In Australia, a Victorian survey finds Christ’s birthday losing meaning:
One in five sees (Christmas) as a celebration of Christ’s birth … When asked which of three statements summed up Christmas, the Galaxy Research poll of 800 people found 75 per cent said it was about good times with family and friends.
It seems to me that a challenging reflection for Christians in the USA via SydneyAnglicans News, applies to Australian Christians:
Christmas is hard for everyone. But it’s particularly hard for people who actually believe in it.
In a sense, of course, there’s no better time to be a Christian than the first 25 days of December. But this is also the season when American Christians can feel most embattled. Their piety is overshadowed by materialist ticky-tack.
[Following the review of two books] … this month’s ubiquitous carols and crèches notwithstanding, believing Christians are no longer what they once were — an overwhelming majority in a self-consciously Christian nation (USA). The question is whether they can become a creative and attractive minority in a different sort of culture, where they’re competing not only with rival faiths but with a host of pseudo-Christian spiritualities, and where the idea of a single religious truth seems increasingly passé.
Or to put it another way, Christians need to find a way to thrive in a society that looks less and less like any sort of Christendom — and more and more like the diverse and complicated Roman Empire where their religion had its beginning, 2,000 years ago this week.
Article in New York Times, A Tough Season for Believers.
