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Why Christ Should Be Celebrated at Christmas — Even if You’re Not a Christian
Recently, I performed a couple of holiday concerts at an arts center venue. After the concerts, a couple of members of the Board politely and gingerly told me that, because it’s an arts center (and not a Christian church or organization), they were a little uncomfortable with my inclusion of religious carols in the concert (actually, merely three out of fourteen songs).
I understood their point of view, even if I disagreed. It’s a holiday concert and the holiday is largely seen as a celebration of the birth of Jesus. If you are attending a holiday concert, you should expect that that will be part of the content.
Beyond that, though, I’m taken aback by folks who don’t want to hear traditional carols because it is somehow pushing religion on them. The same people likely have no problem singing songs about Santa Claus, even though (spoiler alert!) we all know that is false. So, why are we not offended by Santa songs? Because Santa is a good story!
Likewise, we have devotees of Star Wars and Star Trek who wait in line for hours for a new movie that comes out, often wearing appropriate costumes for the event. Or they travel miles to attend conventions to nerd out with minor celebs who have been involved with the franchises. While such events merely amuse some of us…
