Sunday, December 25

Merry Non-Denominational Winter Holiday

Apparently there's somewhat of a hissyfit being thrown by certain fundamentalists over the war being waged against their annual celebration of Jesus' birth, also known as Christmas. Seeing as how Jesus died for the sins of humanity and went to live with his old man in heaven about two thousand years ago, these people are taking it upon themselves to ensure that his name will forever be used to sell decorations and toys.

Someone explain something to me. First, Jesus was all like "Get that commercialism shit out of this temple or I'll flip out and cast you out myself." and people seemed to think that was a good idea. The house of God is no place for consumerism and capitalism. This part makes sense to me. Don't mix people's faith with consumerism, as it will most likely end up in the exploitation of the masses.

Somewhere between then and now, it became tradition to celebrate this man's birth by buying eachother presents. This, in and of itself, isn't too bad. Christianity (to the best of my knowledge) puts a lot of emphasis on giving to those in need, so I can see how the gift-giving part of this holiday still falls within Jesus' teachings. Spend time and money on others, to make them happy. Of course, the gifts don't necessarily go to those in need, but those who are important to us, so there's already some discrepancy. Reasonable, though, seeing as how buying presents for our loved ones is hard enough. Imagine trying to please total strangers.

I have absolutely no clue how Santa Claus began to tie into all of this, but I like to think that he was created to let non-Christians get in on the fun. Don't practice the same religion? No problem, just invent a fat man in a red suit to keep the kids entertained, and buy eachother presents all the same. Everybody's happy.

Now, the confusion kicks in when I hear people claiming that not celebrating this holiday is equal to waging a war against it. There is a war being waged against a religious holiday, but the biggest complaint I keep hearing is that the phrase "Happy Holidays" is slowly replacing "Merry Christmas". There are people boycotting stores because they use "Happy Holidays" in their commercials. People actually think those two words are going to destroy the foundation of their solemn tradition.

Hey, dumbasses. First, your messiah tries to seperate materialism and religion. Then, over the next two thousand years, materialism becomes a large part of your biggest religious holiday. After realizing that even Jesus Christ himself couldn't take the materialism out of religion, people begin to try to take the religion out of materialism instead. It seems to me that if I were a Christian, I'd be happy to see companies removing my savior's name from their commercials. Why not let others buy eachother gifts and spread good will and all that crap without using religion to sell stuff? Wait, what am I thinking. Instead of letting people do whatever they want during the holidays, why don't you get offended if people don't use the correct terminology to express good will. While you're at it, why not fight to get your messiah's name used to sell as many different products as possible? We all know how happy Jesus would be to come back to Earth and see that his birthday is celebrated by lining up in crowded stores and comparing gifts. He'd also like to see people acting like crybabies because "Happy Holidays" doesn't acknowledge him. We all know how much Jesus hated it when the house of God began to resemble a bazaar, so why not boycott the companies who refuse to associate Christ's name with the annual explosion of consumerism that Christmas has become these days?

The above refers to a very select group of people, though. Otherwise, I don't celebrate Christmas because I never got into it that much. I don't really have much of an explanation besides the religious aspect not applying to me at all and the traditional side of it not having much appeal to me.

I also never understood the hatred for socks. The few lackluster Christmases I remember involve receiving yet another book or board game or toy while my socks resemble swiss cheese at a firing range. Just a few good pairs of socks that could last me more than a month would have probably improved my opinion of Christmas in general substantially.

Note: I realize a lot of this particular blog is probably based on assumptions about Christianity and Christians in general, and probably doesn't apply to 99% of the people out there. In fact I'm pretty much talking out of my ass most of the time because the truth is I have absolutely no idea of the real origins of Christmas, both the religious version and the traditional version. I guess you could say I'm ranting about things that don't concern me at all. Furthermore, I'm a greedy bastard who doesn't enjoy spending large amounts of money on loved ones. This may bias my opinion in some way. Also, Christmas sucks.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

im glad its over. just like every other year my freakin gramma wants to return her gift...not because it is the wrong size, colour, or style or anything. no she is a crass bitch, she just wants to know how much it cost. f her i told her i lost the receipt.

MadameBoffin said...

I agree, the whole Happy Holidays vs Merry Christmas thing did cause a huge ruckus. You mentioned how Santa Claus got involved though. I don't know if that was rhetorical, but Santa Claus is based on real historical figure called St Nicholas. Lived about 4th century I think (he was well known in his time for showing kindess). So, in origin, Santa Claus is appropriate to the whole "Christmas message" (if your religious). The whole jolly Santa image originated with Coca-Cola who created him as an advertising gimmick - they ripped off the name and gave him a new spin to St Nick. How very typical :)

MessedRocker said...

I agree, the Uber-Jesusians should be happy that corporate whorism and religion are dissolving...

Anonymous said...

You know, I am a born-again Christian. One would think that I would be totally offended by your comments. But I don't happen to disagree. You are absolutely right about the commercialism of Christmas. But then again, doesn't that always happen when humans get involved? We try to shape God into our image? I am sorry that you have not found the spiritual relationship that I have. However, I appreciate that you are still seeking. He will find you eventually...whoever HE is in your life. I find myself questioning people's motivation at Christmas. I also find myself not a willing participant in the buying frenzy...not because I'm a cheap bastard as you accuse yourself as being...but mainly, that there certainly is a double standard being set here. I love my family and my friends. I just don't have to spend money to show this. If I want to...fine...I am able to afford it, thanks to God. But, I feel, as do you, that there is something more. Christmas is a celebration of the new beginning, the new birth. Whether this happened in August/September as some religions profess or at the Winter solstice which would coincide with the Druid calendar, as is today's tradition...what does it matter? The holiday is to celebrate a 2nd chance. The 2nd chance that God gave to the world...which is the Greatest Gift. What good is it to us to gain the whole world but to lose our soul? Hail, Hail to people like you who question the "faithful" so that we may be truthful to each other and to the world. Keep up the good work.

Anonymous said...

Salut Jacob ! Je trouve que ton site est vraiment intéressant. Tu a de l'esprit et des beaux idéaux. On s'en reparle dans pas long.