Dec 22 2008
I’m Against The Anti-Christmas Crazies!
I was browsing through various blogs yesterday and found an article that had an instantly grabbing headline. I decided to read it (and it can be found over at A California Republican behind the link). Entitled “Christmas, Christians And Those Who Say No To Christmas”, I was intrigued. However, although the article was just as good as the title, it was one of the comments that grabbed my attention that little bit more.
Someone wrote:
The crazies can argue all they want that Christmas brings people together, but they’ll never understand what it feels like to get out of Hebrew school on a Wednesday afternoon and be greeted with a deceptively cheery “Merry Christmas” at the nearby arcade… They’ll never understand the betrayal felt as their favorite sitcom characters — the only two-dimensional people they can actually relate to on this earth — sing with smiles, “We’re not like you.”
I guess that makes me a crazy! I am not religious by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, I do not believe in God. I can’t help that and make no apology for it. I’ve seen and experienced way too many bad things in my life to ever believe there is someone up there looking out for me. However, I don’t blame anyone that does believe in God as it is the individual choice and am grateful that people have kept Christmas alive as a result of the beliefs system behind it. That may sound conflicting but I think the religious significance of Christmas to some does give it that special magic that other holidays lack. Christmas means family for me. I love Christmas because it means I get to catch up with everyone and spend precious hours sat around a table with the people I love most in the world.
I couldn’t quite believe the comment on that post though because the UK and US alike are fundamentally Christian countries in heritage and culture. The comment was pretty mild all considered but it reminded me of another article I read a couple of months ago that really annoyed me. The article basically called for Christmas to be banned on the grounds that the UK is now multi-ethnic so if we wanted to celebrate it then we should do so quietly and in our own homes.
Other cultures and religions have undoubtedly enriched both countries over the years but the very foundation of education, law, social ideologies and other similar areas are Christian. And I mean all denominations of Christianity. Taking it one step on from that comment, what right does the addition of any one culture or religion in any given place have to change the very basis of our lives? It doesn’t. We have celebrated Christmas over here for longer than I care to consider and I would never force anyone that doesn’t believe in it to join in. However, I seriously object to those that think it should be banned. Christmas is a part of our culture. Not having a Santa in a school or shopping centre as it may offend other cultures and religions is ridiculous. To be honest, rules like that offend me. Why should children not get a chance to see Santa just because his presence may not be to everyone’s liking? It’s like banning St Patrick’s Day for the Irish or Ramadan for the Muslims!
I am a firm believer of the principle behind “When in Rome…” because it is just respectful to adhere to a country or area’s culture and beliefs when you visit. I would never dream of visiting Dubai and running down the street naked. I wouldn’t do that anywhere but it would deliberately flout their religious beliefs and is disrespectful. I know the guy that commented is an American but over 75% of the population is Christian and celebrates Christmas. It is of historical importance. As a result of that, why should everybody just drop the whole idea of Christmas at the say so of the minority of the population?
I love reading about other cultures and religions because they absolutely fascinate me. I also love learning something new from them because I believe we can all learn from each other, and should if we want a better world for our children. However, I don’t think any other culture or religion should be able to demand that another change its holidays because it doesn’t agree with them. Live and let live people! Down with the political correctness and anti-Christmas crazies! Just let us celebrate Christmas as we always have with Santa Claus and all!
I think that this whole “war on Christmas” is more hype than anything else. Why politicize a holiday? And why perpetuate it? The commercialization is bad enough.
I believe that original commentator was calling not for a literal ban on the holiday, but for a toning down. That blog writer, whoever he or she may be, is probably fed up with seeing the same Christmas decorations in stores, the same Christmas specials on TV, and the same “We must save Christmas!” rhetoric from Bill O’Reilly.
He probably sees a phoniness in his American culture, a culture that prides itself on being so diverse. He doesn’t understand how Wal-Mart can carry eleven different kinds of fake trees but not a single menorah. He is dumbfounded when ABC puts its own commercial bump on screen, proclaiming, “Happy Holidays,” while a Kwanzaa mishma saba is nowhere to be seen. He fails to grasp how iTunes offers free music for the holidays, all different versions of washed up pop stars singing “Holy Night.”
And he’s angry. He’s probably angry. He sees his fellow kikes unwilling to shove their own holiday down others’ throats. They’ve been silent for too long, and now Christmas is seen as the official holiday of the holidays.
And this commentator, all he wants is a chance. A chance to let his nine little candles shine. Just one moment for the chaotic twister of red and green to stop so that the rest of the world can remember, “That’s right, we’re not all the same.”
He’s asking for a toning down, I believe. Let’s say every other song in department stores was a Christmas song. Let’s say a small menorah was displayed in the corner of their windows. Let’s say, twenty years from now, a young boy can tell his friends that he’s excited for Ramadan and they don’t have to ask him “What’s that?”
Very well written. I believe in God and I am a Christian, and believes in Christmas (not the commercialized one), however, I do respect other’s beliefs and do not want to force my beliefs into anyone, I think that would just lead to chaos and war. However, if I do not know the person too well (like I do not know his religious practices) I avoid saying Merry Christmas for how can I greet someone with a greeting they probably think as offensive? But then, people had been expressing their faiths openly, and to me, an open celebration of faith through Christmas songs and decorations should also be taken consideration and respected, and not stop people from decorating their front yard with Christmas.