On The Christmas Miracle

All religions operate at two levels. This is what I've been told.

In our modern era the full knowledge of the Bible is available to all. However few seek more than the basic premise and even then maintain a simplified and sanitised vision of both divinity and reality. Our everyday world is concerned with our small span of experience and obtaining comfort.

Christmas is a holiday that is celebrated by many people around the world, and it is often associated with the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. However, the real story of Jesus's birth, as told in the Bible, is often overshadowed by the cult of Santa Claus, a fictional character who has become a central part of the modern Christmas holiday.

Herbert Marcuse was a philosopher who argued that the same powerful forces that brought about historical tragedies like Auschwitz, the Gulag, and Hiroshima also control and dominate our everyday lives. These forces can exclude knowledge of the larger world and its powerful forces in an effort to make them disappear and become irrelevant. This type of hopeful approach to life extends beyond the political realm and can also be seen in our spiritual lives.

The celebration of Christmas is a good example of this. The story of Jesus's birth, as told in the Bible, involves the exercise of impunity by tyrants and the real-world consequences for Joseph and his young family. Rarely do we question the authority of Herod to demand that everyone return to the village of their birth. Further we know that after Jesus is born, every other baby born during the same period is captured and murdered by Herod's forces. These were anonymous victims sacrificed at the altar of repression. Even more disturbing, Herod's forces who carried out these atrocities are not demons or monsters. They are soldiers. Soldiers following orders.

However, this story is often diluted in the popular imagination and transformed into a fairy tale that is designed to provide comfort to old women and children. The addition of Santa Claus to the holiday further whitewashes the story, and children may be forgiven for mistaking Christmas as the festival of Santa's birth rather than Jesus's.

This superficial level of religion can be empty and devoid of the deeper questions about faith and meaning that should be raised. These questions include: What is the basis of my faith? What is my role in the world? What is the role of the world in my life? What is and what should never be? Understanding these questions and what they mean for an individual requires work and a willingness to engage with them.

However, many people are unwilling to put in this work and prefer to rely on simple, comforting ideas like "the most important thing is to be a good person" or "the universe loves you." For these people, religion offers a superficial level of comfort that is empty and meaningless, as it does not challenge them to engage with the deeper questions of faith and meaning. Ultimately, the choice of which level to engage with is up to each individual.

If the purpose of religion is to offer salvation to the willing. What does it offer everyone else. Many are called but few are chosen. For everyone else it offers relief. Hence the simple ideas you hear in the world: The most important thing is to be a good person. Let your intentions be known by the universe. The universe loves you. All good dogs to heaven. Those who are unwilling to work are given useless and empty comfort. They could know better, but they would rather not. Merry Christmas.

And here we are...