Jun 22, 2009 12:52
So, over the course of my years, I have had numerous discussions about parenting with people. This is, I must admit, not a subject with which I am very proficient. But a fairly frequent cause of strife for most people has been my assertion that I don't want my children to celebrate Christmas. This isn't because I have bad memories of it or because my family is broken. In fact, quite the opposite. It comes down to a few points of interest for me, which I will say after the brief following rant...
Rant
An argument which people often pose is as follows: "But how will you explain to your kids why they don't get presents when everyone else does?" Ignoring how shallow and materialistic this argument is for the moment, I will instead get at what I suppose its real meaning is. Essentially, what people are trying to say with this argument is that my kids will be different, bizarre, or weird. When all the other kids are out picking trees with their family or decorating their schools with cardboard cutouts of Santa, snowmen, and presents, my kids, apparently, will be the gloomy grinches in the corner ruining it for everyone.
This is automatically not just a poor argument to me, but an offensive one. It completely ignores a large number of American children who grow up in Jewish, Muslim, or Athiest families. It ignores that these children grow up to be functioning, useful members of society. It ignores the majority of people all over the world who will never open a single present on Christmas day with whom my children will (perhaps unknowingly) share a bond. Of course, my children WILL open a Christmas present, because my parents celebrate the holiday, and I'm not going to keep the kids away from their family during winter break.
And this fact is due to why I actually do like Christmas: I get to see my family and spend quality time with my mom and dad. But let me replace "Christmas" with "Winter" there, and you will see that there really is no difference. So why no Christmas?
1. I'm not Christian
Christmas is, despite extreme pagan leanings, a Christian holiday. No one would ever complain that I don't celebrate Passover or Rammadan with my children, or even Ash Wednesday, for that matter. I will head off certain arguments and assume this latter fact is because Christmas is viewed as a not just a Christian holiday, but an American one as evidenced by our getting school time off for it and its near omnipresence in American media and stores. So...
2. I don't support it as an American holiday.
Christmas in the media and popular culture has come to revolve around a fat man in a red suit (created by Coca-Cola) and the items which he distributes to children. Almost everything that has to do with it is almost pornographic in its desire to paste the jolly old prostitute on anything possible in order to increase sales by convincing people that their wife would really love that new vacuum cleaner. It is capitalism at its most disgusting. And I am a devout capitalist. I remain vegetarian because I don't want my economic vote going towards the meat industry, and I purchase music, movies, games, and books which I could download because I want to support those things I love.
I understand the benefits that it gives to business and the economy, but this is one case where I will use the fact that my activism won't change anything to my favor: my abstaining won't hurt anything at all.
3. I can do all the things I love without it.
I don't have to celebrate Christmas to give my children gifts occasionally. I don't have to celebrate it to play in the snow or admire trees or even to decorate my house. I don't need it to inspire me to help or to volunteer. Perhaps most importantly, I don't need it to spend quality time with my family. I do that whenever I hear their voice on a phone or know they are sitting next to me when I need it.
Look... I don't even need Christmas to have special days. Hell, I celebrated Labor Day two years running by giving hand-written compliments to workers. What did YOU do for it last year? Just not work? Psh.
Fin.
-Saint Pocket