Christmas as a Federal Holiday Essay -- Religion Holidays

The most collectively celebrated holiday of the year is undeniably December 25th, Christmas. Most people acknowledge that the â€Å"Christ† in Christmas is representative of Jesus Christ, Son of God, and for Christians, the day is set aside as a celebration of his birth. Many people in the United States (and world) however, either do not believe in the Christian view of Christmas, have different non-Christian religious beliefs or celebrate for other reasons, if at all. Because of the multi-cultural differences that incorporate our country, Christmas should be declared by Congress as simply a Federal Holiday. This would be achieved if the dominant â€Å"Christ† aspect from â€Å"Christ†-mas was removed by renaming the holiday to The Winter Holiday, which is more inclusive to all cultures. The United States is comprised of a very diverse group of people with different beliefs and celebrations in winter including Hanukkah celebrated by Jews, Ramadan celebrated by Islam’s, Kwanzaa celebrating African culture, Bodhi Day celebrated by Buddhists, Diwali celebrated by Hindu’s, and Christmas celebrated by Christians. Also, there are the secular celebrations of Christmas, those traditions not specifically or overtly religious, celebrated by atheists, many other non-religious people as well as incorporated into most Christian celebrations. According to the Pew Forum, 4.7% of the population is a religion other than Christian and 16.1% claim â€Å"unaffiliated† (U.S. Religious Landscape). Between the 1990’s and 2008, the number of Christians dropped from 86.2% to 76% and the number of non-theists almost doubled in the same time frame (American Religious Identification). In most ways, Christmas is no longer a â€Å"religious† holiday and sh ould reflect all ... ...ous beliefs: peace on earth, goodwill toward all. Works Cited American Religious Identification Survey. N.p., Mar. 2009. Web. 28 Nov. 2010. . Mount, Steve. â€Å"Jefferson’s Wall of Separation Letter.† US Constitution Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Nov. 2010. . â€Å"Thomas Jefferson: Life; Liberty: Our Sacred Honor.† Ken Burns American Stories. PBS. KQED, n.p., 28 Oct. 2002. Television. U.S. Religious Landscape Survey. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. Web. 28 Nov. 2010. . The White House. N.p., 6 Apr. 2009. Web. 30 Nov. 2010. .