The "war on Christmas", as it's been termed by certain media outlets and politicians, has less to do with not wanting people to wish them well around the holidays. I'll try to offer my perspective as an agnostic who has spent his entire life as an agnostic.
When a person wishes me Merry Christmas, that's easy to take in the spirit with which it was intended. Someone wants me to be happy, and it's around Christmas time, and that person celebrates Christmas either religiously or culturally. That's all well and good.
When a corporation wishes me Merry Christmas, like Target or Wal-Mart or Starbucks, there is a part of me that immediately thinks, "I'm not being represented here, this message isn't for me, they want me to celebrate Christmas when I'm not sure if that's a holiday I want to celebrate this year." I also get uncomfortable in churches; it's the feeling of being an outsider, of being excluded, of being "not in the club" of Christianity.
And I can accept that Christmas is a part of the American culture, and over the years I've learned to accept that in this country it has less to do with religious observance and more to do with the culture of giving, which is a positive thing to celebrate. But growing up like that, I'm very much aware that this is a religious holiday that is being celebrated so brightly, so publicly, and so ubiquitously, that it threatens to diminish the importance of other religious holidays that take place around the same time of the year. For those people who wish to keep to themselves and not observe any holidays, it infringes on their desire for quiet contemplation.
So I appreciate it when a marketing campaign opts for the multi-denominational "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas". I don't expect individual people to change their holiday greetings; in fact I hope that they don't, because a person should celebrate their holiday the way that feels best for them. But when I go to Starbucks for a chai latte, I'd prefer it if my cup didn't editorialize my feelings about the holiday season.
@the_spyder: My point was just that once you find out something isn't welcome, the nice thing to do is to just respect that and stop, even if you think it ought to be welcome. You're entirely correct about the problems with the comparison.
@Notabarbiegirl: I don't exactly follow your last comment, but I hope it's understood that I really wasn't calling you anything. I feel bad about possibly giving the impression that I was.
@joluv - Fair point. The reciprocal is, if you know something isn't intended to be offensive, the nice thing to do is not to make it an offense.
At the end of the day, I think that society as a whole has developed this culture of looking for things to be offended by. It's become second nature. Not that I in any way believe that intentionally rude and obnoxious behavior should be tolerated, merely that if it wasn't intended to be thus, don't go out of your way to make it thus.
@Dee - So, you feel bad that the faceless, soulless money grubbing corporations aren't including you in their scheme to bilk the general public of our hard earned cash? Me too.
@joluv - Fair point. The reciprocal is, if you know something isn't intended to be offensive, the nice thing to do is not to make it an offense.
At the end of the day, I think that society as a whole has developed this culture of looking for things to be offended by. It's become second nature. Not that I in any way believe that intentionally rude and obnoxious behavior should be tolerated, merely that if it wasn't intended to be thus, don't go out of your way to make it thus.
@Dee - So, you feel bad that the faceless, soulless money grubbing corporations aren't including you in their scheme to bilk the general public of our hard earned cash? Me too.
Man do i agree. People are so ready to be offended over everything. I'm left to wonder how people can even get through the day with how offended some are seemingly all the time. Perhaps it comes down to a desire for power - our society has shown such a propensity to bending over backwards to try and not give offense, so people abuse that to feel that their opinions mean something. Similar to how social media works.
I wonder if that is why some seem to like Trump's message - he is one of the few politicians who seems to not care if he is offending people or being PC?
Ha, I could care less what stores wish me, i don't even see the decorations most of the time anymore. I can't recall seeing just Merry Christmas at a store in a long time though. Everything seems to be calculated to not give reason to take offense.
On a somewhat lighter note, my better half summed it up quite eloquently the other day when she said to me: "You really haven't got the hang of Christmas, have you?"
@Dee - So, you feel bad that the faceless, soulless money grubbing corporations aren't including you in their scheme to bilk the general public of our hard earned cash? Me too.
Pretty much, yeah.
It's not so much about wanting to be tricked into spending money as it is about not wanting to be marginalized by the culture I live in. If a store chooses "Merry Christmas" for its marketing and ignores all the people who don't celebrate Christmas, that sends a message, even if it's unintentional, that people who don't celebrate Christmas don't matter--or worse, that they simply don't exist.
I don't want to exaggerate the problem, because it's not like I was getting picked on or singled out. I didn't feel like I was about to be carted off to a Christmas Camp and forced to build gingerbread houses.
It's more like... So it's recess, right? And all the kids on the playground want to play touch football, and they play touch football everyday at recess and they have a great time and they bond and tell jokes, and I can tell that the kids who play touch football everyday are going to have more friends because of it. But what I'd rather do during recess is play action figures; I have a cool new Iron Man and I want to play with him. But no one else wants to play action figures with me; they all want to play touch football. So I'm left with a choice: either play action figures by myself, which is what I really want to do, or go play touch football with the other kids, which is something I really don't want to do. But it's a choice between being alone and having friends, between doing something I believe in and something I don't.
