Get ready. We’re coming to that time of the year when political correctness is heavy in the air. That’s right…I’m talking about “the holidays.”

Specifically, the Christmas season.

Won’t be long before the pc police experience their perennial angst about the symbols of Christmas and will not rest until all vestige of the reason for the season is expunged from the marketplace.  Somehow, we’ve allowed these self appointed gatekeepers of American traditions scare us into renaming Christmas, the Christmas tree, our greetings to each other, and who knows what else.  And don’t forget about the crèche…that terribly offensive display that arouses so much ire among some groups that they take city governments to court to have those displays removed from the pubic square.

So what’s all this have to do with Jesus?

Well, to answer that, it might be helpful first to provide some background information on political correctness. Most people are not aware of the Marxist roots of political correctness that started in Europe in the 1920’s as a subtle way to redefine language and symbols of culture in Marxist terms. This new ideology took hold in Europe and eventually was exported to America. Initially, the idea was to pit the working class against the ruling class, which did not take very much effort back in the early 20^th century given the conditions in Europe after the first World War.

Under the guise of equality and tolerance, the true intent was to create an us vs. them mentality by pitting people against each other–rich against poor, make against female, victims against their oppressors. The idea was to create artificial rifts between groups, and paranoia about things no one need fear.

The pc goal was and is to identify certain minority groups (not necessarily ethnic, but the poor and oppressed at first) who would be the good guys because they were kept at bay by the ruling classes (the bad guys), which were primarily white and wealthy in Europe. Since many of the proponents of this new ideology were atheists, they had to include religion, particularly Christianity, as another one of the antagonists in the class struggle since religion was seen as tool of the wealthy, ruling class. Judeo-

Christian thought was particularly singled out for deconstruction because its symbols and theology were so antithetical to Marxist thinking.

Of course, we all know where Marxist thinking took us in the 20^th Century…to Stalinist Russia, Communist China, and the killing fields of the Khmer Rouge of Cambodia.

Eventually, that ideology came to America where the fertile ground of the 60’s provided the right conditions to fuel the growth of the pc movement in America.

Now, this blog is not about political activism or political topics, as I want to focus on the faith perspective issues concerning political correctness. But a little background was necessary because it’s a long leap from Marxism to why we now say “happy holidays” and renamed Christmas trees to holiday trees. Now let me be very clear to say that many well meaning people have a politically correct mind-set, and they are no more Marxist than me.

The real faith issue is this—that Jesus asked us to render unto Caesar what was his and to God what is His. That quote was in the context of the Pharisees trying to corner Jesus into the politically incorrect answer of suggesting that His followers should not pay taxes.

That is still the battle today. PC needs good guys and bad guys to pit against each other, but Jesus comes along and says that the state is not our enemy and neither is the ruling class, another group of people, the wealthy, the poor, etc. He obliterates the “us versus them” mentality that is part of the politically correct agenda.

God is bigger than the state, which exists only by God’s grace and design. Its power is limited. It cannot rule over the things of the spirit that cry out for freedom. Did you ever wonder where the idea behind “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” comes from? Not from the Communist Manifesto.

Simply, PC cannot tolerate the notion of God in the pubic square because it is scared of God.

When the state or some other group seeks to control what we think, what we say, and creates fear to say what is on our minds and to question authority, and attempts to usurp the role of God in our lives, that is the beginning of totalitarianism. When we cower to those forces in our culture that tell us to rename our symbols because someone might be “insulted” because they do not believe similarly, they are creating fear and division. Not tolerance. I’d like to tell you a story to illustrate this.

When my daughter was young…maybe five or six, we were driving by our town hall where a crèche, a menorah, and Santa were exhibited. Of course, PC would prefer to have us remove the crèche and menorah. Fortunately, that did not happen.

As a Christian, the crèche was familiar to my daughter. As was Santa, of course. But not the menorah.  So my daughter asked me what the menorah was. I then had the privilege of using that symbol as a teaching opportunity to explain the story of the miracle of how one day’s worth of oil lasted for eight, and then how the Maccabees, with God’s help, freed their people from their oppressors. That became an opportunity to remove the mystery of what was unknown. And when you do that, fear and misunderstanding wane. And that is the beginning of tolerance. Awareness and education mitigates intolerance, not the disinformation political correctness encourages.

Also, the freedom to display our symbols and discuss our heritages provides a basis for understanding the greatness of our country. Hiding them encourages ignorance. And we all know what ignorance breeds. Racism. Hate. Suspicion. Have you ever wondered why our society seems to be more divided than ever before? More suspicious of each other than ever?  More white-collar crime? All these issues surface as a natural progression of the stripping away of our Biblical foundations of respect for the individual and adhering to a moral code beyond ourselves. The very thing that builds tolerance is being systematically deleted from our public square in the name of political correctness. We have turned off the lights slowly. And it’s getting dark.

Political correctness wants to keep us in the dark. It attempts to hide that which is obvious and plainly visible, and redefine what we believe. It’s done subtly, but done nonetheless.

Jesus wants us to be in the light because the light always dispels darkness. And our faith demands honesty. It fosters freedom.  It despises intolerance. It demands an ethic beyond our ability to live it. It gives us boundaries for our safety. And tells government that it exists for the people, and not for itself. And, to the chagrin of many, it tells us that we are not god.

So, once again, we will hear the same old politically correct rhetoric this Christmas season. Remember that by allowing those messages to control your life, you are participating in one of the great ruses being perpetrated on the American people.

Choose to opt out of intellectual dishonesty. Choose light instead of darkness. Jesus said He was the light of the world. I’d rather listen to Jesus. He died for me. PC wants me to die for it. The choice is simple.