After the English Revolution, Oliver Cromwell seized power and enforced his Puritanical beliefs upon the populace. Holy days such as Christmas were no longer days of celebration, but were considered to be somber occasions of quiet and private prayer. Special Christmas church services were banned - there would be no 'mass of the Christ' in a strictly anti-Catholic nation. Shops were ordered to stay open on December 25. In 1643, a law was passed which ordered English subjects to spend the time around the winter solstice "with the more solemn humiliation because it may call to remembrance our sins, and the sins of our forefathers, who have turned this feast, pretending the memory of Christ, into an extreme forgetfulness of him, by giving liberty to carnal and sensual delights". In 1644, the Christmas feast was formally abolished. Christmas was canceled.
Today there are strong parallels with the Puritanical period in English history, except this time the threat to freedom is from the left side of the political spectrum rather than the right. Political correctness is imposed by the state apparatus upon the common man. 'Free speech extremists' are considered by many to be an actual threat, despite the fact that the First Amendment makes the entire country into a permanent free speech zone. California is seriously contemplating paying reparations for slavery, in a distant echo of the cry for Puritans to "call to remembrance our sins, and the sins of our forefathers". It might cost you your job if you ever absentmindedly call somebody a 'colored person' rather than a 'person of color'. 'Cancel culture' is an actual thing, even though it is imposed upon the majority by a tiny and unpopular minority that has seized the apparatus of power through means of dubious legality.
The historical parallels are indeed quite striking. Yet this is actually a source of hope rather than a cause for despair. The Puritans went too far, and the backlash was tremendous. The ban on Christmas was immensely unpopular. There were pro-Christmas riots. The English people lost all faith in the government. Christmas would remain canceled until the Restoration in 1660, when a new King was crowned and the strict Puritanical laws were abolished. A new era of freedom and joy followed the long bleak winters of discontent suffered by the English. A bright new spring finally arrived after a long and dreary era.
This is also a winter of discontent, but like the Puritanism of old, the new leftism is also very unpopular and is an unnatural ideology that runs against the deep and profound traditions of American culture. Like a foreign organ transplanted into the human body, it will be rejected by the body politic as an object that simply does not belong here. It is not American to live like that, and these extremists will never be able to impose their philosophy against the will of the people for more than a brief and fleeting period of time.
So enjoy your Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Indeed, you may enjoy them even more once you realize that by the simple act of living your life joyfully, you are defying the will of the naysayers and control freaks that wish to rob you of all of the simple joys of life. Be politically incorrect - wish someone a 'Merry Christmas' instead of 'Happy Holidays'. No power on Earth can cancel Christmas, as long as the common people defy the edicts of their rulers by the simple act of ignoring them and living their lives as they wish to live their lives.
Be a rebel, defy the neo-Puritans on the left, and have yourself a very Merry Christmas.
Oliver Cromwell, a ‘person of color’. He’s green, just like the Grinch, his spiritual twin.
Close up of the St Ives statue © Keith Evans and licensed for reuse under Creative Commons.
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/what-is-designation/heritage-highlights/did-oliver-cromwell-really-ban-christmas