Reason for the season?
I've just about had it with every Christian with a persecution complex throwing a sign or a flyer (or a tract) in my face complaining about how those nasty mean secularists are conspiring to drive the religon out of Christmas. I know this may come as a shock to most of those people, but not everyone believes in Jesus as the son of God. Other people believe in other things. The world isn't going to fall off its axis because someone says "happy holidays" instead of "You're going to hell if you you don't worship Jesu...." err, i mean "Merry Christmas."
"Happy Holidays" is inclusive, "Merry Christmas" is not. For people to be offended because their store clerk doesn't ask them what they believe in before they greet them is insane; chances are the minimum-wage PFY bagging your groceries barely has the time or the energy to be civil to you, let alone get your entire life story in order to hold a 3 second conversation with you. It's impractical, and to expect even that small a chunk of the world to revolve around you and your imaginary friend Jesus is, in your value system, a mortal sin (vanity a.k.a. pride, for those who are keeping score.) How you can commit this hypocrisy and then expect people to take you seriously when you bitch and moan and carry on about how "Those Nasty Libruls Are Destroying Christmas" is frankly beyond me.
Christmas hasn't been about Christ for a long long long time. At its best, it's a time for everyone to turn down their "jackass" factor, relax a bit, and be nice to people. (Kind of sad that living in this world makes it necessary to have an excuse to do that.) At its cynical worst, it's another way for the haves to squeeze more retail money out of the have-nots. But it has nearly nothing to do anymore with the guy who got nailed to a tree for saying how great it would be to be nice for people to a change.
You could say that's a damn shame, and I'd probably agree with you at least a little bit. The big guy had some good stuff to say, back in the day, as far as I can tell. But nobody can tell you what this season means to you personally. Inside your head you're more than welcome to associate the season with swedish meatballs bouncing down a staircase for all it matters to anyone else. Lighten up.
And an unapologetic "Happy Holidays" to you all.
"Happy Holidays" is inclusive, "Merry Christmas" is not. For people to be offended because their store clerk doesn't ask them what they believe in before they greet them is insane; chances are the minimum-wage PFY bagging your groceries barely has the time or the energy to be civil to you, let alone get your entire life story in order to hold a 3 second conversation with you. It's impractical, and to expect even that small a chunk of the world to revolve around you and your imaginary friend Jesus is, in your value system, a mortal sin (vanity a.k.a. pride, for those who are keeping score.) How you can commit this hypocrisy and then expect people to take you seriously when you bitch and moan and carry on about how "Those Nasty Libruls Are Destroying Christmas" is frankly beyond me.
Christmas hasn't been about Christ for a long long long time. At its best, it's a time for everyone to turn down their "jackass" factor, relax a bit, and be nice to people. (Kind of sad that living in this world makes it necessary to have an excuse to do that.) At its cynical worst, it's another way for the haves to squeeze more retail money out of the have-nots. But it has nearly nothing to do anymore with the guy who got nailed to a tree for saying how great it would be to be nice for people to a change.
You could say that's a damn shame, and I'd probably agree with you at least a little bit. The big guy had some good stuff to say, back in the day, as far as I can tell. But nobody can tell you what this season means to you personally. Inside your head you're more than welcome to associate the season with swedish meatballs bouncing down a staircase for all it matters to anyone else. Lighten up.
And an unapologetic "Happy Holidays" to you all.
posted by Zach Burnham at 1:41 PM (click for permalink)
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