Is Xmas taking the Christ out of Christmas? Is the term Xmas anti-christian?
During this Christmas season, I have heard a lot of controversy over terminology. Some Christians seem to be very offended when they see "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas" on a store sign. Others seem to be even more offended by the use of Xmas instead of Christmas.
I obviously have my own views on the subject, but I much prefer to look past subjective opinions and examine the history of the matter.
So is Xmas just a politically correct euphemism of the word Christmas? An effort by the secular community to get rid of any reference to Christ during this season?
I think the answer to that is a resounding yes…and no.
Certainly there are some today who use the term Xmas to remove Christ from the word, and therefore to be less offensive to non-Christians. But that does not in any way change the facts surrounding the origin of the term.
Xmas is definitely not a modern term. In fact, it's been in widespread use since at least the 15th century, and it was originally coined to mean Christ-mas, not as away to avoid any reference to Christ. For more details, read this article about the origin of the term Xmas.
If we understand the historical origin of the term, it may "help us modern day Xians focus on more important issues of the Faith during Advent, and bring a little more Peace to the Xmas Season."
I hope you all have a Merry Xmas!
I remember as a kid being severely reprimanded for using Xmas and have been afraid to use Xmas ever since as I thought and was told it was disrespectful to Christ. While working on a project with my 2 children this year, I read the origin of Xmas and will now use it whenever I chose. The next time someone chooses to say something to me about it I will be prepared to enlighten them of their ignorance of the history of Xmas. 🙂
I still use Xmas from time to time, not because the term Christmas scares me but because I'm lazy and sometimes you just run out of room to write on your cards.
Fascinating! Thanks for sharing!
I grew up being told that Xmas was intentionally leaving out Christ from Christmas. I learned later as an adult that it was not a true statement…at least not for it's origination. However, there is a strong drive in America to drive the Christ out of Christmas and in order to never be misunderstood by other believers or cause them to "sin" by judging me, I choose to not use that term. I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas…(and it didn't take me that much longer to type Christ than an X :))
Using X-MAS in replacement of Christmas is disrespectful to millions of Christians….
Going back hundreds of years to try and justify it… is even more disrespectful.
Its Christmas….get it straight and have some respect.