Abortions, immigration, transgender rights, Universal Credit, impeachments, Epstein, and the monarchy. If someone in the Urquhart house has brought this up as they nudge at a plate of sprouts, then it’s probably Christmas.
If you’re anything like me, then Christmas dinner or the lead-up to it will involve some form of political conversation. I’m all for talking politics regardless of who it’s with, but obviously not everyone’s on board with it. Others dread the TV channel changing to the news just in case these conversations come up. Are they right? Is Christmas a reason to just slap on a smile and wait until tomorrow?
Born Political
We all celebrate Christmas differently. For some of us, it’s a secular but sentimental holiday to spend time with family. For others, namely myself, the religious origins are much more important. And those origins, if they happened in modern-day Edinburgh, Glasgow or London, would make the front page of any newspaper.
The religious holiday itself celebrates the birth of a son by a young and impoverished mother who was effectively homeless during her child’s birth. She and her family were later refugees as the authoritarian leader of the land where her son was born aimed to kill all male infants under two. If we’re getting real biblical about it.
And if we continue to get real biblical about the holiday, then we can see that in the Bible, it’s generally understood that Jesus came to earth to a poor family on purpose. If God is God, and God can do whatever he likes, then he could’ve sent Jesus anywhere. He could’ve made sure he had a nice and easy life prior to being publicly executed, but his positioning was deliberate. Jesus was sent as a baby to a young, common, unwed mother, travelling across the country under an authoritarian regime. So he could understand and sympathise with those on the margins of society, as he went on to do. If that isn’t political, then what is?
Even Xmas Instead Of Christmas, Is Political
But of course, that’s not everyone’s bag. So if we go secular, if we go for a non-religious but still somewhat traditional British Christmas, you still can’t escape politics. Which does sound like a cliche, but the phrase “If you don’t do politics, politics is gonna do you” does ring true here.
I’m a republican. My grandparents most definitely are not. Meaning, along with seven million other households last year, the King’s speech was played on Christmas in my house. Now, am I the political agitator for leaving the room when three o’clock comes around? Maybe if the Sex Pistols had played over the speech and not just in my headphones, I would be. Or is that whoever last touched the remote?
Is it whoever acknowledges the allegations put against the Windsor family back in 2019, and that maybe suggests that we shouldn’t be sitting around our televisions hearing their pearls of wisdom? And is that argument political, or is it a moral one? Is the act of listening in to a speech from an unelected figurehead not the political act here?
There’s too many questions for a simple answer. So say if we take this factor out. Say we switch to Channel 4 come three o’clock, or we switch the television off altogether. I’d argue there’s still a place for political conversation. I love bringing it up personally, but I’ve been enjoying the shock jock factor since I was about 13. That’s not for everyone, so I’m not going to preach for anyone to be the lefty rage to flip the turkey-covered table.
However, I feel like it’s cowardly or selfish to just refuse to answer something if politics does get brought up. If you have conflicting views with most of your family, you might be the only other side to this issue that they’re in contact with. They don’t have to agree with what you say, they might not even believe it, but I’m of the persuasion that you always have to try anyway.
Where Do We Go From Here?
Depending on your circumstances, there’s usually nothing wrong with a healthy debate, especially when it comes to emotional political issues. It teaches you self-control (tongue-biting), and how to keep a level of decorum in the face of what you might think is insane (not giving this away in your facial expressions).
I come from a family of people who all heavily disagree with most of my political beliefs. But I’m also aware that for some of them, I’m the only leftist that they interact with. Other than myself, the only real idea of someone who believes what I believe is a caricature. A pink-haired uni student who studies humanities and doesn’t like the government. Which, yes, is exactly what I am. But that caricature comes with no beliefs. She just screams. Why would I not want to challenge that assumption?
Saying that, you have to contain yourself. Do not storm out. Do not be the first one to raise your voice (but if someone yells at you first, then I say it’s gloves off). Do not agitate. In my shoes, Facebook reels and AI clips are already telling people who don’t agree with me that I’m hysterical. That stereotype shouldn’t exist, but it does, and ignoring it won’t make it go away. So all you can do is try to revolt against it.
Everyone has their own family circumstances, so I can’t preach my approach to everyone. But if your scenario is anything like mine, then stop feeling like you need to shut up. If someone says something you disagree with, or something genuinely incorrect, then butt in. It’s not even really butting in; it’s joining a conversation. Not only because sticking up for other people is the right thing to do, and not just because you shouldn’t have to hide yourself. But because echo-chambers don’t just exist online. For all you know, you’re sitting in one.
Featured Image Credit: Jess Urquhart
4th year Politics and Journalism student.
Secretary for Brig
The Herald Student Press Awards Columnist Of The Year 2024 (which sorry i’m still not over)
