Christmas
or Xmas?
This week I was at
an Indian supermarket in Wentworthville, Sydney. At one point, I saw
a rather large crib, with a manger, statuettes etc., I would say not
really different from the many cribs I used to see in Malta, even
some of those I put up as a kid.
One might not expect
to associate Christian symbols with Indians, as this country a
billion strong is more associated with Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism and
Sikhism amongst others. Nevertheless, it may not be so well known
that Indians also have a long Christian tradition that goes back to
the Apostle Thomas.
This unexpected
sight reminded me, for some reason, in a tendency I've long noted,
that Christmas, which is a Christian religious feast, the presence of
Jesus Christ is slowly disappearing.
When I was young, I
remember receiving Christmas cards with the words 'Merry Xmas' and
used to ask my mum what this meant. I was amazed when I was told,
with barely concealed annoyance, that the letter X was seemingly used
to cut Christ out of the picture. More recently, I read1
(with considerable relief)
that the letter X started being used as an abbreviation of the Greek
version of the word Christ (Christos,
with the first letter 'chi' written as Χ).
Up
till recently I've often had discussions with some friend of mine
that holds the Christian faith, that tells me, rather angrily that
this year a decision has been made in some place, shop or centre, no
crib or other religious symbol associated to Christmas would be set
up. Naturally, related commercial music, tinsel, globes and flashing
lights are always exempt from this rule, and these start being seen
even from November, lest we forget the need to start saving to be
able to participate in the shopping orgy towards the end of the year.
The
reasons that is always given is that one wouldn't want to drive away
those who are not Christian, lest we lose some sales in this
important part of the economic calendar. After this reasoning, there
is usually some words of anger against these immigrants - Muslim,
Buddhists, atheists and the rest that are forcing us to change our
culture. What cheek! What have we come to! They wouldn't change
their culture in their own country!
Let
me confess something with you. I have many friends who are not
Christian. I have never heard any one even imply that he feels
uncomfortable with Christian symbols at Christmas, even those who are
atheists. Naturally, by me not having heard of any, this does not
mean that such people don't exist, however I don't get the
impression that there is some strong movement against these symbols.
Have you, dear readers, personally ever heard anyone directly say
something along those lines?
Why
would Muslims feel uncomfortable with Christian symbols? For them,
Jesus is the 2nd
most important prophet in Islam, second only to Mohammed himself.
For
followers of other religions,
or for those who are atheist or agnostic, as I heard just this week,
Christmas does not mean anything in a religious sense, however they
still enjoy the day with a good midday meal or with an outing, which
means there is a cultural coexistence. So what is the problem?
I
think the problem is not
coming from those who are not Christian, but from those who have been
responsible for putting up these religious symbols, who were not
doing so out of some devotion, but to attract people who were
predominantly Christian, with the motivation being purely commercial.
Now
that society is much more multi-cultural, the calculation of
'how-are-we-going-to-earn-more-money-than-last-year' is now leaning
towards risk aversion.
After
all, is this really a problem?
My
advice to whoever feels that this is a subject of some importance, is
that the most powerful Christian symbol in this world comes when we
follow the teachings of Jesus in our daily life, and become the salt
of the earth in this earth.2
We
don't need to make noise or raise any flags.
Where
there are Christian symbols that are still visible, let's enjoy and
embrace them this Christmas. And in the spirit of tolerance that we
expect from others, let's also enjoy the Christian dragon running
round the streets at the start of the lunar year, and the lights
hanging from the windows of Indian homes in the Hindu festival of
Diwali.
Happy
Christmas, and peace, to all readers.
1http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/Xmas?q=xmas&searchDictCode=all,
retrieved 14/12/2014
2Mt
5:13
3Mt
7:12
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Christmas
jew Xmas?
Din il-ġimgħa
dħalt ġewwa supermarket tal-Indjani ġewwa Wentworthville,
f'Sydney. F'ħin minnhom rajt li kellhom presepju pjuttost kbir,
bil-maxtura, il-figurini eċċ, xejn different ikolli ngħid
mill-ħafna presepji li ġieli rajt f'Malta, u wħud ukoll li kont
narma meta kont għadni tifel.
Forsi wieħed ma
jistennix li jassoċja simboli Nsara mal-Indjani, għax dan il-pajjiż
ta' biljun ruħ iktar huwa assoċjat mal-Ħinduiżmu, l-Iżlam,
il-Buddiżmu u s-Sikhiżmu fost l-oħrajn. Madankollu, forsi mhux
daqshekk magħruf li l-Indjani wkoll għandhom tradizzjoni Nisranija
twila ħafna li tmur lura sal-Appostlu Tumas.
Din id-dehra mhux
mistennija fakkritni, għal xi raġuni, f'tendenza li ilni ninnota,
li fil-Milied, li hi festa reliġjuża Nisranija, il-preżenza ta'
Ġesu Kristu ftit ftit qegħda tgħib.
