On Good Intentions and Privilege

[marlowe1]

Now for just a moment, let us ponder this lovely FB meme that has been going around like the plague. Who could ever have a problem with a meme telling people to be nice? I mean, isn't that just awful?

Ok. Loading the deck. In the fake "war on Xmas", this is the soft weapon of defense -

Comments

[fengi]

"Fuck Jesus" should be celebrated to commemorate His first time, when, after prolonged fumbling with the condom, he came after a minute and wondered if was the only one doing it wrong in the history of humanity. Seeing as how this probably happened near his 18th or perhaps 21st birthday, it could Fuck Jesus could overlap with Christmas.

[rap541]

Unfortunealy I think this is a case of all the Christians getting slapped for what the "War on Christmas" crowd does.

I sometimes feel sorry for them when they complain about schools forbidding Christmas carols. Then I remember who started this, and yes it was them, and it was their attacks on public school sponsored halloween parties that were you know... teaching religion and converting their children.

Happy Yule :)

[marlowe1]

Happy Pagan Tree Festival

But I think that the issue is more about privilege. Some Christian acknowledge that not everyone celebrates Xmas and adjusts their greetings accordingly. Other Christians get VERY defensive.

It's a minor blip on the privilege radar, but it is amazing how much this echoes in the racism and sexism debates (where the term "check your privilege" becomes a tedious shorthand for valid discussions)

[rap541]

Yeah. I was watching Palin and O'Reilly on O'Reilly's show sort of congradulating themselves on not being offended when someone says "happy holidays" and then proceeding to throw hissys over kids not being allowed to sing Christmas carols and the whole "how awful it is that people actually question the town government spending money on a religious display that 60-80 percent of the town participate in".

On the other hand, when it comes to priveledge and checking it, I just accept that if that phrase gets thrown down, I might as well stop participating. I'm white and while not Christian, certainly "Christian descent" so I am priveledged.

[marlowe1]

Valid concept. Dumb way of saying it. There's a world of difference between "No, I don't think that you are personally racist or sexist but you have certain advantages that come from a racist and sexist society" and "Check your Privilege" (damnit, I am using the keyboard without the exclamation points) One is a discussion and the other one is a bully pulpit.

[sabotabby]

Hah, I love this rant. It is a rant of Great Righteousness. I've seen that meme going around too, and kind of wanted to comment, but can't quite bring myself to give enough of a fuck. Yet.

But really, are there Jews that went around last week wishing random non-Jews Happy Hanukkah? Because I have never once done that. I do get offended when people wish me Happy Hanukkah at Christmas-like, it's not Jew Christmas people, you can Google that shit-especially from official channels. I don't feel oppressed or anything when people wish me a Merry Christmas, but the expectation that it's everyone's holiday and that I should embrace it on a cultural/religious/capitalist level is irritating as all fuck.

[marlowe1]

Blame fengi for mailing me and asking me to go off on it. Apparently, he thought that it was bothersome but didn't want to come off as a jerk for slamming on something that basically seemed good intentioned. So I got called up. THis is not the first time the "I don't want to appear like an asshole so could you do it for me?" request has come my way

[kittymink]

I say "you too!"

It's funny and the Christmas wishes may end up backfiring on the well-wisher if they are some other non-Christian, like a Muslim or Hindu. Mean, perhaps but funny.

[marlowe1]

It is amazing how little I mind being wished a Merry Christmas, but being ordered to be cool with it gets on my nerves.

I'm an American individualist. Can't help it.

[bemused_leftist]

I saw the "someone says ... you say" image on the blog of a militant atheist. How might he tweak the wording so that you might not take it as a command?

[uvula_fr_b4]

Oh, it's so much worse than this.

Happened to hear, on the Wed., 11 Dec. edition of CBC Radio One's This Is That, an interview with Sharon Coyle of the Canadian Association Alliance, who objects to the phrase "Happy Holidays" not because it's not Christmas-specific, but because she doesn't think that anyone should wish anyone a happy anything. "If you're working, you can't have a happy holiday" and "Don't impose your wishes on anyone" are some of her typical (paraphrased) remarks. (The quote from This Is That's blog entry under the previous link is even more outlandish: "First off, to assume someone is actually happy is obscenely offensive. Secondly, to speculate that a person is on holiday is equivalent to slapping them in the face.")

Her solution? Use either "It's December!" or "It's winter!" instead. (She actually prefers "It's winter!," since she also thinks that it's rude to assume that everyone you encounter uses the same calendar.)

You can listen to the segment (5:20) here. If I didn't know better, I'd swear it