Dear Editor,
In your staff editorial regarding the "holiday tree" debate, you miss the main point. You mention towards the end that "Christmas is of course a Christian holiday, hence the name, but many of the activities surrounding Dec. 25 are not religious in nature."
The issue isn't really the tree at all. The problem that many Christians have with the secularization of Christmas is that the holiday is to celebrate Jesus' birth and that seems to be getting buried in all the wrapping paper and ribbons. The fact that so many people, whether they are Christians, adherents of another faith, or non-religious, celebrate Christmas underscores the point that this country has a strong Christian heritage and history. Christmas is still a religious holiday today, though, and should be celebrated as such.
American society as a whole needs to remember that to Christians, the day means so much more. Christmas is about God loving the world so much that he sent His Son to earth to die to give us a chance to follow Him back to His place, heaven.
You have a point that Congress has bigger problems to worry about than what to call a tree and frankly, Christians have other things that we should be focusing on as well.
Maybe if we really learned to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and love our neighbor as ourselves, as Jesus taught (Mark 12:30-31), more people would be drawn to the baby that was born in Bethlehem and perhaps we could celebrate the peace and joy that comes from Him rather than fight over what to call a tree.
Rachelle Wilson SIS/SOC, Class of 2005
