The birth of light and tolerance at a time when we need it more than ever

I was talking with a friend and we were discussing a prayer that was said at a school function. I am keenly aware of those who want to strongly voice their faith in schools and other settings as a political act. I feel sorry for them. They are always getting worked up by those who speak on a regular basis on the talk radio airwaves-those defenders of the faith. These defenders always want to put the world into two warring camps.

On one side is a group of people who wants to make a cause of saying Merry Christmas to rally around the bible and fight what they see as an evil that is spreading among business and individuals- the dreaded saying "Happy Holidays". On the other side is a business community and a group that recognizes that there are more and more people each year who are not Christians. The Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, and many other people of faith who live and work in our community every day. I read on my Google home page the hype about the war over Christmas and the people who actually keep a tally of what businesses and individuals are using the phrase happy holidays instead of Christmas.

The other day as I greeted a Jewish friend of mine I said Happy Hanukkah to him and he responded Merry Christmas to me. It seems to me that most people of faith would greet each other in a respectful manner. I am not Jewish and he was not Christian. Yet we both smiled and wished each other happiness and joy of the season. I would appreciate non-Christians greeting me with a wish for a happy Hanukkah or Passover, a greeting during the month of Ramadan would also be welcome. I believe there is a cancer that is growing among certain parts of the faith community. This cancer is the certainty that they alone have the truth and must proclaim it in a way that tries to assert their truth above all other truths. That we should all live under one state sponsored religion. There are several books written about the people who came to our shores and founded this country on the right to practice their faith in their own way. The freedom of religion. Of course if you read just a little later in our countries history you see that they too were just as intolerant of others faith and beliefs as the the countries that they fled from. Several colonies tried to establish a "state religion". It was only a few individuals who saw that a true democracy allowed everyone to pray to their creators in a way that suited them. That also gave the freedom for some not to pray at all.

So this Christmas I will celebrate the birth of a Jewish child. A child that grew up in a faith tradition that revered Abraham as the founder. An Abraham that founded Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. A Jewish child that stood up against those in his own faith who said that you must follow strict rules of obedience as set forth by the high priests and ministers of the faith. This holiday season I celebrate the birth of a light in the world that fought against bigotry, intolerance, and injustice, and not just against those in the ruling empire whose will was carried out by armed soldiers or tax collectors, but also against those of his own faith who would tear down others for daring to believe that they too could have a personal faith.

So I say Merry Christmas and to my friends of other faiths I hope that you will express their joyous expressions of your individual faiths right back to me. I've been listening to the musical "Rent" lately and the song 525,600 minutes runs through my mind as I think back over the moments that measure this past year. In most of those minutes this past year I hope that I have tried to listen instead of talk, tried to encourage instead of reject, and tried to love even when it was much easier to be angry or even hate. How do you measure the the moments of a life?