The View From Here . . .
By Bob Morgan, Jr.

The holiday season makes us think of our religious faith and traditions, as we attempt to reconcile our beliefs with a secular, skeptical culture.

In comparison with much of the Western world, the United States is a fairly religious place. Attendance at services is considerably higher in America than, for example, in Europe, where many of the grand old cathedrals are largely devoid of worshipers. In many parts of the country, particularly in the so-called Bible Belt, religious affiliations are a crucial part of social and economic life. Even in secular New York, the churches on Fifth Avenue are packed with people seeking to punctuate their shopping with religious observance.

Still, this is certainly not the age of faith in America, for a variety of reasons. One reason is scientific. When our country was founded, people found a relatively complete explanation of the natural universe in the Bible, but now scientific progress has made it clear that the stories of Creation, for example, must be understood in a more nuanced and sophisticated way. The upshot has been an increase of doubt and disbelief.

Other parts of contemporary life contribute to this lack of faith. To use a phrase from pop singer Madonna, we are living in a material world. There are great opportunities for wealth and for acquiring a dazzling array of goods and services. Moreover, there is a general refusal to defer gratification. In our material world, we demand goods, and many other pleasures, and we want them now. And our desire to experience immediately all that life has to offer is difficult to reconcile with the traditional religious emphasis on sacrifice and preparing for a world to come.

While the idea that the holidays have become too secularized is not exactly a new one, a piece this week entitled "Just What Are We Celebrating" by New York Sun columnist Alicia Colon paints an interesting picture. Ms. Colon, seeking to purchase a new nativity set, ended up having to buy one on eBay. And then riding around Staten Island checking out homes decorated for the season, she describes the scene. "There were snowmen, Homer Simpson Santas, reindeer and plastic blow-up carousels, but very few crèches or outdoor Holy Family figures. Of course, how stupid of me to forget that we now celebrate winter solstice - not Christmas."

Still people of faith, whether Catholic, Protestant or Jewish work hard to preserve the religious nature of the season, sometimes to be thwarted. In a particularly silly example of this, noted by Ms. Colon in her column, a rabbi in Seattle requested that a menorah be put up at the Seattle airport along with the Christmas trees. The initial bureaucratic response by airport officials, since reversed - take down the trees and prohibit the menorah. Only the most fanatical believer in separation of church and state could think that this was the right answer.

Faith, it has been said, is a gift. and some people have it far more than others, and certainly more than I do. But the birth of the newborn Jesus for some, and the Festival of Lights for others, gives us an opportunity, if only for a short time, to rise above the mundane secularism of our times to seek something greater. Let us make the effort to do so.

Merry Christmas and Happy Chanukah.