The Christmas Wars

Yes it is, have Happy Holidays.

I'm reminded of Bob Cratchit, who was late for work because he was "making rather merry" on Christmas Day. There was gin punch involved.Since "merry" is hardly ever used in any other context, it does seem unusual that devout Christians would espouse it.

They espouse it because it is traditional, and most people don't make a link between the "Merry" in the greeting and getting liquored up. You link the two, and I am not saying that you are being unreasonable, but most people understand that the link is not part of the traditional meaning.

I think you and most christians misunderstand the traditional meaning. Merry in relationship to Christmas was frowned upon by some in the 19th century. Christians are acting as if the term Merry Christmas and Christmas itself are somehow rooted in the bible. The idea that the phrase Merry Christmas is religious or solemn, is ludicrous on its face.
People would do well to read about the history of Christmas. Wikipedia gives a good overview.
Christmas - WikipediaEdited by Theodoric, : No reason given.

Well here is an example of someone use Happy Holidays just to make a point.Texas Official 'Just Might Slap' Next Person Who Says 'Happy Holidays' | HuffPost Latest News

quote:

---

An elected official in Texas is threatening to slap anyone who wishes him "happy holidays" this year.

​

Republican Sid Miller, the state's agriculture commissioner, said on Facebook that people must say "Merry Christmas" to him or nothing at all.

​

This being the Internet, many immediately replied to Miller by wishing him "happy holidays," both in response to that post as well as others on his page.
Even the state's Democratic Party got in on the act, replying with a GIF that it says was deleted from Miller's Facebook page.

---

Saying 'Happy Holidays' does indeed have a point. Given the large number of actual holidays celebrated over the upcoming period, I'd suggest that the point is both benign and welcoming.

I think you are putting words in my mouth... I don't think "Merry Christmas" is particularly religious or solemn. That part of the meaning of Christmas has played a second fiddle to the commercialized Santa stuff for as long as I can remember.

I am sorry I must have misread your post or misunderstand the point you were making. My fault entirely. I agree, but it seems the ones whining do not feel the same way.

So it seems. Strikes me as being all rather stupid.Have a good one.

A memory that is entangled with my earliest memories is of a book I had as a child. The Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore Color Illustrations by Dorcas 1948. I got the book from my parents for my 2nd Christmas, 4 days before my 3rd birthday. I loved that book and was especially drawn to 2 specific pictures. My sister was 5 years younger than me and inherited my book. I guess I was about 10 when I saw that she was destroying it and I confiscated it and hid it from her.I have only seen one copy of it for sale, but it was sold before I found it.I introduced my daughter to it and her children also. My granddaughter, who will be 9 the day after Christmas wants me to print a new copy of it for her.The Christmas my daughter was 7, she drew a set of Winter/Xmas pictures that I photographed, and then we developed the film in the darkroom and then printed them on glossy black and white paper. She and my wife and I then colored them with sharpie pens and mailed them out as our cards. Everyone that got one loved them and thought they were a commercial line. We have talked of reviving them.Anyway, when O'Reilly, Fox and the others started their PC war on Christmas it politicized something that never should have been, it cheapened and diminished the holiday for everyone with fond memories of the magic of childhood.

I don't watch Fox, or any TV for that matter, so I have no idea what this "PC War on Christmas" is.And I think everybody is missing the point here. It's not a religious thing, it's a protest against Multiculturalism which has usurped what used to be a simple Christmas holiday in American culture, now pretending it also applies to every other religion so even the two members of Religion Z won't feel "offended" by our traditional standard cultural celebration, which is silly at best. No more strictly American anything in this Sappy New Age. And multiculturalism is quintessential PC.However, I think everybody should shut up about it, Fox or whoever. What's the point any more?

A woman I am acquainted with runs an independent business. The other night, she remarked about something that rather bothers her: she doesn't know how to offer seasons greetings to her customers. Because of all this "War on Xmas" bullshit, she's literally afraid (or close to it) to say anything to her customers for fear of offending them. It's kind of like being trapped in a bad marriage where anything you say could cause great grief. That is clearly a very bad situation to put her and other business owners into.I do not feel that it is a matter of the mere wording (though that it is for those who have declared "culture war" on the rest of us), but rather the intent. If you are sincerely wishing the other person well and are communicating that in the manner in which you offer that greeting (including all the metacommunication cues of intonation, facial expression, body posture, etc), then the mere words that you use should make no difference.But if you offer your "greetings" in a belligerent manner, then you're just being a jerk and should be treated accordingly. For example, a previous boss described being in a Christmas "Parade of Lights" cruise of private boats around the harbor. As the lead boat passed each home, its skipper used his bullhorn to offer the occupants seasons greetings. When they came to the Morgensterns' home (I forget the actual name of that Jewish family) which was decorated with blue and white lights, that greeting became, "Merry CHRISTMAS, Mr. MORGENSTERN!!!" What a monumental jerk!If you are truly wishing someone well, then that is how it should be taken. If you are just being a hypocritical jerk (like when a "true Christian" proclaims that he loves you as he commits unspeakable offenses against you), then please kindly fuck off.This "War on Xmas" bullshit has nothing to do with religion, but rather is purely political. It feeds directly into the Religious Right's hypocritical campaign of claiming that Christians are being persecuted against in this country.An unfortunate side-effect are some non-Christians who take umbrage at the Christian greeting.Please, let us just cut the bullshit! Offer everyone your sincerest Solstice greetings and well-wishing with no regard for the actual minutiae of the exact wording. And be excellent to each other!

