Friday, June 02, 2006

On, Blitzen!

American Family Association is starting early this year to beat the "War on Christmas" drum:

Don't let the anti-Christmas crowd kick Christ out of Christmas this year
Companies are now working on their Christmas promotions. [...]
Now is the time to let the retailers know that if they ban the use of the term Christmas, you will not be shopping with them during the Christmas season!

Yadda yadda yadda.

As I've posted before -- since when is rampant consumerism part of the christian tradition? And, more importantly, why do they think it's ok to demand that their particular winter religious holiday take precedence over every other one? Wishing people joy and happiness during a season with many different religious observances seems to me to be a Good Thing. Does it really matter how you do it?

If it's genuine (and frankly, the mumbled "greetings" of store clerks can't really be seen as anything more than politeness, certainly not meaningful disdain for christianity), then it should be taken in the spirit in which it was given. If I greet someone with a sincere 'Happy Holidays!' shouldn't that be enough? (I'll point out here that even as a godless heathen I still say Merry Christmas -- but I respond to any holiday greeting, be it christmas, kwaanza, whatever, with a smile and thankyou.)

I've never heard of anyone being shunned or criticized for actually saying Merry Christmas. Lots of stories of people being confronted for NOT saying it, though. Aren't there better things to be cross about?

So what if you say Happy Holidays. It's inclusive. Oh, wait -- maybe that's the problem. By acknowledging that there are people with different beliefs they somehow feel diminshed? Why? I really don't get it.

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