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Bigger than any WWE main event this year is the fight between "Merry Christmas" and "Happy Holidays." This disgusts me. Haven't we more important things to debate than how someone wishes another good tidings? Are we so disgruntled as a society that we can't get past differences in how we exchange merriment and joy?
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futuresuperhero posted how he preferred "Happy Holidays" and I agreed. To me it's a nicer way to wish joy without assuming everyone shares a single, common belief. I'm not Christian. I don't celebrate Christmas. Why should I be expected to pretend I do or that others must celebrate Christmas?
But now we have this fight making headlines in the news and people like Bill O'Reilly chiming in on it and saying people are bad for not saying "Merry Christmas."
What cheeses me off about this debate most is that it's all a matter of preference. Some people say "Merry Christmas." Others say "Happy Chanukah." Others say "Happy Kwaanza." Still others say "Festive Festivus." And some like myself say "Happy Holidays." Big deal. If someone says to me "Merry Christmas," I say it back. The same with Chanuka, Kwaanza, Festivus, Holidays, etc.
I think these people making this a huge fight are either missing the Christmas spirit or using the fight as a decoy to detract attention from other issues.
Before I rip into the Christmas season, I want to state a couple things:
1. I have no problem with peace and goodwill toward all of humankind. I'm cool with that.
2. This may sound preachy and I apologize. It's not my intent to preach though it often comes across as such. I believe firmly in leading by example. I know I'm flawed but I also know people can learn from what I've done and not done. That's why I state the things I am about to state.
The Christmas spirit is not about being kind, generous, compassionate, peaceful and empathetic for one or two days a year. While I am not a follower of Christ I recognize the teachings of Christ to be great words to live by and often very much in line with my own spiritual beliefs. The Christmas spirit is about being kind, generous, compassionate, peaceful and empathetic whenever possible throughout your whole life. This is what the Christmas spirit means to me:
* When I was in line behind a woman who was a few dollars short for her groceries and was debating between feeding herself or her baby, I gave up my junk food and pitched in the few dollars so she didn't have to make the choice.
* When my grandmother called me and told me she sprang what little extra money she has to get DSL but her computer didn't have enough memory or an ethernet card, I grabbed some of my spare memory and a spare ethernet card, drove the 80 miles and proceeded to install the upgrades and her DSL connection.
* When Kathy's mom announced she would be visiting Kathy's sister in Maryland for Thanksgiving and would like us to join them all, I gave up visiting my own family for a Thanksgiving reunion so she could see her mom because my family is far more accessible to me. (Although I admit I was a bit grumbly about this one. They like Sean Hannity. =P )
* My friend Chris has no drivers license and his wife works the opposite shift. They have two kids. I give Chris a ride home from work three nights a week so Karen can get rest and take care of the kids without having to worry about picking him up at 10pm.
The Christmas spirit is not brawls at Mall*Wart, returning gifts because you don't like them, buying people stuff out of obligation, expecting to be given gifts or fighting over a festive phrase!
The point is this: we're all related and we need each other to get by in life. We should make it a point to give what little or what lots we have to help others at any time.
I must confess that all this debate on who's a bad person for saying what festive phrase has me wanting to join Ebenezer Scrooge in saying "Bah Humbug!" or Beavis and Butthead in saying "Ah Bumhug!"
And now...
"Christmas Song" by Jethro Tull
Once in Royal David's City stood a lonely cattle shed,
where a mother held her baby.
You'd do well to remember the things He later said.
When you're stuffing yourselves at the Christmas parties,
you'll just laugh when I tell you to take a running jump.
You're missing the point I'm sure does not need making
that Christmas spirit is not what you drink.
So how can you laugh when your own mother's hungry,
and how can you smile when the reasons for smiling are wrong?
And if I just messed up your thoughtless pleasures,
remember, if you wish, this is just a Christmas song.
(Hey! Santa! Pass us that bottle, will you?)
futuresuperhero posted how he preferred "Happy Holidays" and I agreed. To me it's a nicer way to wish joy without assuming everyone shares a single, common belief. I'm not Christian. I don't celebrate Christmas. Why should I be expected to pretend I do or that others must celebrate Christmas?But now we have this fight making headlines in the news and people like Bill O'Reilly chiming in on it and saying people are bad for not saying "Merry Christmas."
