The long awaited Baby (the Seed of the woman as predicted in Gen. 3) is the Savior, the Messiah, and the Lord." And, as the angel declared, this is good news of great joy for all people. The shepherds knew that it was good news immediately; the Magi from the East did too. Their joyous reaction to the event was to travel over a thousand miles to celebrate it.
YET: JOY?
And how has fallen humanity reacted to it? Beginning with Herod and right down to our day, the reaction from the world system to the news has been to censor, and in some cases to declare the new illegal.
Saudi Arabia has banned the angelic news from all schools and hospitals.
N. Korea is so adamant against announcing the glad tidings that the government threatened to open artillery fire on a Christmas tree near its border in S. Korea, calling it "a tool of psychological warfare." (The government tolerates no holiday unless it's linked to the present leader or former leaders.)
Somalia makes an announcement yearly that celebrating Christmas is illegal and gives special training to its security force in order to put an end to all such celebrations.
Tajikistan, an Asian country, bans Christmas trees, giving gifts in the schools, fireworks, and even holiday meals. (!) A government's telling its citizens what they can't cook on one day of the year? Yes, that's how paranoid governments can be if they're totalitarian.
The government of Brunei will put you in jail for up to 5 years for celebrating Christmas. However, if you keep your celebration private and tell no Muslims about it, you may.
Albania is the only constitutional atheistic nation in the world. Naturally, Christmas finds no room in which to lodge in that nation. (I wonder why American atheists don't immigrate to that country. Sarcasm alert)
China bans Christmas and Christianity.
Cuba, just 90 miles from Florida, banned the celebration for 30 years, until 1998. Castro's reason was that people didn't need a holiday; they needed to work the sugar fields. What fun!
THIS JUST IN FROM THE SHORES OF AMERICA
John W. Whitehead of The Rutherford Institute reflected on his 1950's childhood and our culture today. He wrote in "The Huffington Post;"
"But times have changed. Turmoil surrounds our schools. Police
officers walk the hallways, and embattled teachers often act more like
wardens than instructors. Sadly, the timeless celebration of Christmas
seems to have been lost in the mix as well. Schools across the country
avoid anything that alludes to the true meaning of Christmas, such as
angels, the baby Jesus, stables and shepherds. Just consider some of the
incidents that have taken place in recent years.
"For example, a member of a parent/teacher organization at a
Connecticut elementary school was in charge of decorating a large
display case in the school’s entrance. For the upcoming December
holidays, she was planning to put up a display called “Festival of
Lights” and feature a display with a crèche for Christmas and a menorah
and Star of David for Hanukkah, along with a document that explains the
histories of both events. However, she was told by school officials that
no religious objects could be used in the display.
"A kindergarten teacher in a Texas public school was informed that he could not mention the word “Christmas” or tell the historical Nativity story because someone in the district might sue. All other secular customs of the “winter holiday” were deemed to be okay, just not the religious symbols of Christianity. According to the school principal: “We cannot tie candy canes, trees, wreaths, Santa Claus, etc, as a religious symbol. What we can teach is the secular side of holidays. We can have the tree, candy cane, wreath, Santa Claus, etc, anything that is secular. No religious words can be attached. We cannot read aloud to the students any book pertaining to religious beliefs or happenings brought by you [the teacher] or the students. The student who brings a book can read/look at the book silently.”
"Another incident that highlights this extreme Christmas phobia involved a Michigan elementary school, where the principal issued a directive specifically forbidding references to God, Christianity or the birth of Jesus Christ. This is censorship, pure and simple.
"I have yet to understand how anyone can discuss the true — or even historical — meaning of Christmas without at least a reference to the baby Jesus. Surely something has gone wrong when America’s children are encouraged to celebrate the fictional Rudolph but are refused the opportunity to even mention Jesus, who was an actual, historical person. To claim that Christmas is something other than it is — a holiday with a religious foundation — is both dishonest and historically unsound."*
That's the news from around the world this Christmas season. But one question remains: What are you and I doing about and with the angel's announcement? Is our reaction as the shepherds' (evangelistic) or that of the Magi (worship)?
Think about it.
____________________________________________________________________________
For a complete discussion of the legal Do's and Dont's of Christmas published by The Rutherford Institute, see their "Twelve Laws of Christmas.
"A kindergarten teacher in a Texas public school was informed that he could not mention the word “Christmas” or tell the historical Nativity story because someone in the district might sue. All other secular customs of the “winter holiday” were deemed to be okay, just not the religious symbols of Christianity. According to the school principal: “We cannot tie candy canes, trees, wreaths, Santa Claus, etc, as a religious symbol. What we can teach is the secular side of holidays. We can have the tree, candy cane, wreath, Santa Claus, etc, anything that is secular. No religious words can be attached. We cannot read aloud to the students any book pertaining to religious beliefs or happenings brought by you [the teacher] or the students. The student who brings a book can read/look at the book silently.”
"Another incident that highlights this extreme Christmas phobia involved a Michigan elementary school, where the principal issued a directive specifically forbidding references to God, Christianity or the birth of Jesus Christ. This is censorship, pure and simple.
"I have yet to understand how anyone can discuss the true — or even historical — meaning of Christmas without at least a reference to the baby Jesus. Surely something has gone wrong when America’s children are encouraged to celebrate the fictional Rudolph but are refused the opportunity to even mention Jesus, who was an actual, historical person. To claim that Christmas is something other than it is — a holiday with a religious foundation — is both dishonest and historically unsound."*
That's the news from around the world this Christmas season. But one question remains: What are you and I doing about and with the angel's announcement? Is our reaction as the shepherds' (evangelistic) or that of the Magi (worship)?
Think about it.
____________________________________________________________________________
For a complete discussion of the legal Do's and Dont's of Christmas published by The Rutherford Institute, see their "Twelve Laws of Christmas.
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