I made a fascinating discovery today in my quick google search to find out whether or not the Salvation Army actually pays its bellringers \u0096 it does, in case you\u0092re curious.<\/p>\n
I discovered \u0091The War on Christmas\u0092 \u0096 which seems to be some sort of thing attached to this O\u0092Reilly person I hear so much negative shit about.<\/p>\n
If any of this stuff I\u0092ve been reading about what he\u0092s said about the \u0091war on christmas\u0092 is quoted accurately\u0085 I think I understand why people dislike him so.
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\nSo\u0085 there\u0092s a War on Christmas–\u0085at least, according to one person on one news network. The \u0091war\u0092 apparently involves various \u0091bannings\u0092 of various things\u0085I haven\u0092t quite found these people claiming that it\u0092s \u0091illegal\u0092 to do or say certain things [well, almost \u0096 I have seen some things in chat, if I recall correctly, but I might be wrong there], but I suppose that\u0092s the next step.<\/p>\n
I have seen a few things about towns and school districts banning the wearing of red and green clothing and the use of the same colour decorations, but those turned out to be utter falsehoods.<\/p>\n
Most of what I\u0092m seeing is people who think that being offended by two words [Merry Christmas] being offended by \u0093Happy Holidays.\u0094<\/p>\n
Strikes me as a little silly, but, well\u0085whatever.<\/p>\n
I guess these people are in an uproar about \u0091holiday trees\u0092 \u0096 which I\u0092ve never actually heard \u0096 and \u0091winter break\u0092 \u0096 which is what I thought the official term for the days off of school from roughly December 24th to roughly January 2nd was always called. Much like \u0091spring break\u0092.<\/p>\n
I, myself, don\u0092t get it. Probably because I don\u0092t understand politics, and this all seems to be a very political thing. The calling of this \u0091war on christmas\u0092 as another attempt\/step toward making everything from abortion-on-demand to\u0085well, a whole silly list of things that included drugs, gay marriage and euthanasia legal\u0085because this all has something to do with getting religion out of the public\u0085.<\/p>\n
I truly don\u0092t get it.<\/p>\n
I guess maybe it\u0092s because I remember a couple of things that these nutjobs don\u0092t \u0096 or never bothered to learn.<\/p>\n
I remember that the Christmas Celebration they all hold dear hasn\u0092t always been the way it is today.<\/p>\n
I remember that December 25th is just \u0091the day Jesus was born\u0092 because someone likely \u0091said so\u0092, just to make the religion have a bit more draw, because that was a time of year for other celebrations.<\/p>\n
I remember that there once was something called Saturnalia, and that Yule isn\u0092t just \u0091some strange word associated with a log that has something to do with Jesus\u0092 birthday\u0092.<\/p>\n
I remember that it wasn\u0092t always Santa and reindeer and sleighs, but that the old story that starts \u0093\u0092Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse…,\u0094 and and a few others, including Coke, helped to make things the way they are today.<\/p>\n
I remember that, for a time, there was no Christmas in America, and that there was apparently a period of time in England when there was also no Christmas [I think both are partly to blame on the Puritans, although dislike of things which were English also may\u0092ve been a part of the American issue].<\/p>\n
I remember quite a few things along those lines, and it all makes the whole \u0091pushing the christ out of Christmas\/using it as a tool to push religion out of america\u0092 thing seem awfully silly. I also fail to remember certain things, like the whole point of celebrating Jesus\u0092 birthday. I don\u0092t remember anything about that being a big deal in the Bible. Maybe someone could point that out to me\u0085.<\/p>\n
Something else I just remembered \u0096 all those crazy people from all those other crazy religions who don\u0092t celebrate Christmas. And all those crazy people from other religions who do. And all those people who don\u0092t have religions who celebrate because it\u0092s more of a cultural thing than a religious thing.<\/p>\n
And, hey, what about those of us who don\u0092t celebrate. Those who don\u0092t put up trees, string lights all over the outside of their property, and buy gifts for everyone they\u0092ve ever met. Those of us who are, in fact, annoyed by the gaudy bullshit that gets carted out the day after Halloween, and are forced into a world of Christmas Cheer for two months while the rest of the country plays their stupid little reindeer games\u0085.<\/p>\n
If you think \u0093Happy Holidays\u0094 is a declaration of war, then what\u0092s \u0093Bah, Humbug\u0094 to you?<\/p>\n
Does that mean I win?<\/p>\n
