Holidays
So I've noticed that a lot more people say Happy Holidays. Now. I don't have a problem with that phrase. Seriously. Not everyone keeps your blasted pagan festival of Mithras that you've baptized into Christianity and commercialized to high holy heaven. That being said, I know a lot of serious Christian's take offense to you saying "Happy Holidays" as if you've just pissed all over their idol of baby J-s-s. (Oh holy baby J-s-s, with your golden diaper, playing with your little sanctified Duplo blocks). I just say: seriously?
Let's get to the basis of how and why Christmas of all holidays is what it is in the United States. The rampant commercialization. Let's begin the dissection:
1.) Buy, Break, Throw it Away mentality:
a.)This applies to the Christmas tree which is grown for the soul purpose of being an ornament for about 3 weeks. Talk about the exploitation of mother nature. If you say it's a renewable resource I will hurt you.
b.)Merchandicing is done with everything. Remember the WWJD craze of the late 90s? The dollar is the High god in Western Culture. You must serve it and serve it now. Everything is subserviant to it. Even baby J-s-s.
2.) Millenia of Cultural Inertia
a.)Even though there is no biblical decree to celebrate Christmas, and only two of the four gospels (five if you include the gnostic gospel of Thomas) even discuss the birth of Christ (they all by contrast discuss the crucifixion, a discussion that spans the rest of the Writings of the Apostles versus the asides by Matt and Luke) Chirstmas somehow became *the* thing to celebrate.
b.)Even if you aren't a believer, it's so deeply engrained into our cultural psyche that we can't escape it. Even Hannukah has been tainted by this concept (ironic considering how Hannukah is really the celebration of the Jewish people overcoming cultural assimilation).
These points are mere scratches on a surface of an iceberg that goes miles beneath the surface. Since I live in the world of the abstract I just can't vibe when my fervent Christian friends get gung ho about "Merry Christmas". Once again, I will iterate, have the decency to realize that not everyone celebrates this pagan holiday. If I do Samhain or Beltaine I at least have the decency to acknowledge it's celtic background and recognize it as such. ::Sigh:: I always start ranting like this during this time of year.
Let's get to the basis of how and why Christmas of all holidays is what it is in the United States. The rampant commercialization. Let's begin the dissection:
1.) Buy, Break, Throw it Away mentality:
a.)This applies to the Christmas tree which is grown for the soul purpose of being an ornament for about 3 weeks. Talk about the exploitation of mother nature. If you say it's a renewable resource I will hurt you.
b.)Merchandicing is done with everything. Remember the WWJD craze of the late 90s? The dollar is the High god in Western Culture. You must serve it and serve it now. Everything is subserviant to it. Even baby J-s-s.
2.) Millenia of Cultural Inertia
a.)Even though there is no biblical decree to celebrate Christmas, and only two of the four gospels (five if you include the gnostic gospel of Thomas) even discuss the birth of Christ (they all by contrast discuss the crucifixion, a discussion that spans the rest of the Writings of the Apostles versus the asides by Matt and Luke) Chirstmas somehow became *the* thing to celebrate.
b.)Even if you aren't a believer, it's so deeply engrained into our cultural psyche that we can't escape it. Even Hannukah has been tainted by this concept (ironic considering how Hannukah is really the celebration of the Jewish people overcoming cultural assimilation).
These points are mere scratches on a surface of an iceberg that goes miles beneath the surface. Since I live in the world of the abstract I just can't vibe when my fervent Christian friends get gung ho about "Merry Christmas". Once again, I will iterate, have the decency to realize that not everyone celebrates this pagan holiday. If I do Samhain or Beltaine I at least have the decency to acknowledge it's celtic background and recognize it as such. ::Sigh:: I always start ranting like this during this time of year.