Christmas Trees Are Not Secular

If a Christmas tree is a secular (i.e., non-religious) symbol, then why is it called a Christmas tree? Over the years, I've heard many people claim that Christmas trees, Santa Claus, and other "symbols of the season" have nothing to do with Christmas. At my public (i.e., state-run) high school, school officials were thrilled to display five Christmas trees prominently throughout the building--this despite the "separation of Church and State" which this country supposedly promises. The librarian even claimed that the evergreen in the library--decorated with tinsel, lights, and ornaments, which appeared in early December and was gone by early January--was not a Christmas tree but a "book tree" with no religious connotations whatsoever.

If it were a decoration which truly had no religious overtones, why let it be so easily "mistaken" for a Christmas tree? Why not put it up in March? Why not use a willow tree? Why not make a big paper-mache book that students could decorate, instead of using a tree at all?

From what I've observed, most Christians don't see most Christmas decorations as being "Christian." Many speak of a holiday season as if it were something that could be separated from the holiday because, in their view, it can be. In short, they refuse to acknowledge that they have a shared culture, a shared past and a shared heritage.

I whole-heartedly support the idea of a season of good will and charitable deeds--in fact, I'd be thrilled if such a season lasted year-round. And I can understand that people like to decorate and to celebrate. If you want to celebrate winter, put up snowflakes. Better yet, decorate in January, when everyone (at Harvard, anyway) needs a bit of a boost because of exams. But if someone puts up Christmas decorations, I think it is imperative that those decorations be recognized as such: Christmas decorations, in celebration of Christmas. A Christmas tree--by virtue of the name itself, and the symbol it has become in today's society--is unquestionably and undeniably a symbol of Christmas. --Marnie Alexis Friedman '99