Dear Ron:

You are not likely to like my answer, but here it is:

You making much to do about essentially nothing. What is worse is that you are supporting your position with illogical thinking, innuendo, and rash judgment. If you wish to make a case against the use of the word Xmas, then the only legitimate case to be made is that in the contemporary world Xmas has been used by marketers to de-emphasis Christ while still recognizing the holiday. This argument has many flaws, but at least it is a legitimate point-of-view.

Actually, one sees Xmas on a rare occasion these days. The whole Christmas holidays as been reduced to the "Holidays". That complete takes Christ out of Christmas, Xmas does not.

The first recorded instance of the word Xmas goes back to the 18th century (1753) where it was found in a letter from George Woodward. Usually, when a word pops up in literature or letters, it has already been in use for some time in the populace. We cannot assume that there was any disrespect in its usage. The word caught on later by advertisers who needed to save space in their ads. This was at a time when these advertisers were mostly Christian and had no disrespect to Christ or to Christmas. It was merely an issue of advertising space.

But, is there anything wrong with the word Xmas in the first place, or with abbreviations of Christ in general? No.

In ancient Christian art, and even in some manuscripts of the New Testament, X was an abbreviation for Christ. "χ" is the first letter, Chi,  of the Greek word for Christ, Χριστός.

Chi Rho: These are called christograms, which were used by Christians since the first century. The Chi Rho is one of the earliest christograms. The Chi Rho is formed by superimposing the the first two Greek letters for the word for Christ, "Χριστός". This forms the monogram ☧. This monogram is used by the Pope and the Church. It is the symbol of my community.

Christograms were used for Christmas for a 1000 years before anyone used Xmas. If abbreviating the name of Christ was disrespectful, then the Apostles and the Saints and the Church have been disrespectful throughout the ages.

You need to check yourself. Refrain from grand assumptions that are based on misinformation and lack of knowledge on the subject.

Now with that said, is there any real argument that can be used legitimately against the use of Xmas? As previously mentioned an argument can be made about its use in contemporary times. There are three branches of linguistics that can be used to support this argument: Historical Linguistics, semantics, and linguistic pragmatics.

Historical Linguistics studies the change of language over time. Semantics studies how meaning is inferred by the words. Linguistic Pragmatics studies how the meaning of words are inferred by the context to which the word is used.

Historically there was no disrespect in abbreviating the name of Christ or of Christmas. Both the semantics and the pragmatics of abbreviating words makes it clear historically that there was no disrespect involved.

But, has that changed? Has Xmas become a mere advertising slogan? Are the semantics in the contemporary age meant to devalue Christ? Is the context of how Xmas is typically used a fundamental disrespect to Christ?

An argument can be made that the answer to those questions is "yes".

Can an argument be made that Joe in his Q&A meant to devalue Christ by use of the term? Is the context of how he used the term disrespectful to Christ? No, and to make any suggestion to the opposite would be the grave sin of rash judgment.

Good Christians can disagree about the use of the term Xmas, but it is a legitimate term with historical precedent that in-itself has no intent to devalue or disrespect Christ. To automatically suggest that any use of the word is disrespectful is uncharitable and rash judgment.

Context is everything. It is the context of words that must be considered in evaluating any word, in addition to the semantics of it, and the historical usage of the word and any change over time.

There are words today that are illegitimate. One common illegitimate word is "gay" to refer to homosexuals. The word "gay" means joyous, not homosexual. I would suggest that using a word that refers to one of the fruits of the Spirit (Joy) as a word to label sexual perversion is a blasphemy, in addition to being a linguistic "heresy." This "change over time" is not a natural evolution of the language but an outright forced invention to suit political correctness and the sensibility of sodomites (the more historical word that refers to practicing homosexuals).

Even given the assertion that Xmas is a term that should not be used because of the linguistic analysis of its use in contemporary times, should we stop using it merely because of contemporary bastardizations of the term?

The answer to that is no. If we abandon all terms and symbols that have been co-opted and abused by the contemporary secularists, we will have to terms or symbols left. Rather, we need to protest the stealing of Christian terms and symbols and the abuse of them by the secularist.

In terms of the English language I refuse to allow the word "gay" to be used for a label of sexual perversion. Anyone in my presence that uses "gay" in this way is corrected by me. I will not let them steal a perfectly good word to obfuscate perversion.

This also applies to other obfuscating terms such as "living together". This is called concubinage. "Sexually active" or "special boyfriend" or "friends with privileges" is all called fornication. When a married person is involved it is adultery. We need to call a spade a spade.

While contemporary society abuses the term Xmas, we should not let them steal this abbreviation.

By the way, if we are to stop using Xmas because of its abuse in our society, then we need to stop using the term Christmas. Christmas flows out of the mouth of millions without a single thought of Christ. The use of the word Christmas has Christ missing from it in common usage and understanding. It has become a mere buzz word for the holiday to many people.

In addition, the word Christmas is a kind of abbreviation itself -- for Christ's Mass. Anyone who uses the term Christmas in any other way than to refer to Christ's Mass (or with Protestants at least the Christmas service) is abusing the term.

Thus, if we are to be purist we will not call that day Christmas (which is also an abbreviation of the real name of the day), but by its official and rightful name -- Solemnity of the Nativity of our Lord.

Marketers and other secular people do not see Christ in either term (Xmas or Christmas). The terms have be co-opted into relatively secular understandings. This should not deter us from protecting our Christian terms and symbols.

Do not let them steal from us. Be proud to keep Christ in Christmas, rather than to call it "the Holidays". While some Christians may not wish to use the term Xmas, do not let contemporary secularist steal that from us either. The X in Xmas and other abbreviations for Christ are part of the Church's tradition going back to the first century.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary