Happy HOLIDAYS
Yes, I'm Christian, I'm born in Canada, and I'm saying Happy Holidays!!! Why? Because I'm so friggin tired of every.single.year some uneducated bunch of "Christians" bitch and moan that because some people and institutions say Happy Holidays, that they're somehow oppressed or prevented from saying Merry Christmas. These usually are the same type of people who think their marriages will somehow be diminished because gays and lesbians are allowed to wed, and they're usually the same types who blow a gasket over the use of X in lieu of Christ.
For those who need a refresher, as much as we'd like to think that the Bible is wholly inspired by God, lets remember it's been written by men, men who have had agenda's to promote Christiannity in very specific ways. The time we celebrate Christmas, when Jesus was born, is widely thought to be a few months off from his actual birthdate. Now as cool as it would be to have Christ be a Capricorn, a lot of very educated and studious people think he might very well have been born in spring...maybe a Taurus, or god forbid an Aries! So why are we celebrating XMAS now? Because of that agenda a whole bunch of shriveled bunch of old men way back when had. They wanted converts, willing and not so willing. Many of them had to contend with Pagans, who celebrate holidays in accordance (a lot of the time) with the flow of the seasons, Earth and plantings. Has anyone heard of Solstice? Well Winter Solstice is usually somewhere at the start of the 20's in December. It symbolises the shortest day of the year (in terms of daylight) not much to celebrate, but there is, because once you're over that day, the days start to get longer, OR, light comes to Earth. Does that sound familiar to any Christians out there? Presents are shared, green foliage is brought indoors, lights are lighted, trees decorated. These are NOT Christian traditions, they were co-opted, or stolen in order to draw in Pagan masses. So the next time you're about to blow your stack over a Holiday Tree, think about the Pagans and how they might have felt about their traditions, being not so nicely shared in order to try and get them away from their holiday and over to ours.
Next! Let's talk about the blame game. A lot of people like to point this whole happy holiday stuff at immigrants and just brown people in general. You know what? Give me a freakin' break. Do you think the people who are calling the shots are brown? If so, you guys better worry about a hell of a lot more than whether your the Xmas tree is called a Holiday Tree or not. Your bigotted hinies would be in a lot more trouble than having a tree renamed. Somewhere down the line, someone-likely white-considerately thought..."You know, Christmas isn't the only holiday celebrated now, wouldn't it be great if we included everyone?" Scandalous isn't it? The ideal of SHARING, at this time of the year!!! Okay, Joy to other Christians...WE DO NOT HAVE A MONOPOLY ON THE MONTH OF DECEMBER!!!
Where am I? Shit, only 55 more minutes to rant. (More typos to follow!) Oh, the persecution. Oh Lordy, if I have to listen to one more person born and raised in Canada scream about religious persecution because some people chose to use the term Happy Holidays, I'm going to go into labour. What a bunch of spoiled, privileged, whiny, babies. Have these people never picked up newspaper? Read a book? Listen to a radio? Are they truly down in bunkers waiting for the end of the world and totally closed off? Guys! C'mon, you're not persecuted or oppressed in any way shape or form because you don't have that monopoly on December. There are plenty of examples in the modern world, this day and age where people are persecuted for their religion. You can pick a number of countries and go complain about not having the words Merry Christmas plastered everywhere, and see what kind of lovely 4 star establishment they throw you in. They'll even provide one hell of a massage free of charge!!! However if that's not enough, as a fellow Hussy mentioned, take a look at Imperial Rome, then you might get an ideal of what persecution is. Although if she had her druthers, she'd send you back there...I might be more merciful...sometimes....depends on how much coffee I have in my system. People saying Happy Holidays is not preventing you from saying Merry Christmas. People having holiday parties does not prevent you from having christmas parties, same goes with trees, gifts, services. I have yet to see anywhere in Canada with concrete evidence that someone has been prevented from celebrating Christmas.
Okay, lastly. Guys, this is Christmas. I'm a Christian. Christmas actually brings a lot of guilt for me, because I'm feeling bad about 90% of the population on this planet who are not sitting in warm homes, typing on their computers, enjoying tea and ready to rip the heads off of some of my fellow Christians. But the time is not about guilt, we are supposed to be celebrating the birth of a person who is supposed to inspire us to be kind, gentle, SHARING with our fellow humans. Peace is supposed to be a major theme, and while I really need to rant, I'm going to try as hard as I can to forgive every nasty, grouchy word I've heard on the subject this year and in years past. What's more, I'm going to try and find ways to share my good fortune with others, and map out a plan to raise a significant amount of money next year to donate to a specific cause. Something I hope will become a new tradition in our family, ideally replacing the six billion stocking stuffers and gifts that we don't really use. In case anyone missed it, this is not a time to be up in arms with people for whatever reason. Hell, if people fighting in various wars can lay down their arms for the day, we can surely open our hearts up to the spirit of the season and drop our fears of other cultures and religions and live and let live. Or even better, learn about other cultures, invite them into your homes. I've put plenty of non-christian friends to work in my home lately getting ready for christmas (the great hostess that I am). But just as I would be honoured to celebrate a very important religious event with them, I can't see too many reasonable people from any culture or religion having a cow at coming to my Christmas parties. And if so, so what? More leftover shortbread for me. Think about the person who's birth you're celebrating. Do you think he's having a cow over the term Happy Holidays? I doubt it, and if he isn't, why are you?