| Column 8 of the Sydney Morning Herald last week had an interesting entry from a man identifying only as a ‘Canberra Anglican parish priest’. In the lead up to Christmas he had organised some community carols in his local shopping centre, but met some resistance. ‘To my great amusement,’ he wrote, ‘the manager of the centre objected, because she thinks the “[expletive] Christians want to take over Christmas.” I'd always assumed that the “Christ” bit in both words might serve as a clue.' |
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It does appear that some people object to the traditional Christmas story being part of public life—shopping centre managers apparently, the odd journo, eagerly ‘pc’ local government officials and some vitriolic bloggers. But research out this week in a CPX-commissioned survey found that 91% of Australians are supportive of religious songs being sung in public at Christmas time. Other stats surprisingly challenge perceptions we might otherwise hold about the Australian religious psyche. 63% of those surveyed say that, contra Christopher Hitchens, the country would be worse off without Christianity. Australians regard the story of Jesus as more or less accurate. They tend to think highly of Jesus even if they never darken a church door.
But while most people might not feel especially aggrieved by the Herald Angels, or Good King Wenceslas trudging through the snow, the survey was hardly great comfort to those considering a clerical career. 42% of Australians are sure they won’t be heading to church this Christmas, and of the 45% who report being undecided, I’m going to hazard a guess that when it comes to the crunch they might opt to return to the pleasure of a freshly unwrapped ipod, or to don the togs for a swim instead.
The survey supports the sense I got when I recently conducted a bunch of vox pop interviews at Bondi beach on what people felt about the meaning of Christmas. Plenty said it was important not to lose the traditions of Christmas, but they said it in a way that indicated only the vaguest associations of family customs and childhood memory, rather than personal connection. Not everyone may want to ban nativity scenes from public places, or bar the local church choir from the mall, but those who view Christmas as holding the deepest of spiritual and personal meanings have a long way to go in communicating that message to a culture that has largely forgotten the force of it.
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