Dear Conservative,





Allow me to be the first to wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas.





As you prepare to spend tomorrow celebrating with family and friends, it is important to remember the true meaning of Christmas. After years of secularization and commercialization, the Christmas of today would be nearly unrecognizable to Christmas celebrated by American colonists at the time of the founding.





Believe it or not, for much of our country's early history, the celebration of Christmas was actually prohibited in some areas. In 1659, Christmas was outlawed in Massachusetts. The Puritans despised Christmas, calling it a "Foolstide." Since only the Sabbath was explicitly named a holy day in scripture, the Puritans cast Christmas aside. The Puritans didn’t need a special holiday to do what they already did every day: praise God. This law was ultimately repealed in 1681, but it would take another 200 years until Christmas was deemed a Federal Holiday and Massachusetts was forced to observe it.





The puritans notwithstanding, different parts of the country have historically celebrated Christmas in different ways. These different traditions have all contributed to how we celebrate Christmas today. The Dutch, settling in the New Jersey/New York area, brought with them the concept of Sinterklass. The German settlers of Pennsylvania brought with them the German word Christkindl, literally meaning “Christ child,” which would eventually evolve into the Kriss Kringle we know and love today. One of the earliest mentions of a Christmas tree in North America can be traced back to 1781 when British and Prussian soldiers erected a tree to celebrate the holiday while garrisoned in Quebec to defend against the American invasion of Canada.

You see, while Americans have traditionally celebrated Christmas in different ways –  ranging from the indifference of the Puritans to the Sinterklass narrative of the Dutch settlers – there has always been Christmas in the United States.

Tomorrow is Christmas, the day in the Christian tradition chosen to celebrate the birth of Christ. Whether you believe that Christ is the son of God, or just a wise philosopher, is irrelevant to the issue at hand.

You will hear people tell you “Happy Holidays,” and when you do, remind them that there aren’t any other holy days that coincide with Christmas this year. Hanukkah is long over and Kwanza isn’t set to start until Dec. 26th. Today is Christmas Eve, and tomorrow is Christmas, and it has been this way since at least 354 AD (the earliest known Roman calendar recognizing the holiday). So when you hear people say Happy Holidays, kindly correct them.

Yet remember: Christmas isn’t just a date on a Calendar. Even the most distinguished Biblical scholars agree that Jesus wasn’t born on December 25th.

Christmas is more than a date and more than just a day when you have to go to church. It is more than the exchanging of gifts, and more than a feast or tree or carol or wreath.  As President Reagan remarked in 1981, “Christmas is a state of mind” celebrating the “reaffirmation of God's great love for all of us.”

Between the secularization behind the phrase “Happy Holidays” and the hyper-commercialization of this once reverent holiday, Christmas today would be unrecognizable to the Founders. However the holiday’s foundation still exists.

No amount of revisionist history can change the fact that the United States of America was founded on Judeo-Christian values and that through our faith, we have prospered as a nation. Throughout our darkest days we have remained steadfast in our faith and trust in God and as a result, we've never lost our way. While the Christmas that we celebrate today may be a modern practice, the holiday’s wholesome themes of love, compassion, faith, and redemption are as American as they get! We are committed to bringing these Conservative principles back to Washington, not just on December 25th, but year round!

On most days, we use these emails to drive advocacy to the political issues that threaten our great Republic and empower patriots around the country to let their voice be heard throughout Capitol Hill. In just the past year alone, you have helped us to send over 10 million faxes to Congress to stop them from destroying our Republic and shredding its Constitution. On every crucial issue, you have answered the call to defend this great country and to make sure that our elected officials are held accountable for their actions.

On this Christmas Eve, however, all I ask is that you keep to the true meaning of Christmas. Whether you are a Christian or not, whether you believe Jesus was the son of God or just a great philosopher and teacher, there is no doubt that the world would be a much better place if more people lived honorable lives of charity and compassion.

Please forward this email to at least 10 your friends and encourage them subscribe to our daily newsletter to help us support these conservative principles and ultimately take our country back. Share this message with your family and friends on Facebook and join the conversation on social media.

The road ahead will be difficult. It will take every ounce of our resolve to stay this course and bring conservatism back to Washington. But the finish line is in view. The past year has shed light on the President’s flawed liberal policies, and they say that sunlight is the best disinfectant. We need every conservative to join this grassroots effort to hold our Representatives and Senators accountable, and we can’t do that unless every conservative joins the fight and we all speak as ONE.

So forward this email to your friends and family! Like Conservative Daily on Facebook and encourage your friends and family to do the same! Encourage your conservative friends to subscribe to Conservative Daily!

But most of all, have a Merry Christmas.

Sincerely,

Joe Otto


Conservative Daily