Some 300 years after Roman soldiers took Jesus of Nazareth to a cruel, lingering death on a cross, Constantine, Emperor of Rome, decided it was politically advantageous to adopt the symbols of Christianity and to give lip service to its teaching in order to hold the fractious Roman Empire together.
His mother, Helena, who became a saint of the church, had a genuine belief in Christianity. She knew that both the biblical and historical Jesus had no temporal kingdom. She knew the antithesis of war is peace and the antithesis of selfishness is compassion. Meanwhile, her son ordered the spectacle of feeding Christians to lions should cease and then went on to fight bloody battles for primacy of the Roman Empire.
Eventually, Constantine, unchallenged in power, went to the Greek city of Byzantium, re-christened it Constantinople and went on to build a glittering empire that, for centuries, has been acknowledged as the former centre of unbelievably ostentatious wealth. Later, the popes of Rome meddled constantly in temporal affairs and built a church that was wealthy, ostentatious and venal. In 2015, Pope Francis has taken the role of God’s humble messenger, turning the Christian message of personal salvation into the message of salvation for the human race and healing for a wounded planet.
For generations the teachings of the biblical Jesus have been subverted by struggles for wealth and power. Bloody wars over doctrinal differences have marred the history of Christianity. Doctrinal differences are still a cause of warfare among the Islamic nations. The Roman Catholic Church has long been criticized as too wealthy to be a Christian institution. As often as not, the critics have been fundamentalist Christian preachers, who were busy padding their own bank accounts.
The pagans of Republican Rome, except when they were abducting Sabine women, were a crew who insisted on honourable behaviour. They loosened up as each year ended in a celebration called Saturnalia. It was a wild orgy of drinking, dancing and gambling. It was no coincidence the worship of Saturn ended as the celebration of Christmas was put into the place occupied by the excesses of Saturnalia..
“Happy holidays” is the all-inclusive, politically correct term that has supplanted “merry Christmas.” I believe political correctness was invented by overeducated idiots who did not understand realties, harsh or gentle, cannot be changed by devising new words to describe them. Christmas is a Christian festival. It is improper to remove Christian symbols from public places in order to avoid offending people of other faiths. In a larger sense, it is dangerous to obscure stark realities in the affairs of nations by wrapping them in a mantle of politically correct claptrap.
Perhaps it is an exaggeration to write that the traditional Christmas season is being supplanted by Saturnalia reborn, but hedonism is a reality everywhere, even in Islamic states. Hedonism, simply stated, requires making money in order to buy things that give pleasure. The frantic pace of buying, giving and receiving has no appeal. I am an old man with simple needs and no wants other than the impossible dream of turning back time to the years when I was filled with youthful expectations. I give throughout the year to charities that attempt to improve living standards everywhere. I expect to receive nothing on Christmas morning.
I was a boy during the terrible decade that began in 1939. I saw schools and churches close because of a diminishing population. Now, when the populations of Saskatchewan is larger, I see churches closing their doors because of a lack of worshippers
Every night I see an illuminated forest. There are bright decorations everywhere. They have no meaning when church pews are empty. I am not a literalist. Some Bible stories I see as fantasy, and others hyperbole. Nevertheless, there is wisdom in worship. If our world is to endure as a place where life can survive, we need to heed the words of the biblical Jesus, we need to go beyond our own personal concerns to caring about others and about the world we leave to unborn generations. We need to see and understand the dangers of unbridled selfishness and ignorant thoughtlessness. We need to use a politically incorrect word. Call them evil.
