Religious Wars and Their Ethics

A nativity to celebrate (and remember)

I've been digging around in old journals again, looking for tidbits for the Bibliography of Ethical Culture.  I renewed my membership in the Center for Inquiry, appreciating, as I do, their support for separation of church and state in Texas.  I participate in the Hill Country Freethinkers Association, which is, I believe, an affiliate of CFI.  Good people, good conversations.  We have a variety of religious beliefs, which we express easily and comfortably, respecting our differences and the nuances of belief that can come with many years of life and whole lot of PhDs at the table (plus one JD for seasoning).

CFI's journal, Free Inquiry, has a handy archive.  Of course, I'm going to check it for articles by Ethical Culturists (as far as I can recognize them).  EC writers were evident in the early issues, but not so much later on, so this effort may not take a great deal of time.  Indeed, the tone of the journal, after those first few years, seems a little more stridently anti-religious with the occasional active "debate" between Christians and freethinkers (I've only examined issues through 1999, so this is just an assessment of these early years).  

One issue that caught my eye, because I am now thinking about time and how we relate to it, is the Fall, 1993 issue, which focused on the question:  Should secular humanists celebrate rites of passage?  The issue talked about naming ceremonies, confirmations, weddings, memorial services and Christmas.  I tend not to think of Christmas as a rite of passage, but there it was:  Tom Flynn writing about "The Trouble with Christmas," a substantially shortened version, I assume, of his book of the same title.  Judging this issue by its cover--and its table of contents--it rather feels like there is a bit of a religious war in these pages.  Not that that is the viewpoint of the Editor, Paul Kurtz.  In this same issue, his "Letter from Berlin" says, very clearly:

Organized humanists—relatively small in number—believe deeply in democracy, tolerance, and human rights.

I'll take him at his word.  I have yet to read his contribution to The Ethical Forum (another short-lived Ethical Culture serial), but, just checking its contents, he seemed to refer to religious humanism in a positive way.  (I will report when I get a chance to sit down and read it more fully--and add The Ethical Forum to the Bibliography.)

All of this is context for my reaction to "The Trouble with Christmas."  It is one thing to recognize the history of the celebration, as far as we can know it, and its origins in the pagan celebrations of the winter solstice.  It is not entirely surprising to sense the negative judgments of those who associate the event with current religious belief systems and see the hypocrisy of the capitalistic version(s) of the holiday.  What struck me about Flynn's argument was the determination that humanists--being enlightened about the roots of the holiday--should then ignore it because we are no longer subject to the whims of nature.  That is, we know that the earth circumnavigates the sun on a tilted axis in a not-quite-perfect circle, which gives us seasons that we are able to predict.  Knowing the science, we no longer need to celebrate the return of the sun, so we can, in effect, ignore the solstice.  After all, most of us are no longer farmers, and we (mostly) have electricity.  Flynn says: 

Men and women can view the phenomena of nature with understanding and respect, instead of with superstition and uncomprehending fear.

A valid conclusion, but not, in my thinking, a justification for rejecting the season.  Flynn's perspective is remarkably urban, remarkably technological, remarkably ethno-centric (ignoring the achievements of Native Americans in understanding solar cycles) and, unfortunately, pre-climate change.

Two things struck me as I was (lightly) exploring this issue of Free Inquiry:

1. I am still repelled by language that denigrates another's religious belief--or, more specifically, denigrates another human being for holding the beliefs they do.  If I am free to believe as I wish, then others should be equally free.  If I am not to be persecuted (or insulted) for my beliefs, nor should any other be.  These diatribes against people of various faiths are no different--and no better--than the preacher who thumps his bible and shouts tirades against the godless secular humanists.  It is an unnecessary religious war that is fed by denial of "democracy, tolerance, and human rights."  Focus on that, I say, not whether the baby Jesus was born in a manger and angels sang "Joy to the World."
2. The earth does indeed circle(ish) the sun on its titled axes in its elliptical orbit and (I believe) we'd damned well better remember that.  It's a big deal for the tiny human ants living on its surface, messing with natural systems and forces that we cannot control, but we surely have screwed up.  This doesn't mean that we must now seek new ways to worship or pray to those screwed-up systems for relief from the big heat (or the big wind or the big water), but our "understanding and respect" might well extend beyond our own personal comfort to consider the human systems that we have created and continue to permit to alter and--for the sake of our human survival--damage our planet, consider and begin working to halt the damage and, if possible, reverse it.

I disagree with Flynn's reasoning, and I disagree with his conclusion.  I do not participate in Christmas celebrations to any great extent for mostly personal reasons.  The Ethical Society of Austin has an annual Solstice Celebration where we share songs and stories and favorite readings.  Last year I read "The Hunting of the Snark, Fit the First" to those gathered.  This year, I think I'll read "Fit the Second."  The language and rhythm is worth hearing (to my mind) even more than the "nonsense"
words, despite the fact that it has nothing to with the season.  It is, in any case, a moment to share with friends and enjoy each other.  

Privately, I have been known to light a candle to celebrate the returning of the light.  Even as far south as Texas is, those short days and long nights can be dreary.  If I happen to notice the date on my calendar and have enough mental bandwidth to connect it to the movement of the sun, I have lit that candle in solitude and gratitude, happy to think of longer days and mehr licht.  

Is that a primitive response to nature?  Is that an ignorant response to the solar cycle?  No, it is my human acknowledgement of my human connection to the environment in which I live and--with "Fit the Second"--will be my human acknowledgement of my human need to connect with other humans with peace and goodwill.  We don't have to buy a tree, decorate our house, or go into debt with excessive gift giving to maintain either connection, but, I believe, we need both.  In the first days of winter, its good to take a moment to appreciate both.