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Fr. Kevin O'BrienYouTube

December 8, 2017 (LifeSiteNews.com) – An ideologically leftist website that agitates for pro-abortion and LGBT causes has produced a video by a Jesuit priest who dismisses the notion that there is a “war on Christmas,” and tells  viewers ,“I don’t think Jesus would care much about whether we say Merry Christmas or not.”

Fr. Kevin O’Brien, dean of the Jesuit School of Theology at Santa Clara University, claims that Jesus “was not concerned about promoting himself, but promoting what he called the ‘reign of God.’ This reign, this community, of justice, peace, and love, that to him was more important than any title for himself.”

“It should not be about litmus tests, about whether I say ‘Happy Holidays’ or ‘Merry Christmas.’ To me, that’s an easy way out to prove your Christianity,” says O’Brien, who also warns that “we have to be careful about the language we use in a pluralistic society like ourselves, because in it we encounter people of different faith traditions,” noting that Pope Francis speaks about “listening to people and respecting people who are different than us.”

“It’s not just about promoting or protecting Christians,” O’Brien adds. “If I am to be called ‘Christian’ or a good citizen, I need to be as protective of the rights of Muslims, for instance, in this country, to practice their faith. I need to be as vigilant to protect their rights and their communities as I do my Christian community.”

O’Brien offers no explanation of how stores displaying “Merry Christmas” would offend the “rights” of members of other religions.

O’Brien’s dismissal of the “war on Christmas,” which refers to the mass elimination of references to Christmas and Christ himself during the Christmas season, is consonant with the generally secularist mentality of the Jesuit order, which has become famous for undermining or deemphasizing traditional Catholic doctrine in favor of various ideological causes.

The Jesuit’s video has been viewed over 800,000 times on Facebook since it was posted Tuesday on the website “Mic.com,” which produced the video and which caters to a pro-abortion, pro-LGBT, ideologically leftist audience.

O’Brien reposted the article on his own Twitter feed, where he regularly agitates for liberal political causes and defends fellow Jesuit James Martin, who is an LGBT advocate.

Mic.com’s readership rejoiced in the post.

“I say HAPPY HOLIDAYS just to piss right wing fanatics off. It works best if you're holding a Starbucks cup,” wrote one commenter whose post was given hundreds of thumbs up by readers.

“There is no war on Christmas! It was made up by a bunch of paranoid right wingers! When you sit in judgement of the world, the world will judge you right back,” wrote another popular commenter.