Silent night, artsy night.

December. No other month has nearly as many holidays, be they religious ones or not. And whether you’re a religious believer or not (like me, respectfully), the December holidays have all unquestionably become something of a culture unto themselves. But while the enduring importance of Christmas to many of us today naturally has much to do with its basis in religion, I must say I believe other factors have long been play play here also, namely the arts. Now, before I try to argue that here, I wish to stress now that I will only be concentrating on Christmas here not out of ignorance towards the other December holidays, but simply because I'm not nearly familiar enough with any of them to write about them in this capacity.

As an atheist even I can’t deny the Catholic Church has real integrity, as all organized religions do for that matter. And because of that integrity, Christmas has endured for all these centuries. But I have to say, I believe the arts have played just as big a role in that endurance, especially in the modern world. I'm just going to scratch the surface here. Since 1843, when John Callcott Horsley illustrated the first ever Christmas card AND Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol was published, artists in every medium have given us all sorts of festive sentiments or observations. When Irving Berlin and Bing Crosby dreamed of a White Christmas they created the world’s biggest-selling single until Princess Diana’s chauffeur got behind the wheel drunk (and all those traditional Christmas carols are examples of music too, remember.) When Frank Capra and James Stewart said It’s a Wonderful Life, they inspired a US Christmas television tradition. More recently, in 1994 Mariah Carey recorded a new Christmas standard when she said All I Want for Christmas Is You, and that proud maverick Tim Burton spun a Christmas-set romance about a guy named Edward Scissorhands and then one about The Nightmare Before Christmas. Still looking at cinema, those of us who’ve ever been a bit weary of the holidays have had Terry Zwigoff tell them about that Bad Santa or Bob Clark tell them A Christmas Story. And I’d challenge anyone to find me a Christmas-observing action movie fan who doesn’t love Die Hard.

Finally, art has always meant to either shock us, or help us escape for awhile, and when has humanity not needed comfort and escapism?

Sure, some religious people might say the arts and pop culture have trivialized Christmas somewhat, and that’s their right. But I agree with what I think Mr Scrooge would say to that... Bah, humbug! Happy holidays, one and all!