My understanding is that Santa Claus is roughly based on Wotan, the Chief of the Gods. Wotan rode a white horse (der war ein Schimmelreiter), wore a broad-brimmed hat, and an eyepatch over one eye, which he had lost when he had allowed himself to be crucified (ie, nailed to a tree) to die so that he could learn the Magick of the Runes (ie, of writing) -- note how depictions of Wotan in Wagner's Ring Cycle and even of Odin in the Marvel Cinematic Universe include an eye patch. Then the USA image of Santa Claus was given to us by Thomas Nast in 1881.Early Christianity has an established history of assimilation of already established pagan religion. In effect, they were the original Borg. Early Christian missionaries would move into an area, destroy the old pagan holy sites, and build their churches on those old pagan holy sites. At first, the pagan adults could come and still do the old pagan prayers, but with each succeeding generation the pagan ways were lost as they had been replaced by the Christian ways. In addition, many of the old pagan gods were assimilated into the new religion as saints allowing the locals to continue to venerate them, but within a Christian context. For example, in Mexican culture there's the Virgin de Guadalupe and in Mexico City there's the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which is built atop an Aztec temple to Tonantzin, AKA "Mother Earth", the "Goddess of Sustenance", "Honored Grandmother", "Snake", "Bringer of Maize" and "Mother of Corn". One reference I heard described her as a virgin goddess. Wikipedia says:

quote:

---

Some have claimed that upon the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe in the hill of Tepeyac where Tonantzin's temple had been destroyed by the Spanish priests, the natives recognized Our Lady of Guadalupe as Tonantzin.

---

At one local clan gathering which is sadly no more (Loch Prado), they would set up a medieval camp. During the night, our clan's representative, a Star Trek fan, would periodically approach the camp fire and inform them: "We are the Clan Donald. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile." In the same manner, the spread of early Christianity is rather similar to the Borg.But, several centuries have intervened in the meantime. How could what had happened several centuries ago have any meaning? It doesn't have to.My first degree, BA German, is rather like an English degree in that in the second two years we concentrated a lot on literature and cultural trends. The 19th Century (1800's) was dominated by the Romantic Period which was itself dominated by nationalism which included delving "deep" into the past of each culture's mythologies, etc. The conceit of the time was that folk tales had been transmitted intact since time immemorial. In reality, the details of any folk tale only went back a few generations at most. Instead, what has been found is that each generation would re-tell the tale in accordance with current events, all while saying that this tale stretches back to the Urzeit ("earliest times").Similarly, we see so many people proclaiming that the USA is "one nation under God" because "it has always been so." Uh, no, those words, "under God", were inserted by an act of Congress in 1954, 178 years after the Declaration of Independence and 62 years after the Pledge had first been composed in 1892. Most of the Americans alive today have only known that phrase, "one nation under God" and nothing else, so they don't know any better.Early Christianity assimilated a wide variety of pagan ideas and practices. But then after that initial assimilation, the past couple centuries have witnessed further assimilation of non-Christian ideas. If anyone wished to really delve into their most cherished Christmas traditions, they would find very few of them to actually be Christian.

Santa Claus has never been a Christian element of Christmas, he's a cultural figure. The other nonChristian elements are things like the Christmas tree, the yule log, mistletoe and so on. The Christmas tree has been Christianized in some contexts but otherwise nobody confuses these with the Christian meaning of Christmas, it's just all part of one big celebratory season. The earlier incorporation of gods as saints is proof that Catholicism is pagan, but none of that is accepted in Bible believing Christianity. As long as the focus isn't on the pagan meanings in Christmas there's no need to make an issue of them. It's simply been made into an excuse to remember the birth of Christ. Edited by Faith, : No reason given.Edited by Faith, : No reason given.

So they finally got around to acknowledging what some thought all along. The idea wasn't invented in 1954, merely finally recognized.

Exactly.But since Protestantism is so firmly grounded in Catholicism, ... .Of course, your "Bible believing Christianity" could completely divorce itself from this season.Waiting ... waiting ... waiting .... waiting ...