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December 10, 2005
The Imaginary War on Christmas
Egads! The forces of the Evil Secular Liberal Elites have mobilized! Everyone, get into your gingerbread bunkers and prepare the candy-cane cannons; General Bill O'Reilly has personally taken charge of defending Christmas from the bombardments of those dastardly Happy Holidayers.
Now, I don't know exactly what Billy O's problem is, but I'm willing to bet it's related to ratings - as if he didn't already get enough Americans to tune into Billy's Hour of Glower on the Fox Propaganda Network. If you believe Bill - and Joe Pesci knows I'd believe even Dick Cheney over this clown - there is an OMG WTF WAR ON CHRISTMAS!!!! OH NOES
It is imaginary.
There is no "War on Christmas". What there is, though, are more people who are saying such evil and oppressive things as...gasp...Happy Holidays. And Season's Greetings. Oh, the horror.
No.
There is no "War on Christmas". It's just yet another imaginary front on the imaginary "War on Christianity". Regardless of what scaremongering ratings-hounds like Billy O. want to think, the evil secular liberals are not Grinches out to steal presents from under the trees of Whoville USA. There is no demand that people stop saying "Merry Christmas"; far from it. What people are doing, what Billy O. seems to think is a slap in the face to all Christians, are being inclusive. Or lazy, if they don't want to bother with the whole "Merry Christmas and Happy New Year" bit.
Oh, the horror. Yeah, it's the end of the world as we know it. Gotta put the Christ back in Christmas, stop trying to drive Jesus out of the public view, etc.
Hogwash and balderdash, I say!
Over 80% of the people in this nation call themselves Christian. They are the majority. And a good deal of them are perfectly fine with people saying "Happy Holidays". But as usual we have the real Grinches from the far right wing waltzing into our lives and trying to tell us what we can and can not say. They think that failing to say "Merry Christmas" will somehow DESTROY THE NATION OMG.
Put the Christ back in Christmas? Christ was always in Christmas. That was the point of the holiday back when the Catholic Church replaced the Pagan holiday of Saturnalia back in the 4th century, when Winter Solstice fell on December 25. And like it or not, the true meaning of Christmas is not the birth of Jesus Christ, which, according to Biblical accounts, could not have even happened at that time. No, somehow I doubt that sheep will be grazing the fields under the watchful eye of a Shepherd in the dead of winter. The true meaning of Christmas is actually the celebration of the Winter Solstice, of the renewal of life. Of family, and gift-giving, and being with someone and sharing happiness. Because if not now, when?
There is no grand conspiracy to stop people from saying "Merry Christmas". If you want to say it, hey, be my guest. But please don't think, arrogantly, that that's the only thing the season's about. What most people fail to realize, even, is that there is very little actual Christian symbology in Christmas. The Christmas Tree itself came before Christmas, way back when Winter Solstice was celebrated by Pagans who used the evergreen tree as a symbol of the renewal of life. Santa Claus itself is a Dutch legend that's been popularized by Coca-Cola, becoming part of the American Christmas culture. The only Christian symbology that is normally associated with Christmas, as far as I can tell, is the star that usually adorns the tree, which Biblically is what led the wise men to the manger where Jesus was born, not to mention the various scenes of the Nativity itself.
So no, it's not all about Jesus. If that's your thing, hey, Merry Christmas to you. But there is no War on Christmas.
It's imaginary.
It's scaremongering.
It's along the lines of "Gay marriage will destroy American society" and "Intelligent Design is a valid alternative to science". Just more far-right-wing rhetoric.
If you celebrate Christmas, then Merry Christmas. If you celebrate Hanukkah, then Happy Hanukkah. If Kwanzaa is your thing, then Happy Kwanzaa. If you want to celebrate Festivus, hell, be my guest - Festivus for the rest of us. Fine by me. You want to celebrate Saturnalia? Hell, that's cool, retro is always fun.
But in the meantime, I think I'll save some time and effort. Rather than guess the religion of the person I'm saying it to, I'll just say this.
Happy Holidays.
Posted by Dalton at 01:45 AM | Comments (2)
December 06, 2005
It's Only a Theory
Posted by Skayhan at 07:37 PM | Comments (0)
December 05, 2005
Chomsky vs Dershowitz
The only BBS I frequent has had a moratorium on the Isreali/Palestinian issue for quite some time now. This is not to say that they ignore the course of events that occur there, but any length of posts regarding the subject invariably decend into bitter flamefests that produce absolutely nothing worthy of being added to a serious discussion.
After viewing the November 29th debate between Alan Dershowitz and Noam Chomsky at Harvard University, it is apparent that these debates (these two intellecutals have sparred each other numerous times since the 1970's) are no more productive then an internet flamewar.
Both spend far too much time going over who screwed the other over in years past (more Chomsky than Dershowitz) and occasionally casting not so subtle aspersions on the other's charachter (Dershowitz). In the end, however, it is my opinion that Alan Deshowitz comes off better in the exchanges simply because he does offer ideas to move the debate foreward. Perhaps the exchange would have been better had the moderator been General "don't get stuck on stupid" Honore.
I highly recommend watching the 1.5 hour long forum even if, ultimately, unfortunately, it won't make a bit of difference in finding a solution to the Isreali/Palestinian quagmire.
UNRELATED: I have disabled comments until I can reasonably eliminate the spam that has been occurring.
Posted by Skayhan at 08:50 PM | Comments (0)