Okay, I think. I'll play touch football today, and then maybe tomorrow the other kids will want to play action figures with me. And so I play touch football, and the other kids are having a great time, and I jam my fingers twice and fall and scrape my knee, and both of those things are normal things that happen in touch football but for me they're a reminder that this isn't what I wanted to be doing. But I endure it because I'm hopeful that tomorrow, I'll get to do what I want to do.
Then the next day comes, and I ask if anyone wants to play action figures with me. But they all want to play touch football again. And why wouldn't they? Those kids love playing touch football, I wouldn't dream of taking that away from them. But if I ever want to play action figures, I know that I'm making a choice to be alone, to be an outsider.
That's a little bit like what it was like for me growing up, when it came to Christmas.
anyway i want to wish in due to upcoming christmas to all the catholics the joy from the birth of Jesus, if there are some catholics on this forums , and all good as well to nonchristians in this free, holiday time.
anyway i want to wish in due to upcoming christmas to all the catholics the joy from the birth of Jesus, if there are some catholics on this forums , and all good as well to nonchristians in this free, holiday time.
And Others off the Christian faith who may not be Catholic.
In other words Warm Wishes to All People regardless of beliefs.
Well, Christmas does have a distinct advantage over other religious holidays: it's been heavily commercialized, what with all the sales and shopping sprees associated with it. That, to me, is probably the main reason why it is more widely 'celebrated' than the others.
Well, Christmas does have a distinct advantage over other religious holidays: it's been heavily commercialized, what with all the sales and shopping sprees associated with it. That, to me, is probably the main reason why it is more widely 'celebrated' than the others.
That's a strange dictionary that you have there if that is an 'Advantage'? But hey, to each their own.
Well, Christmas does have a distinct advantage over other religious holidays: it's been heavily commercialized, what with all the sales and shopping sprees associated with it. That, to me, is probably the main reason why it is more widely 'celebrated' than the others.
That's a strange dictionary that you have there if that is an 'Advantage'? But hey, to each their own.
*shrugs* I don't like it much either, but I at can least acknowledge that it makes an impact on the holiday's popularity. People are attracted to sales, after all.
Why do people feel the commercial aspect is horrible? Or commerciality in general
Because some of us work in retail.
Better known as the land I call:
"Everyone gets to have a wonderful holiday! EXCEPT FOR YOU."
To expand: when you're on the front lines of Christmas commercialism--working on your feet all day every day until the Big Day, attending to rude and rowdy customers with their shrieking children, while at the same time, getting robbed of any quality time you could be spending with your family... Yeah. Enough said.
@Nonnahswriter I understand, I worked retail / customer service for 15 years. There can be good day, but the bad ones can be mentally brutal on top of any other issues.
@meagloth Whoa there boy. Believing there's more to life doesn't mean you have to hate commerciality.
I guess not but its generally equated with the cheapening of things. Some things aren't meant to be sold and for a lot of people christmas is one of those things, especially people who celebrate it as a religious holiday(which it is, btw. Regardless of the association with saturnalia or the fact that atheists still celebrate it you can not say it isn't a christmas holiday.) That doesn't mean you have to feel that way of course. I was probably a wee bit inflammatory in that last post. Sorry about that.
But perhaps I'm thinking of consumerism. What do you mean when you say commerciality exactly?
My understanding (or interpretation) of 'commercialising' is when you take a concept that was not intended to be profit making and turn it into a money generator for personal gain.
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/consumerism 1 The protection or promotion of the interests of consumers: the growth of consumerism has led to many organizations improving their service to the customer 2 often derogatory The preoccupation of society with the acquisition of consumer goods: many people are becoming increasingly conscious of the environmental impact of consumerism
1.1 derogatory Concern with the making of profit at the expense of artistic or other value: the cut-throat commercialism of the Paris art world
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/commercial?q=commerciality#commercial__13 1 Concerned with or engaged in commerce: a commercial agreement MORE EXAMPLE SENTENCES SYNONYMS 2 Making or intended to make a profit: commercial products MORE EXAMPLE SENTENCES SYNONYMS 2.1 Having profit rather than artistic or other value as a primary aim: their work is too commercial MORE EXAMPLE SENTENCES SYNONYMS 3(Of television or radio) funded by the revenue from broadcast advertisements. EXAMPLE SENTENCES 4 (Of chemicals) supplied in bulk and not of the highest purity. -> Derivative commerciality EXAMPLE SENTENCES This has been a slow process as it was initiated several years ago and has raised doubts about the commerciality of the project. I love the gesture, but I hate the commerciality of a day that should be about love. We are trying to encourage a greater degree of commerciality at race courses.
especially people who celebrate it as a religious holiday(which it is, btw. Regardless of the association with saturnalia or the fact that atheists still celebrate it you can not say it isn't a christmas holiday.)
