Merry Christmas

Dec 25, 2006 04:00

It was Christmas eve and I was watching Fox News, not because I wanted to be informed but because I wanted to fall asleep. The presenters were having a "debate" in which they drew no conclusions but made sweeping statements such as "CEOs can earn as much as they like" and backed their claims up with the ubiquitous: "welcome to America, baby".

This didn't annoy me any more than usual. What annoyed me is just before the commercial break, a talking head interjected to wish me "Happy Holidays" on behalf of the Fox Network. Happy Holidays? From the network that loudly decries the "war on Christmas" as waged by the "PC Liberals" (presumably gay left-wing pinkos such as myself).

They obviously have their lines crossed somewhere, if they say one thing in one context and something quite different in another. The point I am trying to get to is this: In New Zealand, people invariably say "Merry Christmas" and the country is overwhelmingly secular and left-wing in nature. In America, with such a large population of people professing to be "Christians" they call it "Happy Holidays". This tells me that the name of the holiday has nothing to do with religion and everything to do with culture.

It's a Pagan celebration that was turned into a vague celebration of Christ's birth because we couldn't be assed figuring out when He was actually born and it was a convenient way of covering up an existing celebration. Christmas is no more special than we choose to make it, and it has no significance beyond what we choose to attach to it. The American puritans banned Christmas because they believed it exalted one day above all others when all days should be equally exalted in God's name (they obviously glossed over Paul's words about that in Romans 14:5).

Me and most of the people I know say "Merry Christmas" this includes Hindus, Buddhists, Atheists etc. Why? Because we always have, we grew up that way, it's a part of our culture.

So Merry Christmas everyone, and to the tired, two-faced American media: bah humbug.
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