Banning Christmas?

Remove all ads!

Well, Christmas is essentially the most important Western holiday from a commercial point of view. On Easter, people might get together for a meal and color some eggs, while on St. Paddy's day, people might wear a green shirt and watch a parade on TV. On Halloween people spend some cash on costumes, scary movie rentals, and candy for the kids -- although this holiday is itself under assault by certain Christian groups who see it as a celebration of witchcraft and paganism (and of course it originally was some kind of societal pressure valve, to release all that pent-up paganism the day before All Saints Day). Thanksgiving you slaughter lots of turkeys. But Christmas is by far the peak of the yearly consumer economy, and is proceeded by well over a month of continuous build-up, weaving together a strange blend of religious feeling, warm family tradition propaganda, and a constant drumbeat of "buy buy buy." So it's a little different than the others.

Not that this isn't enjoyable to millions of people, of course. For those who said, "well, we enjoy celebrating Christmas, and believe that Christ should remain in Christmas even though we aren't religious in any way," I would guess that your roots are ethnically Christian, and so a nod to Christ is fine by you; kind of an acknowledgement of a shared cultural background.

For those outside of the Christian tradition, it's a little more mixed, and some people might feel left out. Hanukkah, for example, was traditionally a lesser holiday than Rosh Hashanah, but became far more significant as a way of catching some of the secular energy devoted in the West to Christmas, of not being left out. And of course, there's no barrier to celebrating other religion's holidays; in India, for example, Hindu's often celebrate Muslim holidays like Eid, and visa versa, because hey, who wants to be left out when everyone's feasting.

I guess my target was mostly those devout Christians who see no conflict between the secular materialism that has come to define Christmas and their own religious celebration. I suspect that there is a bit of discomfort with the consumer-fest Christmas has become, but it seems a bit disingenuous to lay all the blame at the feet of a few over-zealous folks for being PC. I mean, there's a huge economic engine running this thing, and it has the support of millions of people who really aren't that serious about Christianity, but take the "Christmas tradition," which includes Rudolph the Red-Nosed Raindeer and Christmas trees just as much or more than it has anything to do with remembering the birth of Christ. So I wonder if the religious police have really chosen the PC police because they're the far, far easier target, while the actual forces that are secularizing Christmas are far, far more difficult to address. Just imagine if a group of devout Christians tried to push through a ban on all secular Christmas traditions, and to say the the month before Christmas should be about fasting and contemplation rather than non-stop advertising. Just how far do you think *that* movement would go?

I should close with the famous South Park song:

[ December 10, 2004, 17:26: Message edited by: Bion ]

 

Christmas is just a great fun time of the year. Why can't we all just enjoy it? If you're not religious, don't go to mass. If you're worried about consumerism, don't go to the shopping malls. If you're worried about corny TV re-runs, turn off the TV.

Merry Christmas to all SPers (unless you're easily offended - in which case, just have a nice day).

 

I see it as a scheme for businesses to get away with taking away another of our days off of work, although I'm thinking Thanksgiving will be the next to go before Christmas! We lost our Easter holiday three years ago, and New Years Eve two years ago. Right now, they're just planting the seed...
Bastiches!

 

It's not a case of people getting offended by things and complaining about them. It's about the PC government trying to 'protect' minorities.
It must be so embarassing for the people being 'protected' when things like this are brought in.

This world is far too PC.

 

Oh, come on!

This is insane. If some people are actually offended by this, then let them, dammit!

All this PC crap has gone TOO FAR!

 

In the UK, they have stopped using the word Christmas and are calling it "Winter Festival", some bull**** like that. It is not throughout the UK, just in one or two areas. Probably just Bradford and Coventry ^^. I guess it won't be long before all our celebrations are banned or forgotten. We could always convert to Muslim and celebrate our 'li2hfew;lizxcojkfw@#%$dytdsf or what ever they call it, nobody seems to have a problem with that.

 

Sarevok, for once, understand that everything isn't the Muslims' fault.

 

LOL!

I'd forgotten how amusing a dose of small-minded bigotry could be.

