Some years ago a Hollywood film was released with the title Four Christmases. Except in Australia it had the release title of Four Holidays.  It was only when I saw the trailer in a cinema that I realised it had anything to do with Christmas. I’m not quite sure why it had a different title in this country, but my suspicion is that the distributors thought Four Christmases would offend non-Christians four times more than one simple Happy Holidays.  If this is the case why don’t we go the whole way, and remove any mention of Christ from Christmas in case He offend? The carol Twelve Days of Christmas would become The Twelve Days of Happy Holidays, O Christmas Tree would become O Happy Holiday Tree and Handel’s Messiah will eventually be known as the He’s Just A Naughty Boy Oratorio. 

Let me just state that I am in no way a practising Christian (I am as secular as they come) but I stand up for the right of Christians to practice and celebrate their religion without embarrassment of offending others in our society who believe in something else, whether it be Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism or the Giant Black Bunny In The Sky. Australia is not alone in being a Western society so eager to appear tolerant and welcoming to other cultures and creeds that it tries to distance itself from its own traditions.

Other cultures are less welcoming. It is quite possible for an Islamic group to walk through the streets of any Australian city, the women in hijab, singing or chanting anything they so desire and warrant only moderate interest from the public. Indeed the police would probably assist with an orderly passage through the city streets. On the other hand, try having an end of year Christmas BBQ in a public square in downtown Riyadh, inviting a group of friends in shorts for beer and wine as everyone breaks out into an impromptu rendition of the Hallelujah Chorus.

Firstly, in Saudi playing music in public is prohibited, so that’s the end of the Hallelujah Chorus. As the Handel is a piece of Christian music it would be doubly banned as worship of a religion other than Islam. The shorts would be considered indecent and the consumption of alcohol would be met with imprisonment for a few months to several years. In addition, woe betide any of your friends at the party who are homosexual or in an adulterous relationship and happen to accidentally show some affection towards each other. Both those groups will be taken off for instant public beheading.

It’s fair to say that Saudi Arabia is no Disneyland. What passes for normal and acceptable social behaviour in Australia is totally illegal in that state.  It makes you aware of how remarkable a country Australia is, that so many different nationalities and creeds can live together with so little tension. Sure there is the odd scuffle on Cronulla beach, some pretty vile talk that comes from the mouths of professional stirrers on AM radio, and many older Anglo Saxon taxi drivers seems to be an out and out racists, but for the most part we get on with it in our delightfully low key way without beheadings, stonings or imprisoning those who want to sing a ditty whilst walking down the street. I used to be slightly depressed by our apathy, that we didn’t have regular riots at the opera or people ranting in public squares, but now I celebrate our lackadaisical ways. We may not be living in total peaceful harmony, but it is certainly better than the atonal discord of other countries. Perhaps we’re all too busy paying off our over-inflated mortgages to have the time for community passion.

Christmas has been the inspiration for so much great art and music across the centuries, it would be a shame to see it reduced to a non-religious shopping festival. For some it is all about Jesus, for others it is a comforting reminder of our bonds with family and friends. Whatever your beliefs, it is an important part of our heritage, and shouldn’t be reduced to the euphemism of Happy Holidays.