Guest guest Posted December 18, 2005 Report Share Posted December 18, 2005 The Sunday Times - Review Happy ChrisKwanzaHanukkahmas. Well, I didn’t want to offend anyone. Have a scintillating solstice. May your merriment be multicultural. Happy holidays. Deck the halls with sensitivity for hate crimes we have heard on high. You annoyed yet? During my own childhood Christmases there would always be some moment in the two weeks or so of dark, damp family jollity in which someone, usually me, would be blamed for “spoiling Christmas”. The accusation hung over me like some giant, sharp Christmas-tree bauble until it would inevitably fall. And this, of course, is also a Christmas tradition. From Scrooge to Dr Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, there’s always been an opportunity not simply to celebrate the birth of Jesus with pagan symbols and vast quantities of food and alcohol, but also to excoriate those who refuse to join in. And so we have our new Scrooges, and they are much worse than the original. They’re whiny, sensitive pedants who feel that their civil rights have been infringed if a town council puts up a manger scene in the shopping mall. In America, where political correctness was born, these kinds of events are now an annual ritual of a sort. In some small town someone has issued a writ because a government representative has endorsed an explicitly Christian public display. Most sane people groan, roll their eyes and move on. The trouble is that, in America, there is an actual serious constitutional issue here that cannot be simply dismissed as idiotic. Since the first amendment bars government endorsement of any particular religion, Christmas can be a problem. But the solution that the Supreme Court has come up with is an eminently sensible one. Christian scenes — Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus — are fine on public property, as long as they are accompanied in some way by other non-religious Christmassy thingies. So Jesus can never be too far away from Santa, or a menorah, or a Nordic pine. We have yet to enjoy the Japanese innovation of actually putting Santa on a cross, but the Supreme Court would surely not object. It’s not a perfect compromise but it’s good enough. Christmas has always been a weird blend of traditions anyway. It has never been simply a calm reflection on the incarnation. It has always been a winter solstice festival attached somewhat uncomfortably to a Christian doctrine. That’s why in America in the early days some Puritans banned it outright. Among the first opponents of Christmas were Christians themselves. In America, moreover, Christmas is not the same kind of universal shutdown as it is in Britain. It wasn’t even a legal holiday for the first century after American independence. Go to Manhattan on Christmas Day and you will find it brimming with people who spend it with an equally elaborate ritual. They get up, go to a movie matinee and eat Hunan chicken for dinner. These people are called Jews. And if a friend of mine is Jewish, I tend to shy away a little from wishing him “Happy Christmas”. I’ve learnt to say “Happy Hanukkah” or “Happy Holidays”. I’m not being PC. I’m just trying to be polite. At the same time most of the Jews I know have no problem with Christmas at all. Ditto Muslims. And most of them find the PC cant as annoying as the rest of us. But as long as radio talk show hosts need advertising there will also always be those who go over the top in describing these inevitable pains in the collective behind. How’s this for a bestselling book title — The War on Christmas: How The Liberal Plot to Ban the Sacred Christian Holiday Is Worse Than You Thought. It’s by John Gibson, a Fox News commentator who has been whipping evangelical Christians into a frenzy by telling them that there is a conspiracy to prevent them from celebrating Christmas however they want. “The Christians are coming to retake their place in the public square, and the most natural battleground in this war is Christmas,” Gibson declares. “The war on Christmas is joined.” Oh, please. Get a grip. A few big retailers prefer to put “Happy Holidays” banners up instead of “Merry Christmas”. They are just trying to maximise their customer base. And in the few cases where a row has blown up the stores have added Christmas messages as well. In this case you really can make everyone happy. Well, not everyone. Bill O’Reilly, the populist ratings champ at Fox — presenter of The No Spin Zone — recently huffed: “There’s a very secret plan. And it’s a plan that nobody’s going to tell you, ‘Well, we want to diminish Christian philosophy in the USA because we want X, Y and Z.’ They’ll never ever say that. But I’m kind of surprised they went after Christmas because it’s such an emotional issue.” When you hear about secret plots against Christians in a country creaking beneath the weight of gazillions of Christmas lights, trees, Muzak and musical specials, you know you’ve entered the twilight zone of paranoia. As if Christmas, as it has evolved in the past few decades, is an adjunct to “Christian philosophy” anyway. In several mega-churches in the South this year there will, in fact, be no services on Christmas Day. Why? It is on a Sunday and the churches do not want to disrupt family time. So they do it all the day before. Are they part of an anti-Christian plot as well? The humour-free extremists on both sides make the most noise, of course. The rest of us can just have a good time — or languish in the quiet, sparkling domestic hell we have grown accustomed to. When people start calling Christmas trees “holiday trees”, or when they interpret simple manners as a secret plot to ban Christianity, the proper response is to laugh at all of them. Loudly. Preferably after a few really strong drinks, a mound of turkey and a family row as well. Merry Christmas. There. I said it.Peter H Play Santa's Celebrity Xmas Party, an exclusive game from Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 18, 2005 Report Share Posted December 18, 2005 You have a real thing about this don't you? The whole topic appears to be driving you nuts. Seems like too many people are missing the point about it being about using public moneys, money that we have paid in taxes to support a religious holiday? Seems like a really simple thing to me. I am tremendously bored with the topic on the news every single day and with absolutely no logic. Bah Hum Bug. And I say to all that are Christians and celebrate Christmas, "Merry Christmas." There is no problem with wishing someone else peace and joy which is what Christmas is supposed to be about. As for myself whether someone wishes me a happy Hanukkah is really not an issue. Hanukkah is a very minor holiday on the Jewish calendar and who made it into something that we expected others to wish us a happy Hannukah missed the point. Happy Jewish New Year would have been appropriate. Now there is a big Jewish holiday like Passover. My delete button isn't working at the moment so that is why this entire post is left intact...sorry for loading you up and not adjusting just to the part that would have been pertinent. linda "Whatever you do will be insignificant and it is very important that you do it."Mohandas Gandhi linda's Growing Stitchery Projects: womyn47 - peter hurd Sunday, December 18, 2005 11:10 AM Re: Happy ChrisKwanzaHanukkahmas. The Sunday Times - Review Happy ChrisKwanzaHanukkahmas. Well, I didn’t want to offend anyone. Have a scintillating solstice. May your merriment be multicultural. Happy holidays. Deck the halls with sensitivity for hate crimes we have heard on high. You annoyed yet? During my own childhood Christmases there would always be some moment in the two weeks or so of dark, damp family jollity in which someone, usually me, would be blamed for “spoiling Christmas”. The accusation hung over me like some giant, sharp Christmas-tree bauble until it would inevitably fall. And this, of course, is also a Christmas tradition. From Scrooge to Dr Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, there’s always been an opportunity not simply to celebrate the birth of Jesus with pagan symbols and vast quantities of food and alcohol, but also to excoriate those who refuse to join in. And so we have our new Scrooges, and they are much worse than the original. They’re whiny, sensitive pedants who feel that their civil rights have been infringed if a town council puts up a manger scene in the shopping mall. In America, where political correctness was born, these kinds of events are now an annual ritual of a sort. In some small town someone has issued a writ because a government representative has endorsed an explicitly Christian public display. Most sane people groan, roll their eyes and move on. The trouble is that, in America, there is an actual serious constitutional issue here that cannot be simply dismissed as idiotic. Since the first amendment bars government endorsement of any particular religion, Christmas can be a problem. But the solution that the Supreme Court has come up with is an eminently sensible one. Christian scenes — Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus — are fine on public property, as long as they are accompanied in some way by other non-religious Christmassy thingies. So Jesus can never be too far away from Santa, or a menorah, or a Nordic pine. We have yet to enjoy the Japanese innovation of actually putting Santa on a cross, but the Supreme Court would surely not object. It’s not a perfect compromise but it’s good enough. Christmas has always been a weird blend of traditions anyway. It has never been simply a calm reflection on the incarnation. It has always been a winter solstice festival attached somewhat uncomfortably to a Christian doctrine. That’s why in America in the early days some Puritans banned it outright. Among the first opponents of Christmas were Christians themselves. In America, moreover, Christmas is not the same kind of universal shutdown as it is in Britain. It wasn’t even a legal holiday for the first century after American independence. Go to Manhattan on Christmas Day and you will find it brimming with people who spend it with an equally elaborate ritual. They get up, go to a movie matinee and eat Hunan chicken for dinner. These people are called Jews. And if a friend of mine is Jewish, I tend to shy away a little from wishing him “Happy Christmas”. I’ve learnt to say “Happy Hanukkah” or “Happy Holidays”. I’m not being PC. I’m just trying to be polite. At the same time most of the Jews I