The War on Christmas.

The thing that I notice about Christmas, as an outside observer, is the virtual fever that Christmas gets people into as the holiday gets closer and closer. The Christmas season officially starts, I believe, as soon as the leftovers from Thanksgiving are put away (U.S.), and then starts to snowball over the next few weeks. Between the sharing of one's Christmas shopping anecdotes, and Christmas "episodes" on tv, and parties, and visiting, and cards (receiving and sending), and decorating (inside and outside), the holiday really gets a hold on the collective consciousness of many people.

What I have never discerned though, is how much of this fever-pitch involvement is just for children, or how much of it has been internalized from childhood, so it makes many adults long for the Christmases of childhood (or vindicate the childhood Christmas with a better one for one's own children today)?

I say this all within the context of my belief that Christmas, in its present form, is the best inducement for non-believing folks to still identify themselves as Christians, regardless of their lack of faith. A great marketing tool for a religion, in my opinion.

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my favorite time of year. i don't really care what people call it, i believe it's good to get together with folks and hang out without all of the usual barking.

i really don't get the war on christmas thing beyond creating a straw problem just so one of the usual suspects can write a book about the straw problem and how it must be destroyed and how bad the other guys are.

whatever. i'd rather party and have a little fun when the sun goes down early.

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@Foofie,

Children as well as adults enjoy christmas. Many countries that has a minority of christians still celebrate christmas.

Additionally, many people send christmas/new year's greeting cards to people they know around the world to "keep in touch" at least once-a-year. I've exchanged christmas cards with a friend I've known since the late fifties when we were both stationed in Morocco.

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@Foofie,

A great marketing tool for a religion, in my opinion.
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It a great marketing tool for the selling of merchandise and the form this holiday had taken in that regard only date back to the 1880s.

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@BillRM,

The Christmas shopping season used to represents about 25% of the annual sales, but the past two years have been dismal for retail. Although many financial pundits are saying that the recession has hit bottom, and will now improve through the end of this year is still highly questionable, because thousands are still losing their jobs every day.

I believe we're going to see sales early during this christmas season in the hopes they can make up some profit by sales volume. Bargain hunters will be looking for those sales early in the season, so those that wish to compete in this very competitive market will be promoting sales before Thanksgiving.

If this christmas season ends up half decent, we may begin to show real improvement in our economy from the second quarter of next year.

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@cicerone imposter,

I know a lot of people who are quite fed-up with Christmas commercialism, the pressure to spend. They give a few token gifts, small high quality meaningful gifts. Christmas to them is transforming into a time to do good works (charity/volunteer) and family bonding time.

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@hawkeye10,

A lot of people are "fed up" with our economy, because many are losing their jobs, home and security. There's not much joy in that!

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@cicerone imposter,

Quote:

A lot of people are "fed up" with our economy, because many are losing their jobs, home and security. There's not much joy in that!

I see the trend most strongly in families that DO have the ability to pig out at Christmas....they are making a conscious choice to not participate.

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I think Ima do Chanukah this year instead, just to be different, and cause I already have lots of candles...

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@hawkeye10,

Maybe in your neighborhood. I think cultural, seasonal, religious, festivities will remain alive no matter what the economy. The Thanksgiving holiday season will still see family members hopping on airplanes in record numbers to go home to spend a few days with family. That's a given.

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Inasmuch as it is still summertime,
I have not deemed necessary nor opportune to address the subject of next Christmas yet,
but I continue to wish that tomorrow 's children will have the ambient Christmas Spirit,
with ubiquitous Christmas Carols to enjoy from Thanksgiving until New Year 's Day, or beyond.

I was never quick to take down my Christmas Tree

It was and is a special quality of childhood that shoud not be sacrificed
on the altar of political correctness. The only thing that shoud be
sacrificed on that altar IS political correctness.

HO, HO, HO

David

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@OmSigDAVID,

David, As I've said in my earlier post, I do not believe for a moment that the holidays is on the road to demise - or even reduction.

Last christmas season, the homes in our neighborhood had the same amount of christmas light decorations as in previous years. I don't see that changing this year or any time in the future years.

