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December Wars
In this age of "political correctness," Christmas has become our most controversial holiday. Each year brings new court battles over nativity scenes on public property and heated school board meetings in the public schools.
Author Albert J. Menendez traces this dispute as far back as the fourth century, when Catholic orthodoxy turned Christmas into a major propaganda tool as well as a religious observance. Over the centuries there has been a surprising amount of disagreement among the various Christian sects about the nature of the Christian observance and whether Christmas should be celebrated as a holiday at all. The English Puritans and the Scottish Presbyterians, for example, were adamantly opposed to Christmas celebrations.
In our own day, the controversy has engendered a complex legal tangle stretching from local councils to the United States Supreme Court. Menendez reviews the specific arguments and decisions in the judicial debate over religious symbols in the public square, and he explores the broader implications of the controversy for church-state relations. The December Wars provides a fascinating historical and legal perspective on our most popular holiday.
Author Albert J. Menendez traces this dispute as far back as the fourth century, when Catholic orthodoxy turned Christmas into a major propaganda tool as well as a religious observance. Over the centuries there has been a surprising amount of disagreement among the various Christian sects about the nature of the Christian observance and whether Christmas should be celebrated as a holiday at all. The English Puritans and the Scottish Presbyterians, for example, were adamantly opposed to Christmas celebrations.
In our own day, the controversy has engendered a complex legal tangle stretching from local councils to the United States Supreme Court. Menendez reviews the specific arguments and decisions in the judicial debate over religious symbols in the public square, and he explores the broader implications of the controversy for church-state relations. The December Wars provides a fascinating historical and legal perspective on our most popular holiday.
170 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1920
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December 17, 2019
We're all aware of the debates that spring up every year regarding Christmas displays on public buildings or the singing of Christmas carols in public schools. This book promises to chronicle the history of these debates in support of its thesis that these current controversies are merely a manifestation of a centuries-old battle regarding the meaning of Christmas and its place in public life.
Admittedly, the book does contain numerous historical notes of some interest, but the fact that it dedicates roughly a third of its pages to these historical notes ultimately does little to support its thesis that, say, Oliver Cromwell's treatment of the holiday is fundamentally part of the same cultural and legal debate related to the display of Christmas lights on city buildings in 20th (or now, 21st) Century America. They may well be connected, but the book merely provides a laundry list of historical events and legal precedents without any overarching narrative to connect them.
With regard to the current debates in the United States, the book does present a fairly exhaustive legal history, but doesn't shed any productive light on the legal or philosophical issues beneath these cases. Neither is this "facts only" treatment an effort to objectively present the history; the author's own opinions are made abundantly clear both in the way he frames court rulings and especially in the book's final chapter. It's true that these debates raise interesting First Amendment issues, but I was expecting a book that would use legal precedent to craft a nuanced analysis of the legal philosophy. This was not that book. As quoted within the book, Justice Kennedy regarded many of these controversies as "embracing a jurisprudence of minutiae." It's clear the author means for us to disagree with Justice Kennedy, but the book's pages are devoid of any well-considered analysis to substantiate his position.
If you're interested in a book that chronicles the Christmas-display debate, this one would probably serve you well. But if you're interested in philosophical discussion, the often-redundant listing of the facts and rulings in case after case will seem more tiresome than informative, particularly since the case law offers no consistency on this issue, seeming to fluctuate wildly and according to the whims and moods of individual judges.
Admittedly, the book does contain numerous historical notes of some interest, but the fact that it dedicates roughly a third of its pages to these historical notes ultimately does little to support its thesis that, say, Oliver Cromwell's treatment of the holiday is fundamentally part of the same cultural and legal debate related to the display of Christmas lights on city buildings in 20th (or now, 21st) Century America. They may well be connected, but the book merely provides a laundry list of historical events and legal precedents without any overarching narrative to connect them.
With regard to the current debates in the United States, the book does present a fairly exhaustive legal history, but doesn't shed any productive light on the legal or philosophical issues beneath these cases. Neither is this "facts only" treatment an effort to objectively present the history; the author's own opinions are made abundantly clear both in the way he frames court rulings and especially in the book's final chapter. It's true that these debates raise interesting First Amendment issues, but I was expecting a book that would use legal precedent to craft a nuanced analysis of the legal philosophy. This was not that book. As quoted within the book, Justice Kennedy regarded many of these controversies as "embracing a jurisprudence of minutiae." It's clear the author means for us to disagree with Justice Kennedy, but the book's pages are devoid of any well-considered analysis to substantiate his position.
If you're interested in a book that chronicles the Christmas-display debate, this one would probably serve you well. But if you're interested in philosophical discussion, the often-redundant listing of the facts and rulings in case after case will seem more tiresome than informative, particularly since the case law offers no consistency on this issue, seeming to fluctuate wildly and according to the whims and moods of individual judges.
Displaying 1 of 1 review