This is the kind of attitude that bothers me the most, the fact that religious Christians take such a proprietary stance about the holiday. Historians all believe that if there was a being such as Jesus Christ, that he was most emphatically not born in winter time. The Winter Solstice was adopted as the date because (among other reasons), people needed something to celebrate during the 'Down' season.
Not to mention, what does Santa Claus and elves and mistletoe have to do with the birth of Christ? The answer is nothing at all. The 'Christmas tree' was pagan. The actual day itself was a Pagan holy day. It is actually MUCH more of a pagan holiday than anything Christian.
But more than that, the overwhelming sense that Christians look DOWN on the rest of the world for celebrating "Their" holiday. Given the tenants that Christianity is based on, love, sharing and generosity, I would think that they might tone down their "holier than tho" attitude a bit.
I get annoyed with retailers who start playing Christmas Carols BEFORE HALLOWEEN. :P I used to be Christian, but this just annoys the heck out of me. I mean, by the time the season is here, you are suffering from "Carol Overdose". I have no problem with Christmas, but when I was young (a child, actually), Christmas was about being with family and being grateful (and for men, watching football on TV, which all my male relatives did). Now, the holiday seems to be about "Buy, buy, BUY" and "gimme this", "Get me this..." rather than enjoying time with family.
Want someone to blame for the "War on Christmas"? Blame retailers who are desperate to sell more this season than they did last season, and if you think that "Happy Holidays" is a slam against Christians, Retailers want *everyone*'s money, not just Christians, so you can put blame there as well.
"Everyone gets to have a wonderful holiday! EXCEPT FOR YOU."
I got my work schedule for the week of Christmas. I'm working every day except the Big Day itself. For two days in a row I'll be working retail until midnight. And, after the second night, I have to come back to work AGAIN at eight o'clock in the morning. Both of my jobs have scheduled me to work the day after Christmas, which I'm trying to get at least one covered because I sure as heck don't wanna make my parents drive me from one job to the next the day after.
The good news is I only work three hours on Christmas Eve, and then I have the whole night free. So there's that. I know a lot of people in the U.S. don't even have that.
Those of us who have worked retail have been there with you, @Nonnahswriter. That kind of work schedule on holidays applies to various IT jobs as well. I have the emergency phone (when the queue shuts down incoming calls route to it) so when the people who work at my company get calls from patients asking about their medical supplies and problems arise my phone will ring, even on holidays. Our locations are listed as "staffing as directed by local management" on the 24th, so I know some people will be working thus I will be working, as well. I wouldn't be surprised if the on-call pharmacists get a call on the 25th; if they encounter troubles then my phone will ring on that day, as well.
My other gripe about Christmas was the lack of goats--they can be festive, too. Fortunately, now we have Christmas carols sung by goats. Purchasing the album also contributes to a good cause, too.
Comments
When a person wishes me Merry Christmas, that's easy to take in the spirit with which it was intended. Someone wants me to be happy, and it's around Christmas time, and that person celebrates Christmas either religiously or culturally. That's all well and good.
When a corporation wishes me Merry Christmas, like Target or Wal-Mart or Starbucks, there is a part of me that immediately thinks, "I'm not being represented here, this message isn't for me, they want me to celebrate Christmas when I'm not sure if that's a holiday I want to celebrate this year." I also get uncomfortable in churches; it's the feeling of being an outsider, of being excluded, of being "not in the club" of Christianity.
And I can accept that Christmas is a part of the American culture, and over the years I've learned to accept that in this country it has less to do with religious observance and more to do with the culture of giving, which is a positive thing to celebrate. But growing up like that, I'm very much aware that this is a religious holiday that is being celebrated so brightly, so publicly, and so ubiquitously, that it threatens to diminish the importance of other religious holidays that take place around the same time of the year. For those people who wish to keep to themselves and not observe any holidays, it infringes on their desire for quiet contemplation.
So I appreciate it when a marketing campaign opts for the multi-denominational "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas". I don't expect individual people to change their holiday greetings; in fact I hope that they don't, because a person should celebrate their holiday the way that feels best for them. But when I go to Starbucks for a chai latte, I'd prefer it if my cup didn't editorialize my feelings about the holiday season.
@Notabarbiegirl: I don't exactly follow your last comment, but I hope it's understood that I really wasn't calling you anything. I feel bad about possibly giving the impression that I was.
At the end of the day, I think that society as a whole has developed this culture of looking for things to be offended by. It's become second nature. Not that I in any way believe that intentionally rude and obnoxious behavior should be tolerated, merely that if it wasn't intended to be thus, don't go out of your way to make it thus.
