Yay, it’s almost Jesus’ b-day! But, in light of the Establishment Clause, how does our government get to take the day off, too? Under 5 U.S.C. § 6103, government employees are officially entitled to stay home on December 25th and celebrate the birth of Christ by eating too much, exchanging the finest goods that Wal-Mart has to offer, and drinking enough eggnog to make the room spin. But surely the people of the Bible Belt wouldn’t be as happy to see a similar government-sanctioned celebration of the birthday of Zarathustra. So how do the Christians get away with it?
It turns how that courts have officially recognized the secularization of Christmas. For a long while now, courts across the land have recognized that “the Christmas holiday in our national culture contains both secular and sectarian elements.” Lynch v. Donnelly, 465 U.S. 668, 709 (1984) (Brennan, J., dissenting). As the Seventh Circuit explained a while ago:
Some holidays that are religious, even sectarian, in origin, such as Christmas and Thanksgiving, have so far lost their religious connotation in the eyes of the general public … [that they] have only a trivial effect in promoting religion.
Metzl v. Leininger, 57 F.3d 618, 620 (7th Cir.1995); see also American Civil Liberties Union v. City of St. Charles, (“There is nothing distinctively Christian about reindeer, Santa Claus, gift-giving, eggnog, tinsel, toys, retail sales, roast goose, or the music (as distinct from the words) of Christmas carols.”).
So, for all those out there of a non-Christian bent, drink down the eggnog with the understanding that even your government thinks Christmas doesn’t have anything to do with Christ anymore.
-Michael
Update: I forgot to include a poem from one of the judges who addressed the “constitutional Christmas” question. It’s further evidence that judges are not the poets they sometimes fancy themselves, but it’s also pretty funny. From Ganulin v. United States, 71 F. Supp. 2d 824 (S.D. Ohio 1999):
The Court will address Plaintiff’s confusion,
Erroneously believing Christmas is a merely a religious intrusion.
Whatever the reason, constitutional or other,
Christmas is not an act of Big Brother!
Christmas is about joy and giving and sharing,
It is about the child within us and mostly about caring!
One is never jailed for not having a tree,
For not going to church, for not spreading glee!
The Court will uphold seemingly contradictory causes,
Decreeing the “Establishment” and “Santa” both worthwhile “Clauses!”
We are all better for Santa, the Easter Bunny, too,
And maybe the Great Pumpkin to name just a few!
An extra day off is hardly high treason,
It may be spent as you wish regardless of reason!
The court having read the lessons of Lynch,
Refuses to play the role of the Grinch!
There is room in this country, and in all our hearts, too,
For different convictions and a day off, too!
