Christmas is hard for everyone. But it\u2019s particularly hard for people who actually believe in it.<\/p>\n
In a sense, of course, there\u2019s no better time to be a Christian than the first 25 days of December. But this is also the season when American Christians can feel most embattled. Their piety is overshadowed by materialist ticky-tack. Their great feast is compromised by Christmukkwanzaa multiculturalism. And the once-a-year churchgoers crowding the pews beside them are a reminder of how many Americans regard religion as just another form of midwinter entertainment, wedged in between \u201cThe Nutcracker\u201d\u009d and \u201cMiracle on 34th Street.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n
These anxieties can be overdrawn, and they\u2019re frequently turned to cynical purposes. (Think of the annual \u201cwar on Christmas\u201d\u009d drumbeat, or last week\u2019s complaints from Republican senators about the supposed \u201csacrilege\u201d\u009d of keeping Congress in session through the holiday.) But they also reflect the peculiar and complicated status of Christian faith in American life. Depending on the angle you take, Christianity is either dominant or under siege, ubiquitous or marginal, the strongest religion in the country or a waning and increasingly archaic faith.<\/p>\n