Christmas! The day to celebrate the birth of our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ. At least that's how it started. As many of you know, Christmas has become more or less a secular holiday in these United States. Seeing as how we don't have a national religion - and thank God for that (pun intended) - nobody has to celebrate Christmas, yet many of us do. I can honestly say that I have not attended a church for anything besides funerals and thanks to my brother, a wedding (no, I'm not going to make a marriage joke about how they're one and the same... oops just did), but I look forward to Christmas every year! Probably even more so than followers of the Lord. But Christmas is actually quite the religious holiday. So the question has to be asked. Is this secularizing of Christmas (formerly known as the birth of Jesus Christ, now the day of the fat man) acceptable? I sat down with Jesus Christ and Santa Claus to get some answers.

 

Joe B: Jesus, Santa, thank you for sitting down with me so close to the holidays.

Santa: Holidays? Ho-ho! You're amongst friends, Son. It's okay to say Christmas.

Joe B: Forgive me.

Jesus: I beg to differ. We should show respect to other celebrations of different faiths, or lack thereof. Especially during this time of year.

Santa: Sorry, I forgot about the guy that goes around the world and gives presents to all of the world's good on Hanukkah Eve. Oh wait, no, that's me on Christmas Eve!

Jesus: Santa, let's not have this fight again.

Santa: Sorry...

Joe B: That was awkward... Anyway, what brought about the secularizing of Christmas? I mean, if anything short of reverence was given to me on my birthday, I'd be quite upset.

Jesus: Well you know what, Joe? I'm just not one to hold a grudge. I was nailed to a cross for Christ's sake, and you don't see me asking Pops to smite anyone! He has his own naughty and nice list!

Santa: Very funny...

(Jesus gave Santa an awkward look for the next minute or so that seemed like an eternity.)

Jesus: ANYWAY... I understood about a hundred years ago or so that not everyone is Christian, especially in the United States. Then one of the Saints, you lose track of names at my age, gave me a picture of a chummy little fellow. It was a cartoon of Santa Claus drawn by Thomas Nast. I put in a word with Pops and lo and behold, Santa Claus was born to serve all of those in the spirit of giving, regardless of their religious persuasion.

Santa: That's right! We even serve Atheists now! (Pointing to Jesus) It was hard to give that one's family on board...

Jesus: Hey, I'll be the first to admit our faith's short-comings and rocky history. But can we change? YES WE CAN!

Santa: Good God! This one's been all about Obama. Such a liberal hippy, this guy is.

Jesus: Ain't that ironic!

Joe B: ...Well, thank you for taking the time to sit down with me!

After shaking hands, Jesus and Santa Claus wished me a Happy Holiday and Merry Christmas before departing back to their respective homes. They wanted me to reiterate to all of my readers that this is indeed the season of giving to your fellow man, regardless if you're a believer or not. So if you haven't stopped reading by now, stop reading now, sing some carols, give a little something to that special someone, spend time with your loved ones and have a great holiday season!