Friday, December 12, 2008

Read My Lips


Well, you can't, but . . . THERE IS NO FREAKIN' WAR ON CHRISTMAS! See that above? Is that happening to Christmas? No! Get over it!

Ok, I've calmed down a little bit, so let me put it to you this way: I am an atheist. If anyone would want to have a war on Christmas, it would be an atheist. I celebrate Christmas! I put up lights and wreaths, I host a Christmas Eve and Christmas party (we're having prime rib this year), I send out Christmas cards, the whole nine yards. I love Christmas. (Except for the music, but that's another story.)

I, as an atheist, have no interest in ending Christmas. I work for a law firm. Three of the four partners are Jewish. We have a Christmas tree set up in the reception area, we send out Christmas cards and Christmas presents to clients.

There is no war on Christmas.

You are welcome to celebrate Christmas any way you want. You can only celebrate it as a religious holiday, you can celebrate the religious and secular aspects, or only the secular aspects, as I do. And that's the problem. The fundavelagists don't want everyone free to believe what they want. They want everyone to be forced to believe one thing. Freedom means something entirely different to a fundavelagist than was ever meant by the founding fathers.

Try telling that to the fundavelagists.

This is from the RaptureReady message boards, a post entitled Merry . . . Off Work Day.

The OP's tag, by the way? "Humbly proud"

I noticed the hours sign at Cabella's read "Closed Thurs Dec 25". How dare they tell you what day they are closed! The nerve! Uh, hello, not everyone in the US is a native born or a christian. All natives/christians would know what day Christmas is, but a recently immigrated Hindu, for example, might not know what day that is. I know this, because I worked customer service for Fleet Bank for a while, and a large number of callers on July 4 were very confused as to why the bank would be closed on that day. God forbid we give a clear definition of what day the store will be closed! I guess expunging Christmas is in full swing. Yeah, that's it. That's why they bothered to close that day.What a whimp out from a "man's" store. I dunno. Never heard of Cabella's before. Sounded like an Italian restuarant to me. Afraid to face the music eh? What music? Does this idiot imagine that atheists are confronting store owners for displaying the word Christmas? Christmas music no less.

The voice of reason says: Lots of places do that and have for years. It really isn't a big deal.

The voice of theocracy future replies: I know what you mean Wally. I am working seasonal retail at home taking sales calls for a clothing company and we are requested to use the term "December holidays" rather than "Christmas". In case you can't see why, the clothing company is trying not to offend anyone who doesn't celebrate Christmas. I, personally, am not offended by the innocently offered "Merry Christmas", but I can see people of other faiths, or other atheists, getting seriously annoyed by it. Why not include everyone in your well wishing, as opposed to only one group? Although, I have to say, "December holidays" is a little wierd. What about "Happy Holidays"? While there has been a on-going trend of removing God from every aspect of our lives no, there isn't. No one is capable of removing god from your life, idiot. Even in countries where religion actually has been banned, China and Russia, god remained in the lives of the those who wanted him. What is happening is that I no longer have to suffer having your religion shoved down my throat at every turn. Boo fucking hoo., I would say we are seeing a dramatic increase in those who are becoming more forceful about removing Him from our daily living. These individuals and groups who are trying to iradicate God again, how does one eradicate an omnipotent being? are getting bolder as they receive more support from those in agreement with them and less opposition and increased tolerance from the "church".

Trust me, guys. You'll know exactly when the war on Christmas starts. Until someone whips out a Lancer, calm down.

5 comments:

  1. In no particular order (since I'm too busy to be bothered to figure out exactly what annoys me MOST here):
    1) It's Cabela's. With one "l." RR should learn that you don't get to bitch about nit-picky details unless you are, in fact, capable of OBSERVING SOME NIT-PICKY SPELLING RULES. Also included here would "whimp." Additionally, it takes some of the sting out of your name-calling if the name-callee is laughing at your pathetic spelling.
    2) Cabela's is not a "man's" store. First of all, what the hell is a "man" anyway? Second, pretty sure there are some women who hunt and snowmobile. I bet you even idolize one. What's her name again? She was in the news this past fall....? Oh, no, wait. She probably doesn't shop at Cabela's; they don't sell helicopters.
    3) I am so. over. the people who want to force everyone to say "Merry Christmas" or enjoy hearing it. There is no excuse for this. "Merry Christmas" is a GREETING. It is said TO someone else. Therefore, if you do not know if the other person celebrates Christmas but you insist on saying this anyway, YOU ARE BEING RUDE. Let me explain it a little differently for a second. When it is your own birthday, do you walk around the entire day saying "Happy Birthday" in greeting to other people? No, you do NOT. (Note: Or at least, you SHOULD not. And God I hope not, but I wouldn't put anything past you sad sad solipsistic people.) When it is YOUR birthday, OTHER PEOPLE SAY THAT TO YOU. Now, back to Christmas/Hannukah/Kwanzaa/Eid/Winter Solstice. Let's say you (the militant Christmas celebrator [oh, no, wait, you the oppressed and under attack Christmas celebrator]) work with a Muslim and a Wiccan. Now, you don't actually know their religions, as they are not intent upon shoving them down your throat every damn day, but they are, in fact, Muslim and Wiccan. Now let's suppose that, because they do not celebrate Christmas, they think it is perfectly acceptable to say "Happy Eid" or "Happy Solstice" to you. (They would likely not do this; this is mere supposition to make a point.) Are YOU, a militant I mean under-attack Christmas celebrator, going to feel attacked yet again? (I'm betting yes) Here's the thing you're missing while you're ranting all about how Christmas is under attack: THAT IS EXACTLY HOW NON-CHRISTIANS FEEL WHEN YOU WISH THEM MERRY CHRISTMAS. "Merry Christmas" is not a catch-all appropriate phrase. Get the hell over yourselves already and learn some freaking manners.

    ReplyDelete
  2. 4) It's remarkably narrow-minded to assume everyone has the day off work on December 25th.
    5) So wait...support from your friends and increased tolerance from those who disagree with you.....is a bad thing. Oh, okay. Sure.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Okay, I totally feel like a stalker now. Also, I hope it's clear that all of my remarks are addressed to the message board post, not to your response post. Does that make sense? Anyway, I'm sorry if I scared you.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I don't scare all that easy. This "war on xmas" stuff drives me NUTS! nuts! I can't handle it! First off, there is not war on xmas. Secondly, there are actual problems in the world that need to be addressed, and these freakin' morons are getting all worked up about an issue that doesn't exist. AAAAHHHHH!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Whew.
    And yes. But boy do they like to feel persecuted when something outside the hegemony rears its head, huh?

    ReplyDelete

Comments are for you guys, not for me. Say what you will. Don't feel compelled to stay on topic, I enjoy it when comments enter Tangentville or veer off into Non Sequitur Town. Just keep it polite, okay?

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