War on Christmas - Part 3 - Christmas Trees

courtesy of my blog: http://cjferrara.blogspot.com/

For a moment there, I dared to hope against hope and wish against wish that I'm writing these blogs unnecessarily. I prayed that people were over this, and I'm just hashing out old, outdated opinions, even though the matter, in everyone else's mind has been settled. But... No.

Jon Stewart of The Daily Show jumped on my bandwagon this week by satirically declaring war on Christmas, and Bill O'Reilly shot back. This bit was a reaction to a conflict Fox "News" seems to have over the Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee leaving "Christmas" out of the Statehouse tree lighting ceremony invitation.


This of course is ridiculous, as previously discussed in the First Two Parts of this series. This was done to be inclusive of all people of all religions, not to exclude. I think the complaining has less to do with what Gov. Chafee did, and more to do with the fact that it's RI's first Christmas with a Democrat Governor. But I see their point. The Christmas Tree is a Christian symbol of a beautiful, loving, caring holiday; a symbol of peace, and of Christ's birth.... right?
 
Well, actually - I hate to be this guy again; you know, the smart, well informed one - but no, it isn't. The Christmas Tree that you are defending in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ... is a pagan symbol.
 
The tradtional evergreen branches started in Germany and the surrounding regions during the dark ages. It was called "Julmond" (Yule-Mont), or Yule for short. The Evergreen is green year round, and during the winter, a time when all trees, grass, and foliage around us are dying and withering, the Yule symbolized the life still dormant in the earth that WILL come again in the spring. It's a symbol of hope for next year's planting season for those who worship the spirits of the Earth.
 
At some point, people decorated the Yule with lights and pretty ribbons, and just as Christians usurped another Pagan Celebration, Saturnalia, they also incorporated the symbolic evergreen into their Christmas celebration, in the form of a fully formed Evergreen Tree.
 
The Christian symbolism assigned to the Tree is that it's everlasting green-ness symbolizes Christ's everlasting life. Well, if that's the case, my fake tree is more effective than your real live tree which will wither and die before New Years eve, it's lack of moisture and brittleness resulting in a potential fire hazard to the entire household. Merry Christmas! It also wasn't long before people grasping for straws pointed out the triangular shape of the tree symbolizes the Holy Trinity, but again... that's a stretch.
 
My point, Christians, is before you march into war, staging protests, to defend this very Christian symbol, you should really make sure that it is yours to defend. To quote Gov. Chaffee, "If it's in my house, it's a Christmas tree, but when I'm representing all of Rhode Island, I have to be respectful of everyone."
 
Whether you call it a Christmas Tree, Hannukah Bush, or Symbolic Conifer of Unspecified Derivation (SCUD, my personal favorite) remember that the tree symbolizes the SEASON; it symbolizes hope that no matter what is happening now, things will get better, and prosperity will come again. And people who celebrate ALL holidays may place whatever meaning they wish onto the tree, join hands around it in a circle and sing "Yahoo Flores, Dahoo, Dores..." if they want to.
 
I, personally, am looking forward to putting up and decorating my SCUD this weekend.