[ This and the previous post were perfect candidates for PMs. ] - Beren

[ December 12, 2004, 10:03: Message edited by: Beren ]

 

Having had time to think about this, why don't all the religious factions get together and celebrate ALL the holidays. Imagine, 8 days of presents for Hannukah, Christmas, and Kwanzaa. All those extra holidays that the boss has to pay time and a half for (or drinking days for those of that inclination)...

 

I'm an athiest. As such, christmas doesnt mean anything to me, and I'm not a big fan of it anyway. However, I'm not gonna get all twisted out of shape because people want to celebrate the holiday. I'm well aware that the holiday itself has transcended it's original purpose anyway. To get all worked up about the name, or about people celebrating it is just stupid. If people complain about it, they're probably the same people who will complain if they see anyone smiling/ having fun/ being more interesting then they are.

 

Banning Christmas because there are poeple who don't celebrate it? Doesn't it make sense? i think the problem come from not paying attention to other religious holidays for the majority Christians in America. i am sure if other religious is treated equally with Christmas, no one will have a problem. But then US government has to over emphasize the seperation of church and government part thus damning ability to recognize all.

In Malaysian Constitution, the federation adopts Islam as its official religion. And so it seems that Malaysia is bound to be an intolerate, religiously selfish coutry by the presumption of ... some. But, in here, we have offficial holidays of Christmas for Christians, 2 days Chinese lunar new year for chinese, 2 days Fast breaking festival for Muslims, Deepavali for Indians, Harvest festival for Kadazan and Iban, Wesak day for buddhists. If we can celebrate them all, we can recognize them all. If we can officially recognize them all, we can respect them all.

 

Sounds like a great system Teekc. I can certainly understand the point you are making, and agree with it myself. The problem perhaps is that christian holidays in the US, and UK etc like christmas are so ingrained, that for many the idea of adding other religeous holidays would be seen as unnacceptable. Better to remove them all then add cultural diversity.

 

Takara, wouldn't you like time and a half every chance you get? Why not recognize all those holidays and have your employer pay you big money for the ones you otherwise don't care about?

 

Because then my employer would get pissy and downsize the workforce

 

Oh, yeah, I forgot about corporate greed...

 

Well, over here we have numerous bank holkidays which mean bugger all. Some in April, may etc. It wouldnt be too hard to remove thse holidays, and move them to cover more diverse religeous holidays.

But that would mean recognising cultural diversity. Something conservative tradtitionalists just couldnt face. Afterall, these different groups have come to our country. They have to fall in line with us, right? The way they have to shape thir own countries after ours with our version of corrup.. I mean democracy.

 

Takara, why don't you English start by actually celebrating your patron saint's day? The Irish have made a worldwide institution out of St Patrick's Day but the English let St George's Day pass by without so much as a toast.

 

I couldnt agree more HB. There have been some efforts to celebrate it made, but unfortunately I believe the problem stems from the late 70's and early 80's.

Football hooliganism was rife during this time, and wherever they went, the flag of St.George was synonymous with them. Racism, violence, all was conducted witrh that flag waving. Ever since it has become a symbol of racism and bigotry to many. As such, the day passes by now as it is seen as an embarressment.

The flag of St.George has become like the swastika. Neither mean anything bad in themselves, just that both were used by extreme groups and have become permenantly linked with them.

Times are slowly changing. The hey day of hooliganism and racism is fading. The past year or two has seen the resurgence of the flag of St.George as a symbol of national pride. Maybe in a few years St.George can once again be proudly commemerated. I hope so, but it will take time.

 

@Takara - I really like your idea of giving up some holidays to recognize the diversity in the country by other religions.

In the U.S., I would gladly give up (in chronological order, not order of preference): Martin Luther King Jr. Day, President's Day, and Columbus Day without batting an eye. Already, that's three holidays that can be used for something else. There are a few I wouldn't part with though - like Thanksgiving, Memorial Day and Independence Day.

And as far as the government taking away holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas, I can guarantee that Christmas would go long before Thanksgiving, as Thanksgiving has very little religious meaning attached to it - it's a American holiday, not a Christian holiday.

 

I'm afraid I'm in two minds about "celebrating" St. George's day. Yes, he's the Patron saint of England, but being as he wasn't English, and probably never took step on English soil, I think I'd prefer celebration of something different and actually English.