Each year about this time, Bill O'Reilly opines on the attack on Christmas. Obviously opinions vary on this topic, as evidenced by the overwhelming number of emails that he receives and shares on his show. However, Scott and I can't help but notice that what O'Reilly says has merit (and no, we don't always agree with him). Specifically, watching our favorite Thursday night shows on NBC verified O'Reilly's assertion.
Now don't get me wrong: I understand that there are other faiths that celebrate other holidays. I have no qualms with that. What bothers me is when people deliberately secularize Christmas, even though this season is the Christmas season. I mean, are we hitting all the sales because of some other holiday? No. What about the Christmas trees? Santa? Red and green? Are these for another holiday? No. Yet our society has been saying that despite all these factors, we can't say "Merry Christmas" for fear of offending someone. Why is that? Why is it that Christians are made to feel GUILTY for celebrating an important event in our faith, yet society bends over backward NOT to offend those of other faiths? Can someone explain this, because it doesn't make sense to me.
That being said, MERRY CHRISTMAS. Regardless of how you might celebrate, may your Christmas be filled with warmth, happiness, and laughter.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
AMEN, Thor.
I don't inherently disagree with you; Christmas is a holiday that is a very deep-seeded part of American culture. However, I think that there are two points that should be argued:
Christmas is a derivative of the pagan Winter Solstice festival (hence, the evergreen tree, decorations, etc.). "Christmas" and its religious connotations came much later. Hence, it might be fair to say that historically speaking, Christmas (or at least many of the aspects of it) are based in secular tradition.
While it should not be considered offensive to acknowledge or celebrate Christmas, this should be equally true of other holidays. Non-Jews therefore shouldn't act weird when wished a "Happy Rosh Hashanah" or non-Muslims when wished a good Ramadan. Most everyone is fine with Christmas being celebrated, even if they don't celebrate it themselves. The rub is when, in a nation that is supposed to celebrate ethnic and cultural diversity, other people's holidays are treated as less important. Do we need as a nation to acknowledge every single holiday? No, I don't think so. But it would be nice to feel that everyone--and what they celebrate--are is included in the fold.
Post a Comment