Tis the season when Christians collectively bemoan the commercialization of the holy day, reminding ourselves of the importance of turning away from the retail rat race and putting Christ back into Christmas. Yesterday, though, while tuning one ear to the Christmas muzak playing in one of my favorite coffee establishments (as it has been playing incessantly for a month now, in every part of the public square) it occurred to me that this commercialization is actually putting Christ and Christianity right smack into everyone\u2019s face . . . or ears, anyway. It\u2019s stealth evangelization, carried out not by missionaries but by loudspeakers.<\/p>\n
What other effort or initiative undertaken by any denomination gets Christianity into the subconscious of so many people? Overtly religious Christmas carols make up at least half of the all-Christmas-music-all-the-time playlist; no wall of separation here! Some of the most familiar of these carols combine lyrics that offer a veritable summa theologica<\/i> with melodies impossible to eradicate from memory. Want an answer to Anselm\u2019s Cur Deus homo <\/i>(\u201cWhy did God become human?\u201d)? Listen to \u201cHark! The Herald Angels Sing\u201d:<\/p>\n