know have no problem with Christmas at all. Ditto Muslims. And most of them find the PC cant as annoying as the rest of us. But as long as radio talk show hosts need advertising there will also always be those who go over the top in describing these inevitable pains in the collective behind. How’s this for a bestselling book title — The War on Christmas: How The Liberal Plot to Ban the Sacred Christian Holiday Is Worse Than You Thought. It’s by John Gibson, a Fox News commentator who has been whipping evangelical Christians into a frenzy by telling them that there is a conspiracy to prevent them from celebrating Christmas however they want. “The Christians are coming to retake their place in the public square, and the most natural battleground in this war is Christmas,” Gibson declares. “The war on Christmas is joined.” Oh, please. Get a grip. A few big retailers prefer to put “Happy Holidays” banners up instead of “Merry Christmas”. They are just trying to maximise their customer base. And in the few cases where a row has blown up the stores have added Christmas messages as well. In this case you really can make everyone happy. Well, not everyone. Bill O’Reilly, the populist ratings champ at Fox — presenter of The No Spin Zone — recently huffed: “There’s a very secret plan. And it’s a plan that nobody’s going to tell you, ‘Well, we want to diminish Christian philosophy in the USA because we want X, Y and Z.’ They’ll never ever say that. But I’m kind of surprised they went after Christmas because it’s such an emotional issue.” When you hear about secret plots against Christians in a country creaking beneath the weight of gazillions of Christmas lights, trees, Muzak and musical specials, you know you’ve entered the twilight zone of paranoia. As if Christmas, as it has evolved in the past few decades, is an adjunct to “Christian philosophy” anyway. In several mega-churches in the South this year there will, in fact, be no services on Christmas Day. Why? It is on a Sunday and the churches do not want to disrupt family time. So they do it all the day before. Are they part of an anti-Christian plot as well? The humour-free extremists on both sides make the most noise, of course. The rest of us can just have a good time — or languish in the quiet, sparkling domestic hell we have grown accustomed to. When people start calling Christmas trees “holiday trees”, or when they interpret simple manners as a secret plot to ban Christianity, the proper response is to laugh at all of them. Loudly. Preferably after a few really strong drinks, a mound of turkey and a family row as well. Merry Christmas. There. I said it. Peter H Play Santa's Celebrity Xmas Party, an exclusive game from Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 19, 2005 Report Share Posted December 19, 2005 Sorry, but it is sort of topical dont you think?, maybe you enjoyed the Festivus link on my other mail? Oh by the way, department store Santas are now not allowed to have children sit on their knees? didnt know he was traditionally a paedophile? Learn something new every day................... The Valley Vegan..................linda <lindai81 wrote: You have a real thing about this don't you? The whole topic appears to be driving you nuts. Seems like too many people are missing the point about it being about using public moneys, money that we have paid in taxes to support a religious holiday? Seems like a really simple thing to me. I am tremendously bored with the topic on the news every single day and with absolutely no logic. Bah Hum Bug. And I say to all that are Christians and celebrate Christmas, "Merry Christmas." There is no problem with wishing someone else peace and joy which is what Christmas is supposed to be about. As for myself whether someone wishes me a happy Hanukkah is really not an issue. Hanukkah is a very minor holiday on the Jewish calendar and who made it into something that we expected others to wish us a happy Hannukah missed the point. Happy Jewish New Year would have been appropriate. Now there is a big Jewish holiday like Passover. My delete button isn't working at the moment so that is why this entire post is left intact...sorry for loading you up and not adjusting just to the part that would have been pertinent. linda "Whatever you do will be insignificant and it is very important that you do it."Mohandas Gandhi linda's Growing Stitchery Projects: womyn47 - peter hurd Sunday, December 18, 2005 11:10 AM Re: Happy ChrisKwanzaHanukkahmas. The Sunday Times - Review Happy ChrisKwanzaHanukkahmas. Well, I didn’t want to offend anyone. Have a scintillating solstice. May your merriment be multicultural. Happy holidays. Deck the halls with sensitivity for hate crimes we have heard on high. You annoyed yet? During my own childhood Christmases there would always be some moment in the two weeks or so of dark, damp family jollity in which someone, usually me, would be blamed for “spoiling Christmas”. The accusation hung over me like some giant, sharp Christmas-tree bauble until it would inevitably fall. And this, of course, is also a Christmas tradition. From Scrooge to Dr Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, there’s always been an opportunity not simply to celebrate the birth of Jesus with pagan symbols and vast