Grinches in Buckled Hats

Dr. Suess’ Grinch

A sure sign that a movie is destined to be a classic is when the name of its main character gets its own entry in the dictionary. And so it was for How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

While Dr. Suess’ story of a green grouch who unsuccessfully tries to steal away Christmas from the unsuspecting Whos of Whoville was well received when it was printed in picture book form back in 1957, it was not until it was animated in 1966 that it achieved its iconic cultural status.

That same year, the word Grinch started being thrown around alongside the much older and more literary Scrooge. By 1970, it was welcomed into the pages of the Merriam-Webster dictionary, defined as a “grumpy person who spoils the pleasure of others.”

Even if you didn’t know that exact history, unless you have been living under a rock for the past 60 years, you no doubt know what a Grinch is and who the Dr. Suess’ Grinch that inspired the word was.

Dr. Suess’ original Grinch wasn’t even green. SCANDAL! 

Puritans: The OG Grinches

What you may not know, however, is that some of the earliest American colonists from Britain were part of an exceedingly Grinch-y theological tradition. I am talking, of course, about the Puritans.

You may recall from high school history class that the Pilgrims were Puritans. You may also recall that the Puritans were the fine folks responsible for the Salem witch trials. They practiced a very strict, very austere brand of Christianity that has come to known, appropriately enough, as Puritanism.

H.L. Mencken famously described this Puritanism as “the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, might be happy.” And while that might sound like an exaggeration, it was anything but!

The Puritans, pictured here about to hang suspected witch Bridget Bishop, were not known to be an especially fun-loving people.

The Puritan’s War on Christmas

All the way back in the 1640s, right after England’s first Civil War, the monarchy was overthrown, and a bunch of Puritans came into power. When these Puritans came into power, they immediately set about ridding the country of any traditions they felt were a little too Catholic. First and foremost in their crosshairs were the big holidays on the religious calendar: Easter, Pentecost, and, of course, Christmas.

At that time, Christmas was marked by everyone taking a break from work, shutting their shops, and going to the local church for a sermon. In addition, the people of England reveled in the full 12 days of Christmas, a lengthy midwinter celebration filled with dancing and drinking; exchanging gifts, gambling and drinking; indulging in delicious mince pies and even more drinking.

Obviously, this reeked too much of a good time for the Puritans. “Who is ignorant,” railed Puritan Phillip Stubbes, that at Christmas time “more mischief is committed than in all the year besides? What masking and mumming? Whereby robberies, whoredom, murder, and whatnot, is committed? What dicing and carding, what banqueting and feasting, is then used more than in all the year besides!”

Thus, the Puritans passed ordinances mandating that on Christmas day, all shops should stay open, and all churches should stay closed.

The actual text of Oliver Cromwell’s 1644 anti-Christmas ordinance.

The People Rebel

As you may be able to guess, these reforms went over like a lead Christmas balloon.

In some places, riots broke out after people were arrested for having gathered to hear their Christmas sermons in defiance of the law. In other places, mobs formed, forcing Puritan shopkeepers to stay closed for the day.

More generally, because it was relatively easy to force churches to be closed and relatively difficult to force shopkeepers to stay open if they didn’t want to be, on Christmas day most of the churches were locked up, most of the shops were locked up, and the only places that remained open were the taverns.

And the end result? Even more drunken merrymaking than usual! Much like the Whos of Whoville, the people of England would not let their Christmas joy be stifled, certainly not by a bunch of Grinchy ol’ Puritans.

Don’t let your Christmas joy be stifled either!

It All Starts With Joy

After all, that’s the whole point, isn’t it? Christmas, and the story of God’s coming into the world in a new way from which this holiday springs, at its very heart and essence, is supposed to be a good thing, a happy thing, a thing that brings about joy.

Remember what the angels told the shepherds in the Christmas story (Luke 2:9-10): “Do not be afraid, for see, I am bringing you good news of great joy for all people: For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

So not only are the first people to learn about Jesus’ birth a bunch of folks that the Puritans themselves would have looked down on: poor, unschooled, unkempt shepherds who were reviled by their countrymen as drunks, ne’er-do-wells, and thieves. But the first thing these scalawag shepherds are told about Jesus’s birth is that it is a joyful thing.

In other words, the Christmas story  – and this whole Christianity thing that it kicked off – it all begins with a grand pronouncement of joy. Good news of great joy for all people. That is our foundation!

If we lose sight of that, then we’re no better off than our Puritan forebears, nor even the Grinch himself.