What cheeses me off about this debate most is that it's all a matter of preference. Some people say "Merry Christmas." Others say "Happy Chanukah." Others say "Happy Kwaanza." Still others say "Festive Festivus." And some like myself say "Happy Holidays." Big deal. If someone says to me "Merry Christmas," I say it back. The same with Chanuka, Kwaanza, Festivus, Holidays, etc.
I think these people making this a huge fight are either missing the Christmas spirit or using the fight as a decoy to detract attention from other issues.
Before I rip into the Christmas season, I want to state a couple things:
1. I have no problem with peace and goodwill toward all of humankind. I'm cool with that.
2. This may sound preachy and I apologize. It's not my intent to preach though it often comes across as such. I believe firmly in leading by example. I know I'm flawed but I also know people can learn from what I've done and not done. That's why I state the things I am about to state.
The Christmas spirit is not about being kind, generous, compassionate, peaceful and empathetic for one or two days a year. While I am not a follower of Christ I recognize the teachings of Christ to be great words to live by and often very much in line with my own spiritual beliefs. The Christmas spirit is about being kind, generous, compassionate, peaceful and empathetic whenever possible throughout your whole life. This is what the Christmas spirit means to me:
* When I was in line behind a woman who was a few dollars short for her groceries and was debating between feeding herself or her baby, I gave up my junk food and pitched in the few dollars so she didn't have to make the choice.
* When my grandmother called me and told me she sprang what little extra money she has to get DSL but her computer didn't have enough memory or an ethernet card, I grabbed some of my spare memory and a spare ethernet card, drove the 80 miles and proceeded to install the upgrades and her DSL connection.
* When Kathy's mom announced she would be visiting Kathy's sister in Maryland for Thanksgiving and would like us to join them all, I gave up visiting my own family for a Thanksgiving reunion so she could see her mom because my family is far more accessible to me. (Although I admit I was a bit grumbly about this one. They like Sean Hannity. =P )
* My friend Chris has no drivers license and his wife works the opposite shift. They have two kids. I give Chris a ride home from work three nights a week so Karen can get rest and take care of the kids without having to worry about picking him up at 10pm.
The Christmas spirit is not brawls at Mall*Wart, returning gifts because you don't like them, buying people stuff out of obligation, expecting to be given gifts or fighting over a festive phrase!
The point is this: we're all related and we need each other to get by in life. We should make it a point to give what little or what lots we have to help others at any time.
I must confess that all this debate on who's a bad person for saying what festive phrase has me wanting to join Ebenezer Scrooge in saying "Bah Humbug!" or Beavis and Butthead in saying "Ah Bumhug!"
And now...
"Christmas Song" by Jethro Tull
Once in Royal David's City stood a lonely cattle shed,
where a mother held her baby.
You'd do well to remember the things He later said.
When you're stuffing yourselves at the Christmas parties,
you'll just laugh when I tell you to take a running jump.
You're missing the point I'm sure does not need making
that Christmas spirit is not what you drink.
So how can you laugh when your own mother's hungry,
and how can you smile when the reasons for smiling are wrong?
And if I just messed up your thoughtless pleasures,
remember, if you wish, this is just a Christmas song.
(Hey! Santa! Pass us that bottle, will you?)
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no subject
Date: 2005-12-11 02:25 pm (UTC)From:BTW, you didn't come off as preachy :-).
Oh, and a Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, and/or Bah Humbug to you! ;-)
no subject
Date: 2005-12-11 05:42 pm (UTC)From:I'm glad I didn't come off as too preachy. I worry sometimes because I get a bit too passionate about my opinions.
Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, and/or Bah Humbug to you, too!
no subject
Date: 2005-12-11 03:32 pm (UTC)From:the other weekend there was a celebration of festivus in st. louis (http://www.festivusstl.com/site/). at first i thought it was kinda cool; i'm a fan of seinfeld, not such a fan of commercialism. i don't celebrate festivus myself, but i find the idea interesting. except then, i found that this particular celebration is all about shopping, which i found quite annoying.
anyway. happy holidays!
no subject
Date: 2005-12-11 05:47 pm (UTC)From:Wow. That particular Festivus celebration completely misses the point, now doesn't it? They say "Festivus Yes! Tinsel No!" I don't have a problem with the tinsel, I have a problem with the rampant consumerism that drives people to trample, beat, stab and/or shoot each other for the best Black Friday deal to start their Christmas shopping. Peace? Goodwill? Death Toll? I'm reminded of a certain Sesame Street game...
Happy Holidays to you, too!