Gag Me With a Candy Cane: The War on Christmas is Back
A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS
by Meg White
With the economic crisis and a historic presidential election, it feels like we've forgotten something, some sort of time-honored media tradition... oh yeah! The war on Christmas.
Well, it's been less of a story this year compared to previous ones. In fact, News Hounds reports that Bill O'Reilly has allegedly watered down his crusade against those waging the war on Christmas (although it was just, after all, temporarily) by referring to his "holiday reading" (note, not Christmas) on his own website. Indeed, that doesn't mean he can't continue to hatch plans to make money off the movement he spearheads annually. And he hasn't, according to Keith Olbermann on the December 3 "Countdown."
Still, the diehards always find a way to bring it back to this yearly battle between supposedly morally superior Christians and secular liberals. This year, they may have to scream a little louder to be heard over all the actual news going on in the world. For example, Daniel Henninger wrote an article for The Wall Street Journal actually suggesting that the reason we have a financial meltdown is because people refuse to say "Merry Christmas."
"A nation whose people can't say 'Merry Christmas' is a nation capable of ruining its own economy... Northerners and atheists who vilify Southern evangelicals are throwing out nurturers of useful virtue with the bathwater of obnoxious political opinions."
Seriously. I couldn't make this stuff up. But in a way, Henninger might be onto something. There is a connection between Christmas and the economy. Too bad he -- much like all the other "Save Christmas" reactionaries -- had it all backwards.
The war on Christmas hasn't gone anywhere. The boycott-happy American Family Association is still at it, organizing an e-mail campaign against warehouse retailer Costco for replacing "Christmas" with "holidays" in their stores and direct-mail advertising. Furthermore, they have a list of companies they identify as "for" or "against" Christmas.
I almost wonder, if BuzzFlash encouraged its readers to wage an e-mail/boycott campaign against the companies that refuse to use the term "Happy Holidays," would our readers outnumber AFA devotees?
But I have a feeling our readers just aren't that dogmatic. For example, I don't personally feel the urge to lash out at someone who wishes me a happy Hanukkah because I look (though am not) Jewish. In fact, when out shopping this season, I will be simply be thankful if I'm not trampled to death or caught in a gunfight. Now that's the true spirit of Christmas, isn't it?
The origins of Christmas go back to pagan solstice celebrations. When Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire, Christ's birthday was moved to December as a way to co-opt the numerous different religious ceremonies that occurred around the winter solstice.
Christians themselves acknowledge that the well-known symbols of the holiday, including Santa Claus, Christmas trees, and even the mother-and-child imagery come from various other religions. Traditions from gift-giving and feasting to mistletoe and Yule logs were appropriated by early Christians. And these practices come from such varied religious traditions -- everything from Norse to Egyptian to Druidic legends -- that it's only appropriate to say "Happy Holidays."
Not only did early Christians appropriate the traditions and imagery of these disparate local religions, but also in many cases they outlawed, sometimes at penalty of death, the expression of non-Christian beliefs. When you consider such ghosts of Christmas past, the whining about the "war on Christmas" takes on a particularly grating tone. When their religious hegemony is attacked, Christians go on an immediate offense, but they conveniently forget all the religious practices they mercilessly stamped out on their way to cementing Christmas as their own.
The true war on Christmas is not being waged by politically correct liberals or retail stores afraid of offending. If there is a war on Christmas at all, it comes from a more sinister demon just recently acknowledged: the recession. Whether a store greeter says "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays" won't make the American people spend any more of their disappearing funds on gifts this season.
The notion that our country is attacking a national holiday that lasts well over a month and generates billions of dollars each year by simply being as inclusive as possible is laughably delusional at best.
A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS
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Celebrate Everything
I am atheist..i declare WAR on Xmas
Forget about Christmas for the moment and forever
http://www.jewishmag.com/97mag/humor/humor.htm
A Jewish Christmas story...
The teacher was very curious about how each of her students' celebrated Christmas Eve "Tell me Patrick, what do you do on Christmas Eve?" she asked.
Patrick addressed the class. "Well Miss, me and my twelve brothers and sisters go to midnight Mass and we sing hymns, then we come home very late and we put mince pies by the back door and hang up our stockings. Then all excited we go to bed and wait for Father Christmas to come with all our toys."
"Very nice Patrick, now Jimmy Brown, what do you do?"
"Well Miss, me and my sister go to Church with Mum and Dad and we sing carols and we get home ever so late. We put cookies and milk by the chimney and we hang up our stockings. We hardly sleep waiting for Santa Claus to bring our presents."
Remembering there was a Jewish boy in the class and not wanting to leave him out of the discussion, she asked, "Now Jimmy Cohen, what do you do on Christmas Eve?"
"Well Miss, it's the same old thing every year. Dad comes home from the office. We all pile into the Rolls and drive to his toy factory. When we get inside we look at all the empty shelves and sing "What a friend we have in Jesus". Then we go to the Bahamas."