quantities of food and alcohol, but also to excoriate those who refuse to join in. And so we have our new Scrooges, and they are much worse than the original. They’re whiny, sensitive pedants who feel that their civil rights have been infringed if a town council puts up a manger scene in the shopping mall. In America, where political correctness was born, these kinds of events are now an annual ritual of a sort. In some small town someone has issued a writ because a government representative has endorsed an explicitly Christian public display. Most sane people groan, roll their eyes and move on. The trouble is that, in America, there is an actual serious constitutional issue here that cannot be simply dismissed as idiotic. Since the first amendment bars government endorsement of any particular religion, Christmas can be a problem. But the solution that the Supreme Court has come up with is an eminently sensible one. Christian scenes — Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus — are fine on public property, as long as they are accompanied in some way by other non-religious Christmassy thingies. So Jesus can never be too far away from Santa, or a menorah, or a Nordic pine. We have yet to enjoy the Japanese innovation of actually putting Santa on a cross, but the Supreme Court would surely not object. It’s not a perfect compromise but it’s good enough. Christmas has always been a weird blend of traditions anyway. It has never been simply a calm reflection on the incarnation. It has always been a winter solstice festival attached somewhat uncomfortably to a Christian doctrine. That’s why in America in the early days some Puritans banned it outright. Among the first opponents of Christmas were Christians themselves. In America, moreover, Christmas is not the same kind of universal shutdown as it is in Britain. It wasn’t even a legal holiday for the first century after American independence. Go to Manhattan on Christmas Day and you will find it brimming with people who spend it with an equally elaborate ritual. They get up, go to a movie matinee and eat Hunan chicken for dinner. These people are called Jews. And if a friend of mine is Jewish, I tend to shy away a little from wishing him “Happy Christmas”. I’ve learnt to say “Happy Hanukkah” or “Happy Holidays”. I’m not being PC. I’m just trying to be polite. At the same time most of the Jews I know have no problem with Christmas at all. Ditto Muslims. And most of them find the PC cant as annoying as the rest of us. But as long as radio talk show hosts need advertising there will also always be those who go over the top in describing these inevitable pains in the collective behind. How’s this for a bestselling book title — The War on Christmas: How The Liberal Plot to Ban the Sacred Christian Holiday Is Worse Than You Thought. It’s by John Gibson, a Fox News commentator who has been whipping evangelical Christians into a frenzy by telling them that there is a conspiracy to prevent them from celebrating Christmas however they want. “The Christians are coming to retake their place in the public square, and the most natural battleground in this war is Christmas,” Gibson declares. “The war on Christmas is joined.” Oh, please. Get a grip. A few big retailers prefer to put “Happy Holidays” banners up instead of “Merry Christmas”. They are just trying to maximise their customer base. And in the few cases where a row has blown up the stores have added Christmas messages as well. In this case you really can make everyone happy. Well, not everyone. Bill O’Reilly, the populist ratings champ at Fox — presenter of The No Spin Zone — recently huffed: “There’s a very secret plan. And it’s a plan that nobody’s going to tell you, ‘Well, we want to diminish Christian philosophy in the USA because we want X, Y and Z.’ They’ll never ever say that. But I’m kind of surprised they went after Christmas because it’s such an emotional issue.” When you hear about secret plots against Christians in a country creaking beneath the weight of gazillions of Christmas lights, trees, Muzak and musical specials, you know you’ve entered the twilight zone of paranoia. As if Christmas, as it has evolved in the past few decades, is an adjunct to “Christian philosophy” anyway. In several mega-churches in the South this year there will, in fact, be no services on Christmas Day. Why? It is on a Sunday and the churches do not want to disrupt family time. So they do it all the day before. Are they part of an anti-Christian plot as well? The humour-free extremists on both sides make the most noise, of course. The rest of us can just have a good time — or languish in the quiet, sparkling domestic hell we have grown accustomed to. When people start calling Christmas trees “holiday trees”, or when they interpret simple manners as a secret plot to ban Christianity, the proper response is to laugh at all of them. Loudly. Preferably after a few really strong drinks, a mound of turkey and a family row as well. Merry Christmas. There. I said it. Peter H Play Santa's Celebrity Xmas Party, an exclusive game from Peter H To help you stay safe and secure online, we've developed the all new Security Centre. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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