Op-Ed: I’ll Believe it When I See it

The true meaning of Christmas is found in the hearts of those who genuinely believe. It can’t be found under a tree or in a department store. The secret of Christmas is no secret.

For far too many, Christmas is disconnected from its beginning in Bethlehem, instead centering on a bearded elderly thrill seeker with a penchant for red and an unhealthy relationship with cookies.

Subtracting its authentic origination, Christmas becomes a caricature of itself — a banal chimera of consumerism and consumption.

In the movie ‘The Santa Clause,” Tim Allen plays the role of Scott Calvin, who is thrust into Santa’s suit when the current jolly old elf falls to his apparent death off Calvin’s roof. When Calvin subsequently puts on the uniform of yuletide, he becomes Santa.

Calvin becomes Santa, not out of desire, but due to the “Santa Clause,” a contract that obligates him to the role the instant he pulls on the red pants.

What could be more progressive than obligating a person by virtue of fine print legalese, rather than one compelled by preference, principle, or character? The Santa that liberals want is a giver of gifts without deliberation. It isn’t the spirit of charity with which they identify, nor the right jolly old elf’s selflessness. For them, there is no “nice,” just degrees of naughty, and the only list is for enemies.

The left’s Santa is disconnected from morality and purpose. Instead of manufacturing a wide variety of gifts at the North Pole, it provides money distributed from Washington, D.C.

In the movie, Scott Calvin expresses his incredulousness about his situation to Judy the Elf, and she responds, “Seeing isn’t believing. Believing is seeing.”

This quote is about faith. Faith is a certitude of the heart that demands neither proof nor approval from others. Progressives demand acquiescence and tolerate no dissent. It is obedience they seek, not faith.

If believing is seeing, it is best expressed by Democrats who convert their beliefs into what they see. Since they require no proof for their beliefs, it can be mistaken for faith.

For Democrats, believing is seeing. When a boy appears, they see a girl. When an illegal immigrant manifests himself, they see a “Maryland father.” When shown a photo of Trump, they see a “Nazi.”

In their world of sight based on belief, Democrats see and say the darndest things.

“There’s a lot of white men should be holding a lot of white men accountable for the crimes that they have committed,” Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz said when asked about holding Somalian fraudsters accountable. Seeing is not believing for Walz.

“Some people have actually said I was the most qualified candidate ever to run for president,” former Vice President Kamala Harris said. It must be true because she said it.

“A government shutdown is the politics of idiocy,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, said when he shut down the government last fall.

Think of a “fiery but mostly peaceful protest” as the perfect distillation of ignoring your eyes in favor of ideology.

Santa brings gifts but once a year. Let our present be the abandonment of dogmatic hate in exchange for love of reason.

A great gift to Americans would be a Democratic Party rooted in principle, not performance — a party dedicated to the people, not power — and a government that works for the betterment of Americans, not the enrichment of politicians.

At the end of “The Santa Clause,” Scott Calvin’s doubt is converted by his young son’s faith and his love for that son. Let the left imitate Calvin’s conversion, moved by love of country and faith in its people, to strengthen one nation under God.

We can find the “reason for the season” in the faces of innocent children — faces expectant in a belief founded in generosity, love, and discernment, giving kids all over the world a reason to be good.

This Christmas, let us recall that baby in a manger and the salvation He brought — a salvation not reserved for one party or the other, but for all of us.

In the spirit of the season, may we all have a very blessed and joyful Christmas. Let us find in this celebration our better selves and the wisdom to believe what we see while believing without seeing.

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