The Ethics of Xmas

For the last few years we’ve been hearing a lot about the so-called “War on Christmas” and how some Christian conservatives (not to be confused with conservative Christians, who are often quite liberal on social justice issues) claim to be fed up with what they refer to as “excessive political correctness.” The holiday they celebrate on December 25th is called Christmas, and they insist that there’s nothing wrong with a Christian wishing people a Merry Christmas, anymore than there would be something wrong with members of the appropriate faith wishing someone a joyous Chanukah, Kwanzaa, Yule, Solstice, Ramadan, or whatever. I’m going to leave the political and legal aspects of this debate to those more qualified, and simply focus on the business aspect of the question, which is how are we, as managers, supposed to reconcile the demands of Christians (to recognize Christmas, specifically) with the demands of everybody else (to not be subjected to Christian holidays or customs) in the workplace?

While there are some factions that would have you believe that recognition of the Christian holidays in the workplace (and in business activities like advertising) is a cherished tradition going back for thousands of years, the truth is that most of the “traditional” elements they’re describing did not appear until the later half of the 20th Century. The idea of using a religious holiday to make money is a relatively modern innovation, and would likely have been considered blasphemous in any era before this one. In recent years the demand for tolerance and inclusion has resulted in the appearance of generic iconography and text celebrating all of the possible holidays rather than simply those of a single faith, with “holiday cards” and “holiday parties,” and so on. But with the re-appearance of Christian fundamentalism in the United States (and the alignment of various Christian fundamentalist groups with conservative political groups) we’re now starting to see a push-back effect against these all-inclusive holiday celebrations…

As a manager, there’s an understandable reluctance to become involved in any religious issues while on company time, as any decision you make is likely to offend someone. There’s even a well-known bit of Internet humor about a human resources director trying to accommodate every conceivable special interest group at the proposed company event (and slowly going insane in the process) that points up just how easily this sort of thing can backfire on the company. But, by the same token, telling people that all displays in celebration of any holiday are forbidden would clearly be hostile to your employees’ collective right to free expression, and make you the flinty-hearted villain who banished their cherished (if occasionally bigoted) holiday traditions from the workplace. Now the outcry over the “War on Christmas” and the demands by Christian groups to return to a non-existent time when everyone in the workplace thought, acted and worshipped in exactly the same way as they do are stirring the pot – and making things that much more difficult for the management team…

If generic holiday recognition is no longer sufficient for Christians in your organization, do you have an ethical duty to allow them to have their own separate Christmas traditions? If so, does that mean you have to accommodate every other religion and life-philosophy (including atheists and agnostics), and allow them their own traditions? Failing that, can you ethically require everyone in your organization to leave their holiday traditions, religious observances, cultural demands and philosophical imperatives at home and just spend their time at work actually working? And if you do, doesn’t that institutionalize the very banishment of all religious influence on the workplace and dedication to logic, reason, and capitalism that the religious fundamentalists are claiming is going on already? How are you, as a management professional concerned only with the efficient and profitable operation of the company, supposed to deal with all of these conflicting – and generally absolute, if not intolerant – demands?

It’s worth thinking about…