I love Christmas and Christmas music very much, but I can only listen to the same Christmas songs over and over again until it just gets old. I have heard about all of the 28459 million different versions of “Sleigh Ride,” “Walking in a Winter Wonderland,” and “Baby It’s Cold Outside” about two times each, but one Christmas song that I haven’t heard once this season on my local Christmas station is “Mary Did You Know?”
For those who haven’t heard it, the song is about showing that the Jesus who was Mary’s little baby is the same Jesus who is the great Lord and Savior. The singer asks Mary if she knows about the amazing things her child will do. He asks her if she knows that her precious child will “one day walk on water,” and if she knows that he is the reason the “blind will see, the deaf will hear, the dead will live again;” The singer wants to see if Mary, and the listeners, truly understand that the “sleeping child you’re holding is the Great I Am.”
The song is really quite beautiful and powerful, but you won’t hear it when you’re shopping for Christmas presents in the department store or when you’re seeing the festive red brake lights while stuck in traffic. For those who need it bluntly, it’s because it’s religious.
In a land with freedom of religion, the national religion seems to be a fear of mentioning religion. Any faith, whether it be Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, or anything else, is supposed to be a private matter, inappropriate and strange to be expressed in public. When a person does share their beliefs, it is seen as obnoxious or aggressive or even disrespectful and intolerant. Simply saying “Merry Christmas!” could possibly offend someone, so the socially correct term would be “Happy Holidays!” But what about the people like Jehovah’s Witnesses who don’t celebrate holidays? What about offending them?
You could go to the greatest lengths possible to not upset people, but if someone wants to be angry, they will be. Many believe that being offended is a choice, and with petty grievances, I agree. That is why I find it ridiculous and unnecessary when people get offended when they hear religious Christmas music.
While the argument can be made that Christmas has commercially evolved into a secular holiday, the fact of the matter is that Christmas was and always will be a holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. Many non-believers still celebrate Christmas, just without acknowledging the birth of Jesus Christ. While I, as a Christian, hope that Christmas time would be an opportunity for those people to learn about the reason for the season, I will never chastise someone for being a non-believer celebrating Christmas. However, someone who celebrates Christmas as a non-religious holiday should never stop someone else who does and should certainly not try to take religious Christmas music off the radio.
For Christmas music during the season, the radio station I have always listened to is Sunny 106.5. Years ago, you would hear “Mary Did You Know?” plenty of times. It was my mother who pointed out to me that the Christmas station has progressively decreased in playing songs with religious association. Sometimes you will hear the occasional “Noel” or “Silent Night,” but in general, the station sings about snow, love, and a made-up old man.
While there’s nothing wrong with secular Christmas music, the elimination of non-secular music should not be occurring. As a Christmas music station, all Christmas music should be playing - religious and non-religious alike. “Angles We Have Heard on High,” “We Three Kings,” “Oh Come All Ye Faithful,” and so many other traditional Christmas songs are absent on stations for a fear of offending people. If someone doesn’t like the song, they can change the channel. Stop trying to keep those who are non-religious celebrating a religious holiday from being offended. Believe it or not, Christmas is a non-secular holiday, and one shouldn’t get offended when it is portrayed as such.