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Mobile Newsletter chat subscribe. Why is there a controversy surrounding the word 'Xmas'? Is the word "Xmas" a result of the commercialization of Christmas? See more Christmas pictures. The Greek symbol chi-rho is represented in the X for "chi" and the rho for "r" to combine the word, "Christ. Jesus had said that he wanted to make his followers 'Fishers of Men', so people started to use that symbol. When two Christians met, one person drew half a basic fish shape often using their foot in the dust on the ground and the other person drew the other half of the fish.
The Greek word for fish is 'Ikthus' or 'Ichthys'. The hatred for Xmas, then, may stem in part from an innate suspicion of the attempt to render all things ancient and beautiful modern, cheap, and sleek.
Here's a Christmas song from Christina Aguilera, who sometimes calls herself Xtina. Appropriately enough, it's called Xtina's Xmas. First, the US remains divided over several traditional culture war issues, most prominently abortion. The battle over Xmas, though it might seem trivial, only reinforces the "secular vs.
Christian America" narrative that fuels those arguments. Second, the fight over the word Xmas underscores some American Christians' real fear of persecution.
It might seem ridiculous that members of the nation's dominant religion would feel persecuted, and it's easy to laugh about those who claim the statement "happy holidays" means de facto persecution. But try looking at it from their point-of-view. The United States has gone from a nation where the default religion was assumed to be Christianity, to one that increasingly tries to make room for people of all faiths and belief systems.
That can seem like a gradual, inevitable evolution to those not embroiled in the culture wars, but it can feel like a massive sea change to those who are. These changes are fast, and they are real, and those concerned about them shouldn't just be dismissed or mocked.
In fact, dismissing concerns about the changing religious landscape is bad for all of us in the long run, as Susan Brooks Thistelthwaite wrote for FaithStreet about religious pluralism in America. In other words," she continues,. It is only when we take the risk of actually looking at our religious stresses and strains that we can begin to act to know them, engage them, and hopefully move them in a more positive direction.
While it might be funny to joke about overblown fears about the so-called War On Christmas, it's probably more helpful to try to understand the roots of those concerns, then address those in a thoughtful manner. Harvard University's Pluralism Project offers some great ideas about the shape these talks could take. You could suggest that the word "Christmas" is itself already a shorthand for "Christ's mass. Or, you could be even cheekier about it, and talk about how the original war on Christmas was actually waged by conservative American Christians.
Wary of the pagan roots of the festivities, the Puritans wanted to keep Christmas out of their no-nonsense Christianity. Or, finally, you could take a page from the man whose name is in the holiday, by realizing this is, ultimately, a pretty big fight over a single letter. Sometimes, turning the other cheek is pretty painless.
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