Meta kont żgħir,
niftakar nirċievi kartolini tal-Milied bil-kliem Merry Xmas,
u kont nistaqsi lil ommi xi tfisser. Kont
bqajt mistgħaġeb meta qaltli, b'fastidju
mhux wisq moħbi, li l-ittra
X tintuża biex qisha qed
taqta' lil Kristu 'l barra. Iktar
riċentement, qrajt1
(b'mhux ftit serħan il-moħħ)
li l-ittra X bdiet tintuża
bħala abbrevjazzjoni tal-verżjoni Griega tal-kelma Kristu
(Christos, bl-ewwel
ittra li tinstema 'chi' tinkiteb Χ).
Sa
riċenti spiss ikolli diskussjonijiet ma' xi ħabib tiegħi li
jħaddan il-fidi Nisranija, li jgħidli jew tgħidli, b'ton immaħsan
li din is-sena saret deċiżjoni li fit-tali lokal, ħanut jew
ċentru, ma kinux se jarmaw presepji jew kwalunkwe simbolu reliġjuż
relatat mal-Milied. Naturalment, il-mużika kummerċjali relatata,
iż-żmontor, il-globi u d-dwal ipetptu huma dejjem eżentati minn
din ir-regola, u dawn jibdew jidhru anke minn Novembru, ma morrux
ninsew li aħjar nibdew infaddlu ħalli nkunu nistgħu ninfexxu
fl-orġja ta' xiri bla rażan lejn l-aħħar tas-sena.
Ir-raġuni
li tingħata dejjem tkun li ma jkunux iridu jgerrxu lil nies li ma
jħaddnux il-Kristjaneżmu, li ma jmurx jintilef xi bejgħ f'din
il-parti tant importanti tal-kalendarju ekonomiku. Wara din
ir-raġuni, ġeneralment ikun hemm xi kliem ta' rabja għal dawn
l-immigranti Musulmani, Buddisti, ateji u l-bqija li qed iġagħluna
ndawwru l-kultura tagħna. X'wiċċ tost! Ara f'hiex wasalna! Mur
għidilhom ibiddlu l-kultura tagħhom f'pajjiżhom!
Ħa
nqerr magħkom. Jien għandi ħafna ħbieb li mhumiex Insara.
Kieku qatt xi darba smajt lil wieħed imqar jimplika li jħossu
skomdu bis-simboli Nsara
tal-Milied,
inklużi dawk li huma ateji.
Naturalment, billi jien ma smajtx bihom, ma jfissirx li ma jeżistux,
imma m'għandix l-impressjoni li hawn xi moviment
qawwi kontrihom. Intom qarrejja. personalment, qatt smajtu lil xi
ħadd direttament jgħid dan?
Musulman għalfejn
għandu jħossu skomdu b'simboli Nsara? Għalihom Ġesù
hu t-tieni l-iktar profeta importanti fl-Iżlam, wara biss Mawmettu
nnifsu.
Għal segwaċi ta'
reliġjonijiet oħra, jew għal min huwa ateju jew anjostiku, bħal
ma smajt anke sa din il-ġimgħa stess, għalihom il-Milied ma
jfisser xejn f'sens reliġjuż, imma xorta jgawdu l-ġurnata b'ikla
tajba ta' nofsinhar jew b'xi ħarġa, jiġifieri hemm konvivenza
kulturali. Allura l-problema x'inhi?
Jien
naħseb li l-problema mhix
ġejja affattu minn min mhux Nisrani, imma minn min kien responsabbli
li jarma dawn is-simboli reliġjużi, ma kienx qed jagħmel dan b'xi
devozzjoni, imma biex jiġbed lin-nies li kienu predominantement
Insara, bil-motivazzjoni tkun purament kummerċjali.
Issa
li s-soċjetà
hija bil-wisq iktar multi-kulturali, il-kalkulazzjoni ta'
'kif-se-nagħmlu-biex-naqalgħu-flus-iktar-mis-sena-l-oħra' qegħda
xxaqleb lejn li ma jitteħidx xi riskju żejjed.
U
wara
kollox, din hija verament problema?
Jien
il-parir tiegħi għal min dan is-suġġett huwa ta' xi importanza,
huwa li l-iktar simbolu qawwi Nisrani f'din
id-dinja jiġi meta
nsegwu fil-ħajja
ta' kuljum t-tagħlim
ta' Ġesù,
u nsiru l-melħ tal-art f'din id-dinja.2
M'hemmx
għalfejn
jindaqqu t-trombi jew jixxejru l-bandieri.
Fejn
hemm simboli Nsara viżivi li għadhom jidhru, ejja ngawduhom u
ngħożżuhom f'dan il-Milied. U fi spirtu ta' tolleranza li
nistennew minn ħaddieħor, ejja ngawdu wkoll lid-dragun
Ċiniż jiġri fit-toroq fil-bidu tas-sena lunari, u d-dwal imdendel
mat-twieqi
tal-Indjani fil-festa Ħindu ta' Diwali.
Għamlu
lil ħaddieħor kif tridu lil ħaddieħor jagħmel lilkom.3
Tassew regola tad-deheb!
Il-Milied
it-tajjeb, u s-sliem, lill-qarrejja kollha.
1http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/Xmas?q=xmas&searchDictCode=all,
retrieved 14/12/2014
2Mt
5:13
3Mt
7:12
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