The Spirit of Christmas

“Christmas a humbug?” Is anything happening in the world today that might bring us Christmas cheer? Our military troops are in Somalia, trying to aid a culture 4,500 years behind our own. Decades of taking from productive businesses have caused severe and prolonged unemployment, which in turn has led to outbreaks of random violence such as Los Angeles saw again earlier this month (Dec. 14).

Christmas a humbug? Yes, it is--when its meaning is shackled to the pernicious spirit of sacrifice. Christmas should be a time of goodwill toward men expressed, as Ayn Rand said, “in a cheerful, happy, benevolent, non-sacrificial way.” This season, let us show this goodwill by being the kind of people who applaud a man for succeeding on his own, rather than reward a man for failing; who consider each individual as a potential value, rather than see him as a threat to our own values; and who want justice to rule our relationships with others, rather than let ignorance and fear rule them. If we do this, then, in spite of the world, we can have a Merry Christmas.

THOMAS D. LANNERT

Lomita