Damn..
Okay, the so-called Right Wing backlash on Christmas this season is totally nuts. For the record, Christmas was hijacked from a Pagan holiday called Saturnalia by the Romans. The Romans, in turn, stole the holiday idea from various ancient European traditions. In recent years the corporations stole the holiday and turned it into a profit center. Now, mass media blitzes try to get you to buy LOTS of junk and they don't care if you run up your credit card in the process.
For a long time I've ranted about the perverse relationship between industry and religion, and there is no greater example of this than Christmas. This is a holiday about materialism, consumerism, excess, indulgence, and extreme narcissism.
Yes, this holiday has NOTHING to do with the teachings of Christ. So, don't get pissy when a store clerk says, "Happy holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas." See, it's their holiday now, but they don't want to just confine it to Christmas because if they offend other religions they might lose sales. It's not about political correctness, it's about BUSINESS.
So, if you are one of those fundamentalist Christians involved in the great Christmas counter-movement, I say that you should just relax. Drink some eggnog, watch some football, and just chill out a little. It really doesn't matter — honest, it really doesn't.
Well, I'm not anti-Christmas; I just don't like the commercialism part. Let's just cut out the mass merchandising and recognize Christmas for what it is — a time to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ and enjoy a really fun winter holiday with some neat traditions. It's okay to eat cookies, sing some carols off key and get smashed at an office party. But PLEASE, don't freak out when stores put "Happy Holidays" in their ads. Sheesh, come on.
Yellow Canary
"The harbinger of danger, the carrier of glee, the avian nut case ... yeah, the bird, man."
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