Christmas Autopsy: 5 Thoughts about the Death of Christmas

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Frederick Schmidt

The war on Christmas has become an annual topic of conversation.

This year The Wall Street Journal’s Daniel Henninger even declared that Christmas is dead.
Is it time for an autopsy?

Scanning the store windows up and down New York’s Fifth Avenue, Henninger chronicled the ways in which major commercial outlets had erased even the most sentimental traces of Christmas from their windows, replacing Santa Claus and his elves with palm readers; the Roman god, Neptune; and the inebriated and seductive images of holiday revelers.  Only Macy’s, Henninger notes, held out and featured Charlie Brown and the gang.

Do these developments suggest a trend, or what Henninger describes as the “de-sanctification” of Christmas?  Probably. But it is perilously easy to overestimate the significance of New York ad agencies and window dressers.

Would Christian leaders be well advised to pay attention to what is happening in the culture around them?  Sure.

Read more at http://www.patheos.com/blogs/whatgodwantsforyourlife/2015/12/christmas-autopsy-5-thoughts-about-the-death-of-christmas/

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