So Camryn’s school is having a “December Holidays Around the World Celebration.” Her class is singing a Kwanzaa song. I admit I haven’t ever taken the time to learn about this holiday so now seems like a good time. After looking it up on Wikipedia, I can see why so many people (of all races) can write it off. Over its short history of just 40 years, it has gone from a black nationalist alternative to the white religious holiday known as Christmas, to a world-wide celebration of our common humanity that can be celebrated by anyone along with their religious beliefs.

While I don’t agree with its origins because I don’t think that separatism is the answer to racial harmony, I find myself not really agreeing with where it has evolved to today either. The seven principles of Kwanzaa seem to be based on Humanism and places its “faith and hope” in the inherent goodness of man. The Christian worldview says our hope is not in mankind but in God’s grace to save us from our inherently corrupt sinful nature.

So what are we as Christian parents to do? Are we to not allow her to participate? Are we to demand that the class sing Joy to the World for equal religious representation? Well I get the feeling that the other holiday songs will have just about as much religious content as Jingle Bells does. If we are going to demand that the kids sing about Jesus, are we also willing to let them sing songs praising Allah, Mohammed, or whoever?

We are going to let her participate. She needs to know about Kwanzaa as much as I needed to before now. We will just be sure to emphasize to her that our hope is not in ourselves, but in God because He became a man to save us from His just and holy wrath — what our sinful hearts deserve. And so we celebrate Christmas.