As a history buff, one of my all time favorite history stories was of the Christmas day truce in WWI. You can read about it here: Link

For those who don't know the story, in 1914, well before the US entered World War I, the Allies were engaged against the Germans in warfare. Talk of a truce had been proposed, but it was just that, talk. On Christmas eve, the truce began, and it would be several days before fighting recommenced. Officers in some cases had to threaten their subordinates with courts martial if they didn't resume fighting.

Eventually, however, conflict did resume. But every survivor that participated in the Christmas day truce remembered it to their dying day.

How sad that, in this day and age, "Christmas" has become a dirty word, not allowed in many schools, and increasingly villainized by American secularists. Ironically, Christmas' origins are pagan and NOT Christian, only assimilated into Christian culture to appease the pagans. While this is pretty common knowledge among secularists, it has not repressed their relentless tirade against Christmas.

I would truly like to see Christmas become a day of peace for all faiths. Its origins and practices are incidental to the fact that we truly could use one day a year of "peace on earth, goodwill to man". Maybe critics would be well advised to put down their (verbal) arms, and embrace the potential spirit and meaning of the holiday. Maybe then, people wouldn't be so durned depressed this time of year.

Respectfully submitted,

Gideon MacLeish