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GraphicaArtis/Corbis ¡Feliz Navidad! Joyeux Noël! Frohe Weihnachten! God Jul! Sretan Božić! Crăciun fericit! Priecīgus Ziemassvētkus!How do you keep the Christ in Christmas if your language doesn't have a Christ in it to begin with?The languages of the world have quite a variety of names for Christmas. That's not surprising, what with different languages having different words for things, but it turns out that our Christmas name stocking is stuffed with words that mean quite a few unrelated things. And many of them have nothing to do with Christ.Christmas lands right at the same time as winter solstice festivals that...

Whether it's giving gifts or munching on candy canes, everyone loves Christmas traditions, but few people know how or where these customs came from. Find out the surprising, funny and even nothing-to-do with-Jesus roots of these common Christmas traditions. Why's it called Xmas? It's a short form we've all used on greeting cards when we didn't have enough space, but few people know why 'x' is a good substitute for 'Christ' in 'Christmas'. Turns out, the Greek letter 'chi' is written as 'x' and is the first letter of the word 'Christ' in Greek. While the use of the word...

Christmas Isn’t Perfect – So Find Christ in Your Real Christmas By: Msgr. Charles PopeMost of us have a perfect Christmas in mind. Often it is the creation of Hallmark, Currier & Ives, and various marketers. But none of us will have a perfect Christmas, just a real one.The First Christmas wasn’t perfect either. In fact, the only way to describe it is to call it a crisis. Mary was pregnant before marriage, a very dangerous thing in those times. Just at the time of birth they were required to travel eighty miles on foot to Bethlehem. There was no...

Joshua Habursky, YAF chapter chair at Washington and Jefferson College, told Young America’s Foundation in an email that the Dean of the college approved a condom-decorated Christmas tree on campus.

For a number of Americans, the Christmas season is a time for joy and love, but for others, it’s an opportunity to stage a war against Christianity. The latest battle entails a blasphemous nativity scene from a group of atheists, which they have defended as a response to counteract the Christian “War on the Constitution.”  Wisconsin is once again at the center of a major dispute, this time because Governor Scott Walker made the mistake of referring to the “holiday” spruce as a “Christmas tree.” That prompted the Freedom from Religion Foundation to call Walker “a Teabagger governor wearing religion...

Prompted by a billboard calling Christmas a myth, the Catholic League erected a pro-Jesus billboard Tuesday. MANHATTAN — The Catholic League, upset over an anti-Christmas billboard at the New Jersey entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel, threw a "counterpunch" at atheists Tuesday with a billboard of their own on the New York side of the tunnel.The new 26-by-24-foot billboard at Dyer Avenue and West 31st Street features a depiction of Joseph and Mary looking adoringly at baby Jesus, with the message: "You know it's real. This season, celebrate Jesus. Merry Christmas from the Catholic League," according to the Catholic League's website....

My company, a major metropolitan newspaper, used to host an annual Christmas party for employees. But, this year, the paper broke with tradition, hosting instead a “holiday party,” so as not to offend the sensibilities of those that do not believe Christ the Son of the God. Well, I respect the Constitutionally-protected right of every American to practice a religion other than Christianity, the faith of this nation’s founders. Or to practice no religion whatsoever (which I suspect of many, if not most of my journalistic peers). What I find objectionable, though, is the insistence of non-Christians that the holiday...

In a Christmas message to the nation delivered together with First Lady Michelle Obama, President Barack Obama said that for his family Christmas is “a time to celebrate the birth of Christ” and “learn from His example.” …… You see, the war in Iraq is over. The transition in Afghanistan is underway. After a decade of war, our heroes are coming home. And all across America, military families are reuniting. … … For my family and millions of Americans, it’s a time to celebrate the birth of Christ. To reflect on His life and learn from His example. Every year,...

The big black letters on the water tower that looms over this small South Jersey town announce “Everybody likes Pitman.” Except that someone doesn’t. Or so say many of the borough’s residents. Located just 17 miles southeast of Philadelphia, the Gloucester County town has the rural feel of fictional Bedford Falls in “It’s a Wonderful Life” — the kind of town where the barber shop is called just that in a window sign and has a working barber pole spinning out front. There is no snow on the ground, but wreaths encircle lamp posts like halos, the marquee in front...

St. Lawrence Council 10281 in South Amboy, NJ. Credit: Knights of Columbus. New Haven, Conn., Dec 16, 2011 / 03:03 am (CNA).- The Knights of Columbus' annual campaign reminding millions of Americans to “Keep Christ in Christmas” is in full swing with radio ads, signs, billboards, Nativity scenes and Christmas cards.“In a society where Christmas has often become shorthand for shopping, many who celebrate Christmas can lose sight of its true meaning,” Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson said Dec. 15. “Those who celebrate Christmas give gifts to each other because it is the day on which we celebrate the...

Order takes message to tens of millions through public service announcements and tree lightings. Keep Christ in Christmas Ads  • Television Ad 1 (rm, 30 sec., 985 kb) • Television Ad 2 (rm, 30 sec., 893 kb) • Radio Ad 1 (mp3, 28 sec., 455 kb) • Radio Ad 2 (mp3, 28 sec., 342 kb) • Radio Ad 3 (mp3, 18 sec., 288 kb) Millions of people in North America will get the message to “Keep Christ in Christmas” thanks to public service announcements from the Knights of Columbus that will be aired in the United States and Canada during the Christmas season.Radio spots encouraging people to “Keep Christ in Christmas” in...

Conservatives try to put religion back into holiday By ALLEN G. BREED, Associated Press Emboldened by their Election Day successes, some Christian conservatives around the country are trying to put more Christ into Christmas this season. In Terrebonne Parish, La., an organization is petitioning to add "Merry Christmas" to the red-lighted "Season's Greetings" sign on the main government building and is selling yard signs that read, "We believe in God. Merry Christmas." And a Raleigh, N.C., church recently paid $7,600 for a full-page newspaper ad urging Christians to spend their money only with merchants who include the greeting "Merry Christmas"...

            Committee to Save Merry ChristmasPO Box 251 Orangevale, California 95662-0251Contact us by email The War:A covert and deceptive war has been waged on Christmas to remove any mention of it from the public square during the Christmas season. During the past several years, and with great effectiveness, we have observed a consistent and relentless move to culturally pressure merchants, businessmen and individuals to remove the words “Merry Christmas” from their advertising, decorations and promotional materials. The festive atmosphere of the past that surrounded the Christmas season in department stores which energized shoppers, supported their...

Two Words You Can’t Say On TV. By Joseph Sobran Every year I forget to wish our readers a Merry Christmas - or rather, I remember too late, failing to allow for lead time. It isn't as if I'm not reminded: The shopping and advertising madness begins the, day after Thanksgiving, on the dot. It reminds me of P.G. Wodehouse's Bertie Wooster: "Jeeves was in the other room hanging holly, for Christmas would soon be at our throats." I know the feeling. It isn't just that the commercial side is so cloying; it's that the central meaning of Christmas is...

State Deputy Thomas Ledbetter and the State Board of Officers of the Massachusetts State Council Knights of Columbus and the Salem Knights of Columbus have announced that the ‘Festival Of The Dead’ Death and Rebirth Ritual Transformation scheduled to be hosted by Salem Witch Elder, High Priestess Sandra Mariah Power at the Salem Council Knights of Columbus has been moved from the Knights of Columbus hall. After researching the many complaints received about the ‘Festival Of The Dead’ scheduled for November 1st, the Massachusetts State Board of Officers determined that the event should not proceed in a Knights of Columbus...