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@cicerone imposter,

cicerone imposter wrote:

David, As I've said in my earlier post, I do not believe for a moment
that the holidays is on the road to demise - or even reduction.

Last christmas season, the homes in our neighborhood had the same amount of
christmas light decorations as in previous years.
I don't see that changing this year or any time in the future years.

My observations and suggestions r limited to the environment outside the home, at Christmastime.
Each family will define for itself how to celebrate Christmas in its own home.

Up thru the 1950s and 60s, Christmas was EVERYWHERE,
certainly including Christmas Carols being continuously played
on the radio, if not on every station, then on most of them.
Stores made a particular point in their advertizing to wish
their customers a Merry Christmas, not an un-named anonymous "holiday".
Part of the celebration of Christmas and enjoyment of the Christmas Spirit was the ubiquity of it.

Eventually, that came under intentional attack by the politically correct people.

I have suggested in past years,
that those of us who wish to buy Christmas presents do so at stores that r not in enemy hands,
meaning stores that perpetrate the philosophy of political correctness, but rather who join us
in the old spirit of CHRISTMAS celebration. Thay will make their allegiance known by how thay advertize.

Saying: "Merry Christmas!" and playing Christmas Carols shows that thay RECOGNIZE
that Christmastime is SPECIAL and unique.
Saying: "Merry Christmas!" and playing Christmas Carols means
that thay r on the side of good old fashioned Christmas celebration.

Saying: "Happy Holidays" in my opinion,
is a declaration of rejection, dismissal, repudiation & abhorence of the Christmas Spirit.
Thay don 't have to participate against their will in celebrating Christmas if thay don 't want to,
but let them not complain when we take our Christmas money to stores who really ARE joining in the celebration
and who show that the CHRISTMAS SPIRIT is welcome and supported in their establishments,
not just some anonymous "holidays" that thay r grudgingly willing to put up with
for what thay find to be an annoyingly long time.

I will continue to publish my point of vu on this and other fora.

It is unreasonable, and not very intelligent, for commericial establishments
to expect to reap maximum profits from a celebration from which thay intentionally distance themselves.

Thay can distance themselves from US,
and
we can distance ourselves FROM THEM. (We can be very JOLLY on our way to better stores. HO, HO, HO!)

I 'm sure that thay will not pay much attention to their profits nor losses at Christmastime.
Thay probably don 't care much about that. Right ?

David

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@OmSigDAVID,

you're making way too much out of it dave.

the reason that sales people say happy holidays is because they are serving more than christians. chanukah comes in the same sales cycle.

i mean seriously. what's the big deal? the only thing people go to the store for is buy stuff. which you can take home and give somebody while saying anything you want.

for myself, even though i'm not a christian and don't practice the 25th as a "christian" holiday, it doesn't bother me if they say it to me.

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@DontTreadOnMe,

DontTreadOnMe wrote:

Quote:

you're making way too much out of it dave.

I get to decide how much is too much.

DontTreadOnMe wrote:

Quote:

the reason that sales people say happy holidays is because they are serving more than christians.
chanukah comes in the same sales cycle.

I have it on good authority
that that holiday is regarded the Jews about like Groundhog Day.
I 'm not gonna pay attention to that.

DontTreadOnMe wrote:

Quote:

i mean seriously. what's the big deal?
the only thing people go to the store for is buy stuff.

Imagine that I had cut and pasted my post HERE:

DontTreadOnMe wrote:

Quote:

which you can take home and give somebody while saying anything you want.

Its part of the Culture War.
I am on the Anti-Politically Correct side.

DontTreadOnMe wrote:

Quote:

for myself, even though i'm not a christian and don't practice
the 25th as a "christian" holiday, it doesn't bother me if they say it to me.

I was addressing myself to Christians who DO care, not to folks that don 't.

