This is the time of year for a
secular society to celebrate the holidays by putting
gifts beneath the Christmas tree and spreading Christmas
cheer.
All the holiday movies are about Santa and
snow and presents and celebrating.
But who took Jesus out of Christmas?
Was it our present godless generation that will
tell you happy holidays, but who refused to
tell you Merry Christmas?
Was it the liberal left who legislated God
out of America in the 1960s?
Do you know, friend, who took Jesus out
of Christmas?
Even the most popular Christmas movie for the
last 60 years, White Christmas, starring Bing Crosby,
took Jesus out of Christmas.
And that movie was made way back in
1954.
So who took Jesus out of Christmas?
It was corporate America of the 1930s.
America had just emerged from the Great Depression
and corporations were looking for ways to cash
in on the growing commerce from Americans who
now had more disposable income.
The Saturday Evening Post published an ad for
Coca-Cola that had an artist's drawing of
Coca-Cola Santa, which helped create our modern
image of Santa.
And Hollywood began to produce Christmas-themed movies
that focused on Santa Claus.
And corporate America began ad campaigns introducing new
characters like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
This all happened in the late 1930s.
But you have to go back to June
26, 1870, which established Christmas as a federal
holiday, recognizing it in America as a celebration
of the birth of Jesus Christ.
Christmas in the 19th century was a religious
holiday to celebrate one thing, the birth of
Christ Jesus.
The day did not focus on children and
gifts, but on adults and church service, and
giving thanks to God for His Son, Jesus
Christ.
19th century America was still a Christian nation
back then, and was in the throes of
the Great Awakening, where God was moving the
land in borrowful revival, and thousands were being
saved.
But that all changed at the turn of
the century, as America moved from a rural,
agricultural economy to a more industrialized economy.
And this shift in society brought financial freedom
to many Americans, and created a self-reliant
church.
Christmas became a self-indulgent holiday to make
one happy, and to spoil one's children with
too many toys they would never even play
with, and satisfy the greed of corporate America,
who took Santa and replaced Jesus by taking
Christ out at Christmas.
Today, even many Christian households place more emphasis
on Santa and presents than on the baby
in the manger, Jesus, who came to save
His people from their sins.