The White House Christmas Card
Mood:  bright
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Topic: WH Christmas Card

Of late, there has been a lot of misguided hubbub over this year’s White House Christmas card. Why? Well, the President and the First Lady have chosen this years message to be:

“With best wishes for a holiday season of hope and happiness.”

It is the reference to a “holiday season” that has many up in arms, especially during a year when the cold “Christmas War” has threatened to go hot! Those who rightly believe that the term Christmas is being deliberately expunged from civic life are complaining that the card is proof that the White House has succumbed to the politically correct mentality of “holiday” greetings, making the larger War on Christmas that much more difficult to win. Critics of those who defend Christmas in public point to the “holiday” card as proof that even the “great conservative-Republican George W. Bush” finds nothing wrong with substituting the phrase “holiday season” for “Christmas”. And if he doesn’t mind, why should the rest of us?

Both critics are missing the most important message of the card.

Defenders and attackers of Christmas fail to note the following scriptural passage at the header of the card:

“The Lord is my strength and my shield’
In Him my heart trusts;
So I am helped, and my heart exults,
And with my song I give thanks to Him.”
Psalm 28:7 (RSV)

I would argue that the above quotation makes it more than clear as to what the “holiday season” really means to the White House. In fact, I think the White House card provides an excellent template to resolve the bitter and divisive Christmas argument that many stores and civic associations currently find themselves trying to resolve in the most inclusive manner possible. Solution: If you want to eschew “Merry Christmas” in favor of the supposedly more inclusive “Happy Holiday”, go right ahead! But in exchange, you must also display and/or recite a biblical quotation. Simple, right? “Happy Holidays” for all those non-Christians out there (approximately 15% of the United States population), and a biblical passage for the remaining 85% of us---I think that is more than fair. Heck, I can assure all those big retailers that I will eagerly shop at any store that has a banner quoting Psalm 28 right below a “Happy Holidays” sign! Wouldn’t you?

Problem solved.

As for me, I am glad that I am on the White House Christmas list, along with about 1 million other people, and have proudly displayed my card.

Merry Christmas!