David

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@OmSigDAVID,

sorry if you feel offended. wasn't my intention, but if it makes you feel better, be my guest.

now, if you would like to talk about having something on good authority, try this on for size;

having been in retail for the first 13 years of my work career, i can tell you with authority that the dollars that come into the company from jews, muslims, sikhs, hindus, buddhists, native americans, satanists, new agers and even atheists add to the big black ink in the bottom line and are absolutely seen as every bit important as christian dollars. hence, "happy holidays". or i guess i could say to you, "happy qwanzaa". but since you are of another faith, that might bother you.

as for chanukah being regarded as groundhog day. i would estimate that the percentage of jews with that opinion may possibly be equivalent, or perhaps less, to the christians, and others, who see christmas in that light.

and thirdly david, take it for what it's worth; all other debate aside, regardless of what i personally call the holiday, the opinion i offered was one of being with people i'm close to and sharing a little fellowship.

i could have sworn that was the point of christmas. "peace on earth, good will to men".

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@DontTreadOnMe,

DontTreadOnMe wrote:

Quote:

sorry if you feel offended.

I don 't. What 'd be the point of that ?

DontTreadOnMe wrote:

Quote:

wasn't my intention,
but if it makes you feel better, be my guest.

That 's big of u.

DontTreadOnMe wrote:

Quote:

now, if you would like to talk about having something
on good authority, try this on for size;
having been in retail for the first 13 years of my work career,
i can tell you with authority that the dollars that come into the
company from jews, muslims, sikhs, hindus, buddhists, native americans,
satanists, new agers and even atheists add to the big black ink
in the bottom line and are absolutely seen as every bit important as christian dollars.

O, yeah, I 'm sure that
the dollars from the Siks, Moslems n Jews are important
when the merchants figure whether Christmas revenues
will allow their businesses to remain alive or not for the following year.
Sure, thay don 't care much about the Christians at Christmastime.
Its the Siks and the atheists.

I say again:
My exhortations have been directed toward Christians who join in my point of vu,
remembering how Christmas was about 50 years ago.

Everyone shoud do what he feels like doing; I will.

DontTreadOnMe wrote:

Quote:

hence, "happy holidays".
or i guess i could say to you, "happy qwanzaa".
but since you are of another faith, that might bother you.

The only faith involved in that
is faith in Karl Marx.
That is not and was never a holiday, not even in Africa.
It was a hoax from a communist perverted sadist.
I will not discuss him. Whoever wishes to can check it.

DontTreadOnMe wrote:

Quote:

as for chanukah being regarded as groundhog day.
i would estimate that the percentage of jews with
that opinion may possibly be equivalent, or perhaps less, to the christians,
and others, who see christmas in that light.

I don 't know what that sentence means; probably just as well.
My former law partner is a religious Jew with a truely vast reservoir of knowledge in NYC Mensa.
He informed me of that. I later confirmed it with another respected Jew of admirable education in NYC Mensa.

DontTreadOnMe wrote:

Quote:

and thirdly david, take it for what it's worth; all other debate aside,
regardless of what i personally call the holiday, the opinion i offered
was one of being with people i'm close to and sharing a little fellowship.

I addressed myself to folks of MY point of vu.
I did not deny that other inconsistent points of vu exist.
It is against their effects that we strive.

DontTreadOnMe wrote:

Quote:

i could have sworn that was the point of christmas. "peace on earth, good will to men".

If I remember, u said that u r not a Christian.
U coud not begin to guess what I am endeavoring to restore.

David

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@OmSigDAVID,

Quote:

Saying: "Merry Christmas!" and playing Christmas Carols shows that thay RECOGNIZE
that Christmastime is SPECIAL and unique.

Christmas isn't special or unique. That's the whole point. It is the celebration of a mythical event, glommed on top of a Pagan holiday. It wasn't even 'unique' when it was first envisioned, but rather a way to convert pagans to the new religion while still letting them celebrate the Winter Solstice.

Cycloptichorn

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@OmSigDAVID,

Quote:

If I remember, u said that u r not a Christian.
U coud not begin to guess what I am endeavoring to restore.

David - are you a Christian?

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@Cycloptichorn,

Quote:

Christmas isn't special or unique.

To you - but that's exactly the sentiment that David is expressing- that for those of us born before 1980 - the Christmas season in the US was special and unique.
It was an entirely different entity from what it has become.
I'm not saying that's right or that's wrong - but yes - it was special and unique.

2 Replies

The War on Christmas.

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