Garrison Keillor is not known for his deep love of Unitarians. His consistent and funny critiques on A Prairie Home Companion only lightly mask an actual dislike, if not contempt, for this creedless liberal faith. We tend to be big fans of Garrison, and we laugh heartily at ourselves when he makes jokes at our expense…and most of the time, while I laugh, too, I wince a little. His critiques are often spot-on.
Now, Mr. Keillor is taking on our tendency to try to celebrate Christmas without any Christ. His recent critique is, while a bit scathing at times, perhaps deserved. Why do we feel we have the right to rewrite sacred songs and carols that belong to the Christian tradition just because we don’t agree with all the words in some literal sense? Why should we be the enlightened ones, who are smug enough to tell a 2000 year old tradition that we’ll take some of the ritual, but not all of it, thank you very much? I’m not at all convinced that we aren’t guilty of precisely the kind of elitism that Mr. Keillor is pointing to.
Each year, I groan when we get to the Christmas season, and we sing Christian songs with no Christianity left in them. Why not sing something else? Or, if we as a movement are really that averse to Jesus and to the Christmas myths (and I deeply, deeply hope that is not the case), then why do we have any business celebrating Christmas in our churches at all?
The beauty of stories and myths and legends is that we are invited into them. We are invited to become part of the story, to learn what it might teach us, to walk for a while along a path that millions of others have walked, too, and to ponder the mystery of what that might mean. They need not be literally, historically true in order to be True in some deep, human sense.
So, Unitarians, let’s cast off our intellectualism and our compelling need to change the words all the time. Let’s give ourselves permission to enter into a great, old, beautiful story, and see what it might hold. And if we cannot, then let us give up the pretense to Christmas as something real and living in our own lives. No one said that religion was always easy, or comfortable. But shutting the door makes sure that you never discover a way through that discomfort.
And as for me and my congregation…we will be singing the traditional words to Silent Night on Christmas Eve, as we stand together in the glow of candlelight, and ponder mysteries in our hearts.
As a lifelong UU, I have no objection to singing the traditional words, and interpreting them in my own way.
I also have no objection to tweaking the words so that they might be more meaningful and inclusive.
What is wrong with UUs reintrepreting a Christian tradition, which is, after all, a vital part of our heritage? Can’t traditions become more meaningful if they are sometimes modified?
As some UU bloggers have pointed out, Keillor’s comments about Silent Night are particularly odd since:
(1) the original is in German;
(2) The “traditional” English version is not a literal translation of the German,and
(3) The UU version is only somewhat tweaked from the “traditional” UU version.
(For more, see Jess’s Journal at
http://jesspages.net/jessjournal/?p=1167
The Reverand Edmund Robinson at the UU Growth blog:
http://uugrowth.wordpress.com/2009/12/17/silent-night-garrison-keillor/
and Paul Oakley on “misappropriation”
http://innerlight-radiantlife.blogspot.com/2009/12/keillor-and-misappropriation.html
Posted by Tim Bartik | December 17, 2009, 8:36 pmI love this. (But that probably doesn’t surprise you. )
A couple of days ago, you asked “Now, I only have to ask myself…why aren’t there UU churches involved in the movement?” about the trend in some churches to consume less and give more to strangers at Christmas. I started to comment that it seems to me because of a UU ambivalence to Christmas. It is, after all, the Christ Mass.
In this post you said, “Or, if we as a movement are really that averse to Jesus and to the Christmas myths (and I deeply, deeply hope that is not the case), then why do we have any business celebrating Christmas in our churches at all?” I would add “or our homes, for that matter.”
Sorry that we won’t be at Northwoods on Christmas Eve, but you and this community will be in our hearts as we sing Silent Night. And I will be thinking about the unremarked midwife of this tale.
Posted by Susan | December 18, 2009, 4:44 amThanks, Rev. ~
Nice to know we will enter into the realm of “traditional” this Christmas as opposed to building new “traditions.”
Funny, I try to celebrate Christmas without Santa and feel I am breaking some significant taboos – how does one actually celebrate this holiday without acknowledging the inherent Christian-ness of it?
Posted by Jenn England | December 18, 2009, 7:55 pmOn the benefits of taking a time-out before replying to a blogpost:
Due in part to my initial ire at Mr Keillor’s post that started all of this, I was particularly struck with the gentle tone that has been taken with it here. I would say that “a bit scathing” is kind of an understatement. I wanted to go on and on about the living history of changing song lyrics and oral histories evolving over time and such. Even wanting to ask if we should have messed with Hyfrydol ( “Earth was Given as a Garden” , “Blue Boat Home” plus 9 others listed on Wikipedia)
Anyway, all that was yesterday( or the day before, I can’t remember). After re-reading the post I now see that it’s less about changing the lyrics and more about recognizing the value of the stories, myths and songs for what they are. What they are, both to us as Unitarian Universalists and to those to whom they are most sacred. This is a concept that I am in agreement with.
While I am still ashamed for Garrison Keillor that he took such a wrathful tone to condemn the worship of those he does not understand (or maybe he does), I support his right to his opinion and right to speak his mind. I am still stunned by the angry tone that I would more likely expect from someone of a more “conservative” religious viewpoint. Perhaps I know too much of the Character he portrays and not as much about the man.
While I will be working Christmas Eve. In my heart, if not in actuality, I will sing along the traditional words to Silent Night. I must admit I will probably also be singing a few verses of “Merry Christmas From the Family”
For full disclosure I must state that I identify as a born again, spirit-baptized, taoist, stoic religious naturalist who was married in a Lutheran Church on the Winter Solstice… It’s so much easier to say Unitarian Universalist.
May all your Holidays be happy ones.
Posted by Brian Lockridge | December 19, 2009, 10:49 pmRev. Ellen.
Though I am not, as Tim Bartik is, a life-long UU (although I was brought up as one and hope to be active again), I fully agree with his response to your posting which sounds like the routine scoldings of the crabbed religious traditionalists.
Is not the UU faith a progressive, innovative one that EMBRACES change, rather than fearfully despising it? Does it not hold that renewal (or ‘reconstruction’ in the secular words of John Dewey) is a vitally important function and goal of the religiously seeking individual, and indeed all organisms? Is not experimentation (including changing the words of songs that were written less than 200 years ago)something that UUs freely accept? If you believe otherwise — that it is ‘smug’ and elitist’ to depart from christmas tradition– then why not adopt this traditionalist stance to all rites and practices year-round?
But Theodore Parker states my case so much better in his essay “The transient and permanent in Christianity”, when he says “an undue place has been assigned to forms and doctrines, while too little stress has been laid on the divine life of the soul.”
P.S. Why do people care what Garrison Keillor spouts? He’s a 9th rate poet and a 10th rate comedian who has stolen most of his material from the brilliant Firesign Theater.
Posted by John S. | January 15, 2010, 3:16 am