Christmas historian Bruce Forbes on 'Merry Christmas' vs. 'Happy holidays' and our many reasons for the season - Los Angeles Times
Advertisement

Opinion: Christmas historian Bruce Forbes on ‘Merry Christmas’ vs. ‘Happy holidays’ and our many reasons for the season

Share via

“Santa Baby” is a Christmas song. And so is “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” (More precisely, it’s a Christmas carol.)  Somehow, we have gotten used to hearing “war” and “Christmas” used in the same sentence. But a Methodist minister who wrote a book all about the real Christmas — in point of fact, our many Christmases — thinks there’s a path to a peace treaty for all parties. Here is your Christmas gift from Bruce Forbes, who also heads the philosophy and religion department at Morningside College in Iowa: the real history of the commercial, cultural and spiritual holiday that has given us both “O Holy Night” and “ho ho ho.”

To read this week’s column, click here.

Want unlimited digital access to the L.A. Times? Patt Morrison listeners can sign up here for eight free weeks.

MORE PATT MORRISON ASKS

What does Kathryn Barger have planned now that she's one of L.A.'s most powerful politicians?

How will Linda Lopez run L.A.'s Office of Immigrant Affairs with Donald Trump in power?

How catastrophes like the Ghost Ship fire are making cities like L.A. rethink their housing crises

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook

Advertisement