Douglas Todd: Let’s feel free to be religious at Christmas

Douglas Todd on the annual ‘War on Christmas’ ritual, and the need for greater public recognition of faith:

Instead of inadvertently silencing Christian and other religious people, then, let’s truly recognize this is a pluralistic country, with many faiths and secular world views.

That means encouraging the expression of virtually all world views, religious and secular, in the public square. (And also being open to criticism of them.)

When it comes to publicly recognizing Christmas along with other festivals, however, the trickiest part is pragmatic.

Statistics Canada says two-thirds of Canadians consider themselves Christian, a one-quarter consider themselves non-religious and the rest following other faiths.

It would be more than awkward to have vacation days to mark the festivals of every faith, no matter how small their membership. Chaos could reign, especially in workplaces. But other gestures can make possible diverse expressions.

Given the ethno-cultural and religious fragmentation in Canada, it’s conceivable a decorated Christmas tree display could have a unifying influence in this country.

After all, I could name countless atheists who merrily put up Christmas trees. Sikhs often do the same thing. And Muslims tell me they love Christmas lights and the focus on Jesus and Mary, since they’re important to Muslim tradition. Hindus and Buddhists, too, are pretty relaxed about spiritual diversity.

Indeed, even though B.C. has one of the world’s highest ratios of religious eclecticism and foreign-born residents, an Insights West poll last year found that British Columbians prefer to say “Merry Christmas” by a 10-to-one margin over “Happy Holidays.”

These British Columbians appear aware that, when a North American travels to a predominantly Hindu, Buddhist, Shinto or Muslim country, the citizens are not going to be apologizing for public expressions of their long-held customs.

Similarly, if we take the spirituality and tradition out of Canadian Christmas, we’ll just end up with commercialism and Jingle Bells triteness.

Douglas Todd: Let’s feel free to be religious at Christmas.