The Trouble with Christmas

In The Trouble with Christmas Tom Flynn challenges America's most popular sacred cow. Alternately outrageous, satirical, and thoughtful, this rollicking critique calls Christmas to account.
How many holiday traditions are authentically Christian? (Next to none.)
Does the contemporary Christmas holiday have ancient roots? (Hardly. It was largely invented by six eminent Victorians.)
Is the Santa Claus myth unhealthy for children? (Yes, Virginia.)
Are Christmas critics discriminated against? (Is "Scrooge" an insult?)
What is the future of Christmas as America becomes a multicultural, multifaith society? (Educators should start sweating now.)
The Trouble with Christmas is not only for curmudgeons, but for citizens, parents, teachers, and freethinkers of every stripe. Anyone curious about the origins and future of one of the Western world's most celebrated holidays will find something of interest in this provocative book.

Flynn, the associate editor of Free Inquiry and an avowed atheist, has written an argument for the downsizing of Christmas as a national holiday in view of the diverse nature of America's population. Providing extensive footnotes, Flynn devotes approximately half of this work to dispelling any "fond notions" anyone may have about Christmas, from Jesus and Santa to Christmas trees to poinsettias. The second portion of the book, which deals with the difficulties of celebrating Christmas in a democratic, multicultural society, raises an important issue: There are many who choose not to celebrate Christmas; thus, continuing to expect everyone to participate in or be tolerant of a religious holiday in which they do not believe is unrealistic and undemocratic. Flynn's point is valid, but a better alternative to reducing the holiday might be to educate those who observe it in the needs and concerns of those who do not.
- Joanna M. Thompson, Bluefield State Coll. , Bluefield, W. Va.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.