our enemies, we truly demonstrate that we are being guided by the Prince of Peace rather than the Prince of this World (Satan).

We need to be firm in our beliefs. There’s no reason to apologize for or water down the Gospel message. Think of Mother Teresa. Remember when she visited the U.S. many years ago, and during a press conference forcefully declared that abortion is evil, while a very uncomfortable Bill and Hillary Clinton stood nearby? Oh man, that was priceless.

But at the same time, just imagine what Mother Teresa would do if she were still alive today and met Christopher Hitchens. She wouldn’t knee him in the groin (as I might be tempted to do). No, she would hug him and love him and shower him with the love of Christ.

That’s what we need to do in the face of this new wave of unbridled anger and vitriol directed toward Christianity in general, and Catholicism in particular. We need to be firm and unapologetic about our beliefs. And we need to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. This is not only the most effective strategic tactic in fighting the culture war, it is the best way to win souls into the kingdom of God.

©2009