Tinsel, snowmen and the sound of piped carols: it’s December. There is no escape from Christmas.
As the shopping season moves into full swing and shelves are stacked with all of the latest “must have” toys, we face (again) the uncomfortable question: what is it all about?
Do any of us actually know the Christmas story any more and, if not, does it matter?
A recent survey of over 1,000 people, published by Theos, revealed that when it comes to the classic elements of the Christmas story, such as the appearance of an angel to Mary or where Jesus was born, the vast majority of people, 73% in each case, know the story. However, less "famous" bits of the story, such as whence the holy family fled or who was Jesus’ first cousin, are rather less well known.
Knowledge decreases markedly with age. Only 7% of the youngest age group questioned (18-24) knew the correct answers to all the questions, whereas 18% of those aged 55-64 got them all right. If such trends continue, as they say, one day soon nobody will know anything.
This difference between the ages may seem odd, not least since religious education is statutory, religious studies an increasingly popular A-level subject, and a recent Ofsted Report, Making Sense of Religion, instructed "those with responsibility for religious education" to "ensure that children and young people are able to make sense of religion in the modern world and issues of identity and diversity."
Perhaps the reason for young people's – indeed most people's – lack of knowledge lies in a broader political ambivalence towards Christmas.
Such stories do not prove the existence of an atheist plot to take Christ out of Christmas. The argument that the growth of religious pluralism demands of us particular sensitivity and consideration of others is a serious one – even when made by secularists who are willing to use some faith groups (with whom they have little affiliation or sympathy) to silence others.
The result, however, is that in our desire not to offend we water everything down to an inoffensive but characterless lowest common denominator and, in the process, erode the public’s knowledge of the very festivals that an educated, plural society is supposed to understand and recognise.
Does this matter? The answer is an emphatic, "Yes!" In the case of Christmas, ignorance threatens, first to erode the cultural ties that bind, and second to remove some of the few remaining obstacles to a fully consumerised society.
Nobody seriously argues that being a Christian or a member of the established Church is the same thing as being British today. However, any serious consideration of, and attempt to achieve, social cohesion can ill-afford to ignore the Christian stories that have bound us together as a culture for over a thousand years. In the same way as the knowledge of British history, constitution and symbols acts as a point of cohesion, so too does knowledge of the stories that have informed those cultural phenomena for centuries.
Knowledge does not, of course, mean belief in. It is not the state’s job to encourage religious belief or disbelief in any format. However, in an age that is increasingly questioning the received wisdom of multiculturalism, we can ill-afford to ignore those things that make for unity. Any attempt to downplay the Christmas story in order to help social cohesion is destined to prove counterproductive.
Second, there is the problem of consumerism. The Christmas story, in its true context within the Christian faith, challenges our preconceptions. It forces upon us an awareness of the homeless, the immigrant, the persecuted, the weak, the vulnerable – when we would happily shut them out of our cosy, fireside visions of peace. It reminds us of the virtue of trust and faithfulness – in a time of where contract and exchange are the dominant models for relationship. And it orients us beyond the here and now, towards the transcendent, the eternal – when we might otherwise seek simply to satisfy our most immediate cravings.
In the face of the Goliath of today’s consumerism, the Christmas story may seem like a David without even the aid of his slingshot and stones. But that is all the more reason to preserve it. Without it, we are in ever greater danger of sacrificing our culture on the altar of commercialisation.
If previous years are any precedent, churches and cathedrals will be full this Christmas as families, friends and colleagues gather for carol services, Nativity plays, crib blessings, midnight masses, and Christmas Day Services. Many will believe wholeheartedly in they story they hear. Many will not. But they should all, at very least, know what that story is.
Aaron Campbell is a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales and a student in Theology.
