The Separation of Church and Charlie Brown

"A Charlie Brown Christmas" is my all-time favorite Christmas special.  This article on The Onion pretty accurately summarizes how I'll react if my future child doesn't love it as much as I do.  The way Charlie Brown searches for meaning in the season, questions the commercialism, and worries he's not happy enough rings true to me, and feels so relatable.  In the end, Charlie Brown realizes--at least until the next cartoon--that he's good enough, and the little tree he picked out was perfect all along.  All it needed was a little love.  Charlie Brown quickly forgets his frustrations from the day, and enjoys the moment, being with those he cares about.  It's very sweet.

I DVRed the "A Charlie Brown Christmas" last week, and I noticed something I hadn't thought about before: it's a religious special.  It ends with Linus quoting scripture, explaining the true meaning of Christmas to Charlie Brown.  Prior to this year, I'd always thought of Charlie Brown's rejection of commercialism, and his ultimate thankfulness as themes of the show, not Christianity.  As secular citizen and lifelong Peanuts fangirl, I found this conflict bothersome.  Though I do believe the word "God" should be removed from the dollar bill and the Pledge of Allegiance, I wouldn't typically care about religion in a television special.  But I do in the case of Charlie Brown. Adding a religious element to anything excludes those of other faiths, and those who don't connect with religion at all.  And to me that clashes severely with the universality and spirit of Peanuts and Charlie Brown.

Charlie Brown is the ultimate protagonist and neutral hero.  Though he suffers from frequent failures, his optimism keeps him likable, his insecurities and poignant observations of others keep him relatable.  Even the drawing of Charlie Brown is so simple that anyone can sort of project themselves onto him and feel connected to him.  To see Charlie Brown enlightened by a Christian belief threw me off because I'd always considered the comic strip and television specials to have complete and timeless universal appeal.

This bothered me for a few days, and then I read that article in The Onion and realized I'm the person it parodies.  I do want to watch "A Charlie Brown Christmas" with my kid some day.  I'm standing by the special.  At it's core, it's about Charlie Brown reconciling his feelings of inadequacy, and seeing that his feelings were natural all along.  He learns that Christmas is a time to reflect on what you're thankful for, and to enjoy time with your friends and family.   Ideally, in addition to a Separation of Church and State, we would also have a separation of Church and Charlie Brown, but in the spirit of the holidays, I'll take it.  Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown!