In case you missed it, the House took a break from insuring children, subsidizing farmers and stopping torture to officially recognize the importance of Christmas and Christianity. Here are some excerpts from the non-binding resolution, which passed with 372 yeas and 9 nays:

Whereas there are approximately 225,000,000 Christians in the United States, making Christianity the religion of over three-fourths of the American population…

Whereas on December 25 of each calendar year, American Christians observe Christmas , the holiday celebrating the birth of their savior, Jesus Christ…

Whereas for Christians, Christmas is celebrated as a recognition of God’s redemption, mercy, and Grace…

At this point, I’m getting First Amendment heebee jeebees.

…the House of Representatives–

(1) recognizes the Christian faith as one of the great religions of the world;
(2) expresses continued support for Christians in the United States and worldwide;
…

(5) rejects bigotry and persecution directed against Christians, both in the United States and worldwide

Now I think I understand better some of the motivation behind the resolution. The Christian Right is the only group that can sponsor a bill like this, have a powerful chief executive as an ally, and proclaim with one officious breath that Christianity is the largest religion in the world and the religion of 75% of Americans and then say with the next: “I think there’s an assault on Christianity in America” because 9 out of 379 representatives dissent against this political grandstanding. These are the same type of people that argue that in America, white men are oppressed.

There’s a bit more background to this manufactured drama: in September, a resolution passed recognizing Ramadan, and in October another was passed recognizing Diwali, the Indian festival of lights. Apparently these sailed through the House unopposed.

I’ve read through all three resolutions, and I have to say that the Diwali and Ramadan ones don’t bother me as much as the Christmas one. Congressman Steve King, the sponsor of the Christmas resolution, would suggest that this is evidence of my anti-Christian bias. Perhaps he’s right, but because I acknowledge that I have an even stronger bias against Islam and I’m cool with the Ramadan resolution, I don’t think that this is the case.

I think it’s the arrogance of the Christian Christmas resolution that bothers me. It’s one thing for a white, Christian legislative body to reach out in solidarity to misunderstood religious minorities–this act is one of tolerance and goodwill. I’m not sure if there’s much to be gained by it in domestic politics. It’s another thing altogether for a secular legislative body made up of Christians in a country that is three-quarters Christian and to seek solidarity with Christians. This is an assertion of religious identity which can only alienate the (large) minority of non-Christians.