It is so much more than just the bland meaningless diluted "season's greetings" or "happy holidays". For those of us that subscribe to the Christian faith, Christmas has a profound spiritual meaning. It represents the coming together and reconciliation of God and humankind. The birth of His Son Jesus Christ was the forerunner to Easter, another deeply significant spiritually rich occasion, where we celebrate the ultimate sacrifice that we might live eternally.

A message of hope without peer.

Even if we don't accept the specific religious beliefs of Christianity, there is no doubting that Jesus was a historical figure whose teachings changed the world.

The Judeo-Christian ethic permeates every aspect of our society.

Its civilising force has been of untold and, too often, unrecognised good in our society.

Baroness Warnock of the small "l" liberal establishment in the United Kingdom and an avowed atheist had many battles with religion over a whole number of issues during her long and distinguished career. At age 86 she made the following observation:

I don't think we ought to forget that the official religion of this country is Christianity. It is going against a cohesive tradition if all religious festivals ... are given equal precedence ... This is really a matter of tradition and culture and there is no doubt ours is fundamentally Christian. So I think Christianity ought to have precedence actually. Obviously the other faiths are more than entitled to conduct festivals and so on according to their own tradition. But if there is a public statement like a school holiday or something, it ought to be based on Christianity.

Some little while ago, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences tried to ascertain the reasons for the dominance of our Western civilisation. At first, they thought more powerful guns, and then they thought it might be the political system, and then the economic system. Finally, they concluded and allow me to quote 'in the past twenty years we have realised that the heart of your culture is your religion.

Christianity ... The Christian moral foundation of social and cultural life was what made possible the emergence of capitalism and then the transition to democratic politics. We don't have any doubt about this.

It's nice to know academics from Communist China can acknowledge this fact. Which begs the question of why so often our own can't? However, our very own national treasure, Professor Geoffrey Blainey AC in his book A Short (600+ pages) History of Christianity provides a superb and very readable insight.

In the ancient medieval and modern worlds, the Christian ethic elevated standards of morality, halted infanticide, enhanced human life, emancipated women, abolished slavery, inspired charities and relief organisations, created hospitals, established orphanages, and founded schools.

Christianity almost single-handedly kept classical culture alive through recopying manuscripts, building libraries, moderating warfare through truce days and providing dispute arbitration. It was Christians who invented colleges and universities, dignified labour as a divine vocation and extended the light of civilisation.

Christian teaching advanced science, instilled concepts of political and social-economic freedom, fostered justice and provided the greatest single cause of inspiration to the magnificent achievements in art, architecture, music and literature that we treasure to the present day.

The reality is that today's secular morality could hardly have been possible without the Judeo-Christian ethic that has influenced generation after generation.

"In short, no other religion, philosophy, teaching, nation, movement, whatever has so changed the world for the better as Christianity has done", to quote Alvin Schmidt, author of How Christianity Changed the World - also worth a read.

That said, it must be acknowledged that many things have been done in the name of Christianity or where the description of Christianity has simply been shamelessly used without any commitment.

On other occasions, things were done in the name of Christianity which clearly were not done as they should have been.

For all its faults, real or perceived, have you ever noticed how the peoples of the world gravitate to countries based on the Judeo-Christian ethic? Yet some still seek to actively deny our rich civilising heritage which has made us the envy of the world.

All traceable to that first Christmas day.

Wishing all The Examiner readers a truly blessed and safe Christmas, and a "happy holidays" as well.