Second, the fight over the word Xmas underscores some American Christians' real fear of persecution. Christian America' narrative that fuels those arguments. The battle over Xmas, though it might seem trivial, only reinforces the 'secular vs.

Why does this matter?įirst, the US remains divided over several traditional culture war issues, most prominently abortion. Appropriately enough, it's called Xtina's Xmas.

Sure! Here's a Christmas song from Christina Aguilera, who sometimes calls herself Xtina. The hatred for Xmas, then, may stem in part from an innate suspicion of the attempt to render all things ancient and beautiful modern, cheap, and sleek. The desire to get from point A to B by the shortest possible route, irrespective of the charms of traditional byways, fuels our mania for abbreviation. The cultural, religious, communal traditions we see as especially embodied by Christmas have been undermined by the rise of commerce and cult of efficiency. Writing at First Things, Matthew Schmitz, who is well aware of the historical roots of Xmas, discusses another reason some Christians might be wary of the shorthand: In fact, polls show that organized religion in America has been declining. Is there any good reason why Christians might hate 'Xmas?'Ĭertainly, Christians have a right to feel however they wish, and if they think that Christianity is being driven from the public square, there's really no arguing they're wrong. Graham and those who think similarly (like actor Kirk Cameron and former Alaska governor Sarah Palin) believe the secularization of American culture is so all pervasive that even if they're aware of the religious roots of Xmas, they still believe it is symbolic of a larger trend. Therefore, Xmas, as Graham said, 'is a war against the name of Jesus Christ.' For him, and to many who share his particular religious leanings, Xmas is symbolic of a bigger problem with our culture: not only are we crossing out Christ in the word, they say, but we're tossing him out of the public square. Think about Franklin Graham's quote above. The answer may have something to do with the culture wars, the historical tension between the left and the Christian right. (Tyler Olson/ Flickr) So how did Xmas become so hated? According to legend, on the eve of his great battle against Maxentius, Constantine had a vision that led him to create a military banner emblazoned with the first two letters of Christ on it: chi and rho. In the early fourth century, Constantine the Great, Roman Emperor from 306-337, popularized this shorthand for Christ. Here's what it looks like: Χριστός So how did that word get abbreviated? In Greek, the language of the New Testament, the word Christos (Christ) begins with the letter 'X,' or chi. How can the letter 'X' stand for 'Christ'? But those who make this argument are barking up the wrong tree, because, you see, the X in 'Xmas' literally means Jesus. This is of a piece with those who fret that saying 'happy holidays' is somehow scrubbing the season's religious ties away. And really, I think, a war against the name of Jesus Christ. And for people to take Christ out of Christmas. For instance, Franklin Graham, son of Billy, put it like this :įor us as Christians, is one of the most holy of the holidays, the birth of our savior Jesus Christ. This might seem like a strange battle to wage, but there are people who really, earnestly believe this is deeply important. The idea is always the same: let's not rub out the religious roots of this holiday by saying 'Xmas,' instead of Christmas. You've probably heard the phrase 'Keep Christ in Christmas,' either on a church sign, or a Facebook wall.

X word for christmas