As we approach Christmas Day, the twinkling lights and joyful carols should remind us of the holiday’s profound meaning—the birth of Jesus Christ, a cornerstone of Western civilization and American heritage.
Yet, for decades, we’ve witnessed a relentless campaign to strip Christmas of its sacred essence, replacing “Merry Christmas” with the vapid “Happy Holidays.” This isn’t mere politeness; it’s a calculated erosion of tradition, faith, and cultural identity. From historical roots in secular overreach to glaring examples under the Biden administration, it’s time for conservatives to continue to push back and make Christmas merry once more.
The Historical Assault: From Puritan Bans to Modern Secularism
The so-called “War on Christmas” didn’t start with today’s woke activists—its seeds were sown centuries ago, often by those who feared the holiday’s joyous, faith-centered spirit.
In the 17th century, New England Puritans, driven by a rigid interpretation of Scripture, outlawed Christmas celebrations entirely. In 1659, the Massachusetts Bay Colony fined anyone caught observing the day with feasting or merriment, viewing it as a “papist” invention laced with pagan remnants from Roman Saturnalia festivals. These early Americans, fresh from England’s religious wars, saw Christmas as frivolous and unbiblical, preferring somber reflection over festive cheer.
Ironically, this ban echoed the Reformation’s broader skepticism, where figures like Martin Luther reformed but didn’t erase the holiday—Luther himself is credited with popularizing the Christmas tree as a symbol of everlasting life.
Christmas endured and flourished in America, becoming a unifying force post-Civil War in the 19th century. It blended immigrant traditions—German trees, Dutch Sinterklaas evolving into Santa Claus—and was declared a federal holiday in 1870 under President Ulysses S. Grant, symbolizing national reconciliation. But the 20th century brought new threats. Industrialist Henry Ford, in the 1920s, railed against what he saw as Jewish influences diluting Christmas, blending anti-Semitism with complaints about commercialization. This morphed into broader cultural battles: By the 1950s and 1960s, as secularism rose with Supreme Court decisions limiting school prayer (like Engel v. Vitale in 1962), public displays of nativity scenes faced legal challenges.
The modern “War on Christmas” exploded in the 1990s and 2000s, fueled by progressive activism. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) spearheaded lawsuits against religious symbols on public property.
Retailers like Target and Walmart began enforcing “Happy Holidays” policies to avoid “offending” minorities, turning a Christian holy day into a generic shopping spree. Conservative commentator Bill O’Reilly popularized the term “War on Christmas” in 2005 on Fox News, documenting schools renaming “Christmas trees” to “holiday trees” and banning carols like “Silent Night” for their religious lyrics.
These weren’t isolated incidents; they reflected a cultural shift toward multiculturalism at the expense of majority traditions, where saying “Merry Christmas” became equated with intolerance.
By the 2010s, the push intensified with social media amplifying outrage. In 2015, Starbucks’ plain red cups sparked backlash for omitting snowflakes or reindeer—seen as a subtle secularization. Polls from that era, such as those from Pew Research, showed a divide: while 92% of Americans celebrated Christmas, only 52% viewed it as primarily religious, highlighting the dilution.
This historical pattern reveals a consistent theme: Whenever faith asserts itself publicly, secular forces—often backed by left-leaning institutions—mobilize to neutralize it.
Modern Erasure Under the Biden Administration: A Forced Spectacle of Secular Blandness
If history laid the groundwork, the Biden years (2021-2025) turned the “War on Christmas” into a full-scale retreat from tradition, forcing Americans to watch as the White House and federal policies prioritized political correctness over merriment.
From the start, Biden’s administration signaled a departure from the bold “Merry Christmas” revival under President Trump, who in 2017 declared, “We’re saying ‘Merry Christmas’ again!” Instead, Biden’s team embraced “Happy Holidays” as the default, mirroring the inclusive-but-empty rhetoric of progressive elites.
Take the 2021 holiday season: Amid supply chain crises that left shelves bare and gifts delayed—dubbed by critics as Biden’s “Grinch” moment— the White House’s messaging leaned heavily on “seasonal” themes. Biden’s Christmas address included nods to “holidays” broadly, but conservative outlets like Fox News highlighted how it downplayed the Nativity, focusing instead on pandemic unity and generic goodwill. That year, federal agencies, including the U.S. Postal Service, ramped up “Happy Holidays” stamps featuring secular icons like snowmen, sidelining religious motifs. Schools under Biden’s Department of Education guidelines faced pressure to adopt “inclusive” celebrations; in districts across blue states, “winter parties” replaced Christmas events, with songs like “Jingle Bells” sanitized or swapped for non-religious alternatives.
By 2023, the erasure became visually stark. First Lady Jill Biden unveiled White House decorations themed around “Magic, Wonder, and Joy,” but conservatives decried them as a bizarre, secular spectacle.
The Biden administration’s White House Christmas video featured the acclaimed Dorrance Dance troupe performing a lively tap-dance interpretation of Duke Ellington’s jazzy take on Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker Suite,” with performers in vibrant, elaborate costumes evoking characters from the classic ballet as they toured the festively decorated halls. Yet what was intended as a playful celebration of magic, wonder, and joy struck many conservatives as oddly dystopian and eerily reminiscent of the garish, decadent excess in the Capitol scenes from The Hunger Games, fueling widespread criticism that it captured a bizarre, out-of-touch spectacle rather than traditional holiday warmth.
Reclaiming Christmas: A Call to Make It Merry Again
As we gather with loved ones this Christmas season, let us resolve to reclaim the holiday from the forces of secular blandness and political correctness that have sought to dilute its joy for far too long. No more apologizing for nativity scenes in our homes, carols ringing out “Christ the Savior is born,” or boldly greeting one another with a heartfelt “Merry Christmas.” These traditions are not relics of the past—they are the living heartbeat of a celebration that has warmed hearts for centuries.
Under administrations that prioritized vague inclusivity over authentic faith, we watched as the sacred was sidelined for the sterile. But the tide is turning. With renewed leadership and a cultural awakening, we have the chance to restore the merriment that once defined this season: families singing traditional hymns, communities embracing the wonder of the Incarnation, and public spaces unashamedly proclaiming the good news that changed the world.
Above all, let us remember the true reason for the season—not gifts or parties, but the humble birth of Jesus Christ, God made flesh, who came to bring light into darkness and hope to the hopeless. In a fractured world, that message is more needed than ever. So this year, and every year, let us make Christmas merry again—not with forced neutrality, but with unapologetic joy in the Savior’s arrival. Merry Christmas to all, and may God bless us, every one.
