c. 2005 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) “What is your opinion on the recent arguments surrounding the `Christmas Tree’ or `Holiday Tree’ issue?” asks a reader. “I actually have friends who are losing sleep because of this!”

I’d say: Get more sleep. If those friends are wasting one breath on how to greet shoppers or what to call a decorated pine tree in December, the issue is doing exactly what pot-stirrers want it to do, namely, divert our attention from what matters.

Think of Saddam Hussein waxing theatrical at his trial in Baghdad, apparently hoping a spectacle would rattle his accusers. Or Congressman Tom DeLay trying to shift the focus away from charges against him by challenging the court’s integrity.

Make enough noise and smoke, and maybe people will stop noticing reality.

If the war in Iraq is going poorly, get people fuming about how “liberals are declaring war on Christmas,” as one commentator put it. Or how President Bush didn’t mention “Christmas” in a mass-mailed Christmas card.

If people are feeling anxious about tenuous jobs, evaporating pensions and shrinking family incomes, get them riled about retail catalogs that dropped the word “Christmas” and clerks who say, “Happy holidays.”

If people show some signs of resolving religious controversies and getting on with their lives, reel them back into victim mode by picking a fight.

This use of smoke screens to divert attention is a well-traveled road. Remember how Jesus’ critics called him a “blasphemer” when he threatened their power? Or how industrialists fought labor unions by labeling them “socialists” and “communists”? Or how automakers even now are using retirees’ benefits to draw attention away from weak management and flawed design?

I don’t question the sincerity of regular folks who get caught up in these controversies. But I do ask three questions. First, why do we fall for it? No one is out to “declare war on Christmas.” Nor does calling a decorated pine tree a “Christmas tree” violate separation of church and state or truly offend other faiths. Those are non-issues that serve no other purpose than to rile the faithful and get them looking under their beds for culture-war enemies. We face issues that are far larger than what we call school concerts in December.

Second, what purpose do these smoke screens serve? Follow the money. Religious voters give more generously to political causes if they consider their religion under assault. As Christianity learned long ago, a contest of ideas takes too long and might fail; we need martyrs to emulate and monsters to smite. How do you grab power in any institution? Take the system out of equilibrium, then offer to rescue it. If necessary, act crazy, and scare people into wondering what you’re going to do next, rather than what you are up to.

Third, are we simply fools? No, we aren’t. I think we find today’s world confusing and threatening. It is a relief, actually, to lose sleep over how a department store greets customers, as opposed to how its bills will be paid.

Problem is, we cheapen the courts when we attack their integrity, rather than mount a respectful defense. We undermine our basic institutions when we keep them constantly on edge. We deplete what little trust remains among citizens when we accuse one group of declaring war on another’s traditions. We fail to see what our leaders are up to and how their actual policies and practices affect our actual lives. And by making faith a battleground, rather than seeking a common ground for serving our society, we guarantee more acrimony than action.

How do I want to be greeted this season? With a genuine smile and whatever words enable you to be friendly.

MO/PH END RNS

(Tom Ehrich is a writer, consultant and leader of workshops. His book, “Just Wondering, Jesus: 100 Questions People Want to Ask,” was published by Morehouse Publishing. An Episcopal priest, he lives in Durham, N.C. His Web site is http://www.onajourney.org.)

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