Ugh...
I am SO sick of this stupid bitch war on companies/employees/people in general saying "Merry Christmas". I mean, for the love of God- do we not have more pressing issues in our world to worry about? We've got a genocide going down in the Sudan, people living below the poverty line all over the world, natural disasters, and what are we spending our time on? Whether "Merry Christmas" is offensive. And why? Because a bunch of atheists are whining that Christmas offends them. Right. Well let's look at it this way- they don't want to believe in God or celebrate the birth of Christ but how many of them exchange gifts, expect a day off from work, expect a financial bonus, etc. in order for the Christmas holiday to be observed? If there's nothing to celebrate then why not just treat it like a regular day? Forget about giving each other gifts (because obviously there is no need to recognize/symbolize the gift giving of the Wise Men at the first Christmas) and forget about getting a day off of work because again- there's nothing to celebrate. But I can bet you ANYTHING that if one of said atheists was told to report to work on December 25th, they'd shit a colossal BRICK over the injustice of it. People say they want a separation of church and state but what they say and what they actually do are two very different things.
My friend Brian is a Desert Storm veteran and he has told me repeatedly that there are no atheists in the foxholes. In layman's terms, when you are in the position of a possibly imminent death it is very rare that a person will not turn their thoughts to a higher being, consider an afterlife, or start bargaining with God (a God they formerly claimed not to believe in) because they want to live. This is particularly true for guys like Brian who, at 18, could have cared less about God until it came down to life or death... and he changed his life.
I think what frustrates me the most is that people who claim to not believe in anything seem to think that they are intellectually more superior than those who do. It's an arrogance that I personally can't stand. Yes I'm Catholic and yes I believe in more traditional values but that doesn't mean that I don't "know any better" or that I'm "intellectually lacking." Every student who attends a Jesuit college has to take a minimum of 3 classes in philosophy but because of my minor, I ended up taking 6. Believe me- I know the philosophical arguments for and against God. I've read what RESPECTED (that being the key word) influential thinkers have to say on the subject and I STILL believe in God and believe in my faith.
What I guess this whole post really comes down to is that people need to get over themselves and quit looking for reasons to lash out and be pissed off at society. If you're constantly living in a "we vs. they" mindset, you're never going to be able to move on with your own life and develop a healthy tolerance for differences. I don't get pissed off when others want to celebrate their heritage and holidays so stop getting pissed off when I want to celebrate mine!
My friend Brian is a Desert Storm veteran and he has told me repeatedly that there are no atheists in the foxholes. In layman's terms, when you are in the position of a possibly imminent death it is very rare that a person will not turn their thoughts to a higher being, consider an afterlife, or start bargaining with God (a God they formerly claimed not to believe in) because they want to live. This is particularly true for guys like Brian who, at 18, could have cared less about God until it came down to life or death... and he changed his life.
I think what frustrates me the most is that people who claim to not believe in anything seem to think that they are intellectually more superior than those who do. It's an arrogance that I personally can't stand. Yes I'm Catholic and yes I believe in more traditional values but that doesn't mean that I don't "know any better" or that I'm "intellectually lacking." Every student who attends a Jesuit college has to take a minimum of 3 classes in philosophy but because of my minor, I ended up taking 6. Believe me- I know the philosophical arguments for and against God. I've read what RESPECTED (that being the key word) influential thinkers have to say on the subject and I STILL believe in God and believe in my faith.
What I guess this whole post really comes down to is that people need to get over themselves and quit looking for reasons to lash out and be pissed off at society. If you're constantly living in a "we vs. they" mindset, you're never going to be able to move on with your own life and develop a healthy tolerance for differences. I don't get pissed off when others want to celebrate their heritage and holidays so stop getting pissed off when I want to celebrate mine!