Decolonizing Christmas: Reclaiming Community and Liberation
Reclaiming traditions, dismantling oppression, and envisioning a future of equity and care
Introduction: A Season for Reflection and Transformation
As the holiday season surrounds us with familiar traditions, it invites an opportunity for profound reflection. What do these celebrations mean in a world shaped by systems of oppression? How can we honor the sacred while rejecting the harmful legacies embedded in our holidays? Decolonizing Christmas is not about rejection—it’s about reclamation. It’s about transforming these traditions into acts of community, healing, and liberation.
This article concludes our series, “I Want to Wish You an Eschatological Christmas.” Throughout this journey, we’ve examined Christianity’s entanglement with systems of power, from the Doctrine of Discovery and Manifest Destiny to the Prosperity Gospel and Project 2025. Now, we turn to the future: How can we use the lessons of the past to reimagine a liberated, decolonized world?
But first, let us acknowledge that this work is heavy. Confronting centuries of lies, exclusion, and supremacy culture is not easy. It requires sacred grief, deep rest, and intentional joy. Before we continue, I invite you to pause. Breathe. Reconnect with your purpose and your people. Liberation is not an individual endeavor—it is a shared journey.
Dismantling the 15 Pillars of Supremacy Culture
At the heart of decolonization is the commitment to unlearn supremacy culture. This means actively dismantling the 15 pillars that sustain oppression. These pillars—like perfectionism, power hoarding, and fear of conflict—are not just abstract concepts; they shape our daily lives and traditions, including the ways we celebrate the holidays.
How Supremacy Culture Shows Up in Christmas:
Perfectionism: The pressure for every aspect of the holiday to be "perfect" reflects a cultural obsession with unattainable standards. This often leads to stress, debt, and disconnection.
Individualism: The commercialization of Christmas focuses on personal gifts and achievements, sidelining community care and collective joy.
Power Hoarding: Traditions are often controlled by those with the most privilege, silencing marginalized voices and erasing alternative ways of celebrating.
Reflection Question:
Which pillars of supremacy culture appear in your holiday traditions, and how can you begin to dismantle them?
The Arc from Bethlehem to Project 2025: Christianity’s Transformations
To truly grasp the depth of what we’re reclaiming, we must reflect on the arc of Christianity from its humble beginnings in Bethlehem to its modern entanglement with systems of power, as seen in Project 2025. This journey reveals how a faith rooted in love and liberation became a tool for empire, colonization, and control.
Bethlehem: A Faith of Hope and Liberation
The story of Bethlehem begins with a child born into oppression, a symbol of resistance to empire and a vision of justice for the marginalized. Early Christianity was a movement of radical love, community care, and defiance against Roman imperialism. It was a faith that sought to uplift the downtrodden and challenge the status quo.
The Doctrine of Discovery: Faith Weaponized for Empire
As Christianity spread through Europe and aligned itself with imperial power, it began to shift. The Doctrine of Discovery, issued as papal bulls in the 15th century, reframed faith as a justification for colonization. Lands not inhabited by Christians were deemed empty and available for conquest, erasing Indigenous peoples and sanctifying theft and genocide. This doctrine became the spiritual foundation for colonization, weaving a narrative of divine entitlement into global systems of oppression.
Manifest Destiny: Expansion as Divine Right
In the 19th century, Manifest Destiny extended these ideas into the American context. Framing westward expansion as divinely preordained, this ideology merged Christian supremacy with capitalist ambition. Indigenous peoples were displaced, their lands stolen under the guise of progress. The logic of Manifest Destiny not only fueled territorial expansion but also cemented racial hierarchies that prioritized whiteness.
Industrial Christianity: Exploitation of Labor and Bodies
The Industrial Revolution brought another transformation. Christianity became entwined with capitalism, sanctifying hard work, suffering, and the commodification of human bodies. Labor systems exploited marginalized communities while theological narratives reinforced classism, ableism, and fatphobia. Faith was used to justify not just economic inequality but also the dehumanization of those deemed unworthy under supremacy culture.
Project 2025: A Continuation of Supremacy
Today, Project 2025 represents the latest chapter in this arc. Positioned as a legislative and cultural agenda, it reflects the same systems of control and exclusion seen throughout history. By weaponizing faith to prioritize cis, white, wealthy, able-bodied, and patriarchal systems, Project 2025 threatens to deepen systemic inequities while silencing liberation movements.
Reclaiming the Arc
The arc of Christianity is not just a story of harm—it is also a story of resilience and resistance. From the radical hope of Bethlehem to the liberatory movements of today, there is a thread of faith that refuses to bow to empire. Decolonizing Christmas is part of this reclamation. It’s about returning to the roots of community, justice, and love while confronting the systems that have co-opted these values for harm.
Reflection Question:
How can understanding the arc of Christianity help us reclaim its liberatory potential while dismantling the systems it has upheld?
Reclaiming Faith: The Spirit of Imani on the 7th Day of Kwanzaa
Reclaiming Faith: The Spirit of Imani on the 7th Day of Kwanzaa
Today, as we celebrate the 7th day of Kwanzaa, we are called to reflect on the principle of Imani—faith. This principle is not about blind belief; it is about trust in ourselves, our people, and the collective power of our community to bring forth liberation. Imani invites us to hold steadfast to the vision of a world free from oppression, even in the face of centuries of systemic harm.
Faith has been a central theme in the arc of Christianity, from the hope born in Bethlehem to the resilience of marginalized communities resisting the co-optation of their traditions. But Imani challenges us to think beyond individual salvation. It calls us to anchor our faith in collective healing, justice, and transformation.
Faith in Action: Lessons from the Arc of Christianity
As we reflect on the arc from Bethlehem to Project 2025, Imani reminds us to reclaim the radical love and justice that was at Christianity’s core. Faith, when stripped of supremacy culture, becomes a tool of liberation:
Faith in Community: Like the shepherds who gathered in Bethlehem, our liberation is rooted in relationships and mutual care.
Faith in Transformation: Just as early Christianity sought to uplift the marginalized, we can reimagine traditions as acts of resistance and reclamation.
Faith in the Future: The journey from oppression to liberation requires faith that a new world is possible—and that we have the power to create it together.
Reflection Question:
How does Imani, the principle of faith, inspire you to reimagine your traditions and relationships in a way that aligns with liberation?