\u0093Happy Holidays\u0094 is not a declaration of war. I\u0092ve been seeing it on cards for as long as I remember. I, being the dumb kid I was, naturally assumed that \u0093Happy Holidays\u0094 referred to the \u0091holiday season\u0092. A belated Thanksgiving, a Christmas and a New Years greeting and well-wishing all rolled into one. I later found out that there were even more holidays in that time slot between the end of November and the beginning of the New Year \u0096 I also found out that there were some groups who didn\u0092t celebrate any of them.<\/p>\n
Of course, when I found out that Christmas was supposed to be some dead guy\u0092s birthday, I couldn\u0092t figure out why I was the one getting the gifts, and how santa, the tree, and all the lights fit in\u0085but I kinda liked the gift-getting part, so I ignored all that nonsense\u0085.<\/p>\n
I still like the gift-getting part. I still occasionally get gifts, because I\u0092m not going to say \u0091no, no, I don\u0092t celebrate so don\u0092t send me anything\u0092 to people who want to send me stuff. My lack of tree shouldn\u0092t have any bearing on whether or not someone buys me stuff.<\/p>\n
And while I personally object to having all this seasonal shit shoved down my throat from July to July of every fucking year, I put up with it. I put up with \u0093Christmas in July\u0094 and \u0093Merry Christmas\u0094 and \u0093Happy Holidays\u0094 just like I put up with \u0093Happy\u0085however you spell that Jewish holiday that falls around this time of year.\u0094 I put up with the ad campaigns with their little snowflakes and ornament-shaped things and snowmen and reindeer and all the signs and symbols of the season \u0096 actually, I throw most of those out and try to ignore the ads on TV, but hey, that\u0092s a lot like putting up with them. I do this because that\u0092s part of what the season is all about. Putting up with shit you don\u0092t like.<\/p>\n
Go on, tell me I\u0092m wrong. Tell me that every year, right around this time, people aren\u0092t gearing up and getting ready to go spend time with family they rarely talk to and didn\u0092t even want to buy presents for. Tell me that there aren\u0092t going to be horrible experiences and even worse arguments because people feel obligated to uphold some family tradition that says \u0091you must be jolly and get drunk and say the things you really mean at this time every year, because it\u0092s Jesus\u0092 birthday.\u0092<\/p>\n
Tis the season to lie to yourself. To spend time with people you don\u0092t like, to smile falsely at them and thank them for their generic and inappropriate gift. To give not because you want to, but because you feel as if you absolutely MUST, whether it be to strange, unlikable uncle Bob, to the sister you could never stand, or to a charity that shows up in a Santa hat at you with its seasonal fundraiser, and whether you can afford it or not.<\/p>\n
The war is over. Christ was out of Christmas before it even became a term. It\u0092s only through the desperate cramming of the round peg into the triangle hole that we have such a concept to allow for \u0091the removing of Christ from Christmas\u0092.<\/p>\n
I\u0092ll say it again: the war is fucking over. It was over before these people noticed it. It was over before the time when people were accusing Jews of doing the things that the \u0091secular liberal atheist bastards\u0092 are doing today [whatever that means]. It was over before it started.<\/p>\n
\u0093Xmas\u0094 isn\u0092t an insult or an application of a prybar to religion. Neither is \u0093Holidays\u0094 or \u0093Greetings\u0094 or \u0093winter break.\u0094<\/p>\n
Now that I\u0092ve become all disjointed, I\u0092ll try to end this.<\/p>\n
Celebrate your holiday season as you see fit \u0096 within the limits of the law. It\u0092s one of those crazy things you\u0092re actually allowed to do here in America, and you should take advantage of it. And while you\u0092re at it, try very hard not to lie to yourself. Dislike your family if you must, and try to avoid them \u0096 if you must. If you can get around your differences, that\u0092s even better, because family doesn\u0092t last forever. Next Christmas might be too late.<\/p>\n
And one more thing to keep not in your hearts but in your minds, where the actual thinking takes place \u0096 remember, as you\u0092re buying your last minute gifts, drinking your glasses of stupidly-high-proof Christmas cheer, and sending your children to bed with some bullshit story to make them stay there \u0096 in America, you have many rights, but the right not to be offended is not one of them<\/i>. Remember that the next time you\u0092re upset by someone using the word \u0091Giftmas\u0092.<\/p>\n
Merry Giftmas. Merry Beaglemas, Merry Whatever\u0085.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I made a fascinating discovery today in my quick google search to find out whether or not the Salvation Army actually pays its bellringers \u0096 it does, in case you\u0092re curious. I discovered \u0091The War on Christmas\u0092 \u0096 which seems … Continue reading