Christmas is the birthday of Jesus Christ, and yet a lot of Christians seem to be more concerned with sales, gifts and office parties than they are with his birth. To support this perception all I have to do is listen to what they have to say about their plans, look at the ads on television, in newspapers, in magazines and in store windows. It also has an affect on their parenting, by causing us parents to teach our children to be good so that Santa will reward them. But what happened to being good for goodness sake? Why do we make being good a job instead of a way of life? I believe it’s because America tries to play both sides of the philosophical fence. On one side of the fence it’s “in God we trust” and on the other side of the fence its “all others pay cash.”

Since America is a capitalistic society, Can Christianity and Capitalism peacefully co-exist on the same playing field? I don’t think so. Because capitalism is ruthless, uncaring, uncompromising, kill or be killed and dog eat dog. Christianity is supposed to be about love, faith and living according to the principals of cooperation. Maybe that’s why Jesus spent all of his time, while in the flesh, with the “have-nots” because unlike the “haves” they needed one another to survive and to do that they had to live by the principals of cooperation. A perfect example of these principals would be the practice of sharecropping the ex-slaves used after slavery. Since ex-slaves didn’t have the money to hire people to work their land, a group would get together to work each other’s land. One day they would work on one member of the group’s land and the next day they would move to another member of the group’s land until each member of the group’s land had been harvested.

This time of the year, America seems to use Christianity, but it doesn’t adhere to its principals. Capitalism doesn’t care about love and cooperation; because by it’s nature it breeds separation by class and wealth, like the rich and the poor or the haves and the have-nots. This kind of separation eventually breed’s contempt and when that happens the separation goes from the rich and the poor to the rich vs. the poor or as Malcolm X used to say “the landlord vs. the landless.” This separation by class also seems to have its greatest impact on the so-called “middle class.” Fighting not to become “middle class” only impacts the “haves”. The “have-nots” are only impacted by fighting to become “middle class.” However the “middle class” is impacted on two fronts. They are fighting to become a “have” and at the same time they are fighting not to become a “have not.”

Christmas is also the day that children are more concerned with what Santa has to bring them than they are with what Jesus came to give them. After all, is a child considered a good child because they are good or because they do what they are told? Do our universities teach our children how to live or how to make a living? I truly believe that if someone was able to ask Jesus what he wanted for his birthday he’d say “for mankind to love God and one another” and those are presents that can’t be wrapped and won’t fit under a tree.

About The Author
My name is Kenneth Brown and I am the father of three grown daughters. I am divorced and although I was born in New York City; I now live in a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia. When I was a Christian, I became aware of and interested in where my “institutional” faith had gone awry. This awareness and interest lead me to the conclusion that Christianity had been hijacked and as a result I became a student of Yoga.

I have been deeply influenced by such people as: Carl Brown, Thurgood Marshall, Malcolm X, Bill Cosby, Bill Clinton and Gurumayi Chidillasananda. Other articles that I have written are: Black History, Fathers, Message To My People, Religion, My Viet Nam, Emotional Awareness and Corrected Vision.

Kenneth's email:
brown6207@bellsouth.net