Once again, fundamentalism in all its forms is destructive
Good Luck...
Wow ..................
You might want...
No thanks
More importantly, anyone who says "it is 'the Jews' (as a whole ......... not even indicating some sort of radical subset of Zionists, etc.) who are racial supremacists" and says "Suck it slave-God pigs" is an anti-Semite. Now you may well hate others (and no doubt do, based on your prior posts) who are religious, but that doesn't obviate your anti-Semite status.
Wow ............. Being told by VettaKing "You need to educate yourself".
Good one.
Like Sarah Palin telling Obama he's ignorant.
You may consider yourself educated but...
you still do not know the difference between a semite and a jew. A semite is a member of a group of Semitic-speaking peoples of the Near East and northern Africa, including the Arabs, Arameans, Babylonians, Carthaginians, Ethiopians, Hebrews, and Phoenicians. Genetically there is no marker that marks someone as Jewish. Judaism is a religion and some of its' followers have chosen to identify themselves as a member of the "Jewish race". That is a historical fallacy. The old testament of the Bible proclaims the jews as "chosen people". That is racial supremacy. I find that god and its' followers to be ultimately immoral, or hypocritical in their pickings and choosings of god's word. Of course the zionist "subset" are more blatant with their supremacist beliefs, but the core ideology is there regardless of how cordial the inividual follower is.
The slave morality, or the slave-god ideology is a reference to Nietzsche's critique of the judeo-christian morality that has failed mankind. I make no apology about my feelings for the Abrahamic religions. My lack of the commonly accepted respect for religion in America, or for the theocracy of Israel, clearly makes you uncomfortable. History has given us more than enough evidence of the death and destruction caused by the biblical ideology for me to have to sugar coat my feelings, regardless of what is commonly accepted here. The only anti-semitism evidenced here is in your mind. I have no ill feelings for people belonging to any of the ethnic groups listed above or any ethnic group in general. Ignorance is not a word to be used lightly when one is clearly unaware of the subjects of which they speak. Or when one accuses someone of being something when in fact what they are arguing for is the exact opposite. There are over 6 billion people on this planet and they are all born equal, even if certain religions and ideologies deny them of that. Religion does not equal ethnicity, I hope that one day you will be able to understand that difficult concept and recognize the fallibility of your views. Good day to you and Merry Winter Solstice.
I don't "consider" myself well-educated, ...
an?ti-Sem?ite? ?/?ænti?s?ma?t, ?ænta?- or, especially Brit., -?sima?t/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [an-tee-sem-ahyt, an-tahy- or, especially Brit., -see-mahyt] Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun a person who discriminates against or is prejudiced or hostile toward Jews. Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
an·ti-Sem·ite (?n't?-s?m'?t', ?n't?-) n. One who discriminates against or who is hostile toward or prejudiced against Jews. an'ti-Se·mit'ic (-s?-m?t'?k) adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
anti-semite
adjective
1. discriminatory especially on the basis of race or religion [syn: racist] noun
1. someone who hates and would persecute Jews
WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
Cite This Source anti-semite
Main Entry: an·ti–Sem·i·tism
Pronunciation: \?an-t?-?se-m?-?ti-z?m, ?an-?t?-\
Function: noun
Date: 1882
: hostility toward or discrimination against Jews as a religious, ethnic, or racial group — an·ti–Se·mit·ic \-s?-?mi-tik\ adjective
— an·ti–Sem·ite \-?se-?m?t\ noun
anti-Semitism
So yes, your hostility and hatred of "the Jews and their troglodyte step children" and your advice to "suck it Slave-God pigs" does indeed qualify you as an anti-Semite, as the term is defined. On the other hand, if you want to engage in straw arguments about the meaning of "anti-Semite", then we can just settle on "Jew-hater" as an accurate descriptor. I have no idea whether you "have no ill feelings" toward any ethic group, but your hatred of religious people is self-evident from your postings. Attempting to dress up your hatred as merely a reference to Nietzsche is just a weak, transparent ploy to legitimize your hatred. Unless, of course, you really think Nietzsche called them "pigs" while suggesting that they "suck it".
You also assert that Judaism is a religion, not a race, yet say that by labeling themselves the "Chosen People", Jews are demonstrating their racism. By your own premise, however, they would not be demonstrating "racism", since their assertion of superiority is based on their religious status (a common assertion in many religions), not their race/ethnicity. Maybe a course in logic would be helpful.
BTW - I am also a "secularist", in that I reject all forms of religious faith and believe religion should play no role in forming public policy. But I also have no problem with people of any religion believing they are the "Chosen People" or otherwise superior to others, up to the point where some of those people choose to put that belief in action in order to harm others. That being said, I would never condemn all people of a particlar faith for the actions of some that share their faith. There are many good and moral people of all faiths, as there are many good and moral secularists and atheists.
Have a Merry Winter Solstice, Sarah.
P.S. Nice attempt at dressing up your usual profanity-laden, angry screeds.
Amen to that!