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Recently a friend posted an article on Facebook which I could not read because of a paywall, but her comments really made me think. I later found this article on the same topic, perhaps the same article, picked up by the bigger newspaper. The article discusses Hanukkah, but from a more "woke" perspective, an examination between fundamentalism and progressive values in religion, and what it takes to preserve cultural meaning.
It was interesting to think of a holiday which honors fundamentalism in a time when Christian fundamentalism has become a visible threat to the hopes and dreams of America. Did early progressive Jews feel the same when the sided with the Greeks? Is the story of the miracle of Hanukkah a story of the blessing of fundamentalism over progressive values?
For me, every holiday, every story of history is a story of both light and dark. Which side we see, whether we see joy or shame in the celebration of that story depends largely on whose perspective we take, and what society has woven into the story, or forgotten completely.
And sometimes it has a lot to do with what personal meaning we attach to the day.
We just got through Thanksgiving. That's probably one of the most loaded holidays on the calendar. Are we celebrating thankfulness for the harvest? The gathering of family? Gratitude for our lives, our land, our nation? And how dare we celebrate these things when the foundation of the day marks colonialism and the genocide of the indigenous population?
How do we celebrate Christmas, a day so solemn that until recently drinking and carousing was banned, a day to remember a birth of a savior who was born in order to be a sacrifice for all mankind? A birth that triggered the slaughter of thousands of infants, that became the foundation of wars for centuries to come?
I, personally, do not celebrate the birth of Jesus. I have come to look at Jesus the same way I look at Santa Claus, a story with a set of moral values attached, but also reflecting the darkness and ignorance of the past.
As an atheist, I've traveled a journey where I embrace the word "heresy"... a word that comes from the Greek "hairisis" which means "taking and choosing". I take and choose what has meaning for me, for my values, for my beliefs, and I simply leave the rest.
What I believe about the seasonal holidays, all of them, is that there is always light in the darkness, there is always hope, and there is always love. This is the time of year when we huddle together... families, lovers, friends... and express the simple joy of being together, using what symbols we've gleaned from the surrounding culture to express that joy and that light, regardless of the darkness that may surround it.
There are so many saying about there being no light without dark, and how some small light lightens the darkness.
No matter what or how we celebrate this season, may we embrace the light.
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