A reprise on the article by James Carroll from Dec. 21:

The Politics of the Christmas Story

This is how it came to be that Christmas in America has turned the nativity of Jesus on its head. No surprise there, for if the story were told today with Roman imperialism at its center, questions might arise about America’s new self-understanding as an imperial power. A story of Jesus born into a land oppressed by a hated military occupation might prompt an examination of the American occupation of Iraq. A story of Jesus come decidedly to the poor might cast a pall over the festival of consumption. A story of the Jewishness of Jesus might undercut the Christian theology of replacement.

“Jesus is the Reason for the Season” moves me to get my own copy of that yard sign, and place next to it “War is Not the Answer” as a clarification that this Jesus does not bless us in our replacement of his life and message with that of Empire. As Carroll writes, the Aemrican occupation of Iraq is simply our acceptance of the role of the Imperial oppressor; and it is no less than that exactly, only this time it is the followers of that Jesus whose birth posed such a grave threat to Herod, the Roman puppet.