MEDIA and SOCIETY: Christmas, not Xmas

There is an appeal about Christmas that is special and gripping. December 25, the convenient date Christmas is celebrated worldwide as the birthday of Jesus Christ, the son of God, is like no other season. At the spiritual level, Christ is positioned afresh as the prince of peace whose message of love seeks to reconcile mankind with the creator. As the visual representation of God, Christ comes across as God the son, who reigns with God the Father, and the Holy Spirit—the indwelling encourager and enabler—who reinforces the teachings of Christ with the Father.

The world is reminded that while religions generally dwell on man’s search for his place with his maker, Christianity stresses the redeeming love of the creator for his creations through the example of Christ who came as Heaven’s ambassador to earth, preaching, teaching, and healing.

In the newspapers and magazines; on air, and atop billboards, at strategic road sites, in the stores, and major public buildings, that festive air associated with Christmas is ever palpable. From the street decorations conveying beauty, to the fireworks heralding fanfare, Christmas is the season of music, trumpeting sonorous carols that stir the senses to its redeeming message.

Coinciding with the end of the Gregorian calendar year, Christmas reunites the family as children take a vacation from school and governments grants workers public holiday. From the traffic jams in the inner cities, occasioned by last minute shopping, to the gridlocks on the highways formed by city residents travelling home to their homesteads, Christmas conveys this reunion in a gripping way.

It is also the period of giving and receiving. Just as the three wise men brought Christ’s parents gifts in recognition of his unique circumstance, people of goodwill, including Nigerians, share gifts at Christmas. Many businesses are Christmas-focused: Lights, artificial trees, buntings, gift baskets, Christmas carol CDs, cards, sparklers and bangers etc. Shops are swathed in glittering Christmas colours of green, red, and gold to attract patronage as the spiritual and the commercial contend for public attention.

The Nigerian press captured the allure of Christmas last week in reports, features, photographs, editorials and cartoons. Next, in ‘A lean purse at Christmas’, December 23, recorded the last minute shopping by Lagosians, noting the impact of the economic hardship on sales. It followed up the theme on Christmas day with stories of low patronage of the road transport sector by travellers. While the Punch on Christmas day devoted three pages to the celebration, the Nation published two pages on how Christmas was celebrated in its Boxing Day edition. The Sun, in its populist manner, devoted six pages to the subject on Boxing Day, exploring how Muslims celebrate Christmas, detailing “the good, bad and ugly sides of Christmas frenzy”, garnishing it with a vox pop on odd things that people have done at Christmas.

Messages streamed from the pulpits; admonitions came from political leaders—Christians and non-Christians—urging the people to ‘emulate the example of Christ’, ‘shun violence’, ‘renew their faith in the living God,’ ‘join hands in nation-building’, ‘shun sin and toe the path of righteousness’, which the Holy Book says exalts a nation.

Action photographs and orchestrated shots of the clergy and laity, in and outside the church, were generally splashed to convey the significance of the celebration.

From the coverage, the orthodox Catholic and Anglican churches commanded greater attention as the new wave churches were left as onlookers. My friends at the Sun may, however, have some explanation to give these churches. On at least three pages of their Boxing Day edition, they spelled Christmas, ‘Xmas’. First it was on the front page, “Xmas Shocker”, then on page 8, “Pope delivers Xmas message after physical attack by woman”. Finally, it appeared on the back page where Mike Awoyinfa, in his column, ‘Press Clips’, announced, “They all want my Indian good luck charm for Xmas”.

Although the practice was borrowed from the Greek letter Chi, which is the first letter for Christ, and is today used out of convenience, many Christians see it as manifestation of the antichrist taking out Christ from Christmas anytime they spell it as Xmas. They argue that it amounts to taking out Christ’s name from a celebration that is uniquely his, and that the commercialism of free trade is replacing the spirituality of Christmas. Such commercial thinking, they say, is extended to such greeting cards that read ‘Season’s Greetings’. What season is being greeted or celebrated in December other than Christmas and the New Year, they ask. So, why secularise the greeting by omitting any reference to Christmas?

Happy Holidays!