@Dee - So, you feel bad that the faceless, soulless money grubbing corporations aren't including you in their scheme to bilk the general public of our hard earned cash? Me too.
I wonder if that is why some seem to like Trump's message - he is one of the few politicians who seems to not care if he is offending people or being PC?
Ha, I could care less what stores wish me, i don't even see the decorations most of the time anymore. I can't recall seeing just Merry Christmas at a store in a long time though. Everything seems to be calculated to not give reason to take offense.
It's not so much about wanting to be tricked into spending money as it is about not wanting to be marginalized by the culture I live in. If a store chooses "Merry Christmas" for its marketing and ignores all the people who don't celebrate Christmas, that sends a message, even if it's unintentional, that people who don't celebrate Christmas don't matter--or worse, that they simply don't exist.
I don't want to exaggerate the problem, because it's not like I was getting picked on or singled out. I didn't feel like I was about to be carted off to a Christmas Camp and forced to build gingerbread houses.
It's more like... So it's recess, right? And all the kids on the playground want to play touch football, and they play touch football everyday at recess and they have a great time and they bond and tell jokes, and I can tell that the kids who play touch football everyday are going to have more friends because of it. But what I'd rather do during recess is play action figures; I have a cool new Iron Man and I want to play with him. But no one else wants to play action figures with me; they all want to play touch football. So I'm left with a choice: either play action figures by myself, which is what I really want to do, or go play touch football with the other kids, which is something I really don't want to do. But it's a choice between being alone and having friends, between doing something I believe in and something I don't.
Okay, I think. I'll play touch football today, and then maybe tomorrow the other kids will want to play action figures with me. And so I play touch football, and the other kids are having a great time, and I jam my fingers twice and fall and scrape my knee, and both of those things are normal things that happen in touch football but for me they're a reminder that this isn't what I wanted to be doing. But I endure it because I'm hopeful that tomorrow, I'll get to do what I want to do.
Then the next day comes, and I ask if anyone wants to play action figures with me. But they all want to play touch football again. And why wouldn't they? Those kids love playing touch football, I wouldn't dream of taking that away from them. But if I ever want to play action figures, I know that I'm making a choice to be alone, to be an outsider.
That's a little bit like what it was like for me growing up, when it came to Christmas.
In other words Warm Wishes to All People regardless of beliefs.
Better known as the land I call:
"Everyone gets to have a wonderful holiday! EXCEPT FOR YOU."
To expand: when you're on the front lines of Christmas commercialism--working on your feet all day every day until the Big Day, attending to rude and rowdy customers with their shrieking children, while at the same time, getting robbed of any quality time you could be spending with your family... Yeah. Enough said.
lol thos losers
But perhaps I'm thinking of consumerism. What do you mean when you say commerciality exactly?
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/consumerism
1 The protection or promotion of the interests of consumers:
the growth of consumerism has led to many organizations improving their service to the customer
2 often derogatory The preoccupation of society with the acquisition of consumer goods:
many people are becoming increasingly conscious of the environmental impact of consumerism
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/commercialism
1 Emphasis on the maximizing of profit:
concern about state enterprise deficits prompted efforts for greater commercialism
1.1 derogatory Concern with the making of profit at the expense of artistic or other value:
the cut-throat commercialism of the Paris art world
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/commercial?q=commerciality#commercial__13
1 Concerned with or engaged in commerce:
a commercial agreement
MORE EXAMPLE SENTENCES
SYNONYMS
2 Making or intended to make a profit:
commercial products
MORE EXAMPLE SENTENCES
SYNONYMS
2.1 Having profit rather than artistic or other value as a primary aim:
their work is too commercial
MORE EXAMPLE SENTENCES
SYNONYMS
3(Of television or radio) funded by the revenue from broadcast advertisements.
EXAMPLE SENTENCES
4 (Of chemicals) supplied in bulk and not of the highest purity.
-> Derivative commerciality
EXAMPLE SENTENCES
This has been a slow process as it was initiated several years ago and has raised doubts about the commerciality of the project.
I love the gesture, but I hate the commerciality of a day that should be about love.
We are trying to encourage a greater degree of commerciality at race courses.
So just we are on the same page, emphasis mine.
Not to mention, what does Santa Claus and elves and mistletoe have to do with the birth of Christ? The answer is nothing at all. The 'Christmas tree' was pagan. The actual day itself was a Pagan holy day. It is actually MUCH more of a pagan holiday than anything Christian.
But more than that, the overwhelming sense that Christians look DOWN on the rest of the world for celebrating "Their" holiday. Given the tenants that Christianity is based on, love, sharing and generosity, I would think that they might tone down their "holier than tho" attitude a bit.
Please be careful with that wide paint brush. I am not painting you so please do not paint me.
Want someone to blame for the "War on Christmas"? Blame retailers who are desperate to sell more this season than they did last season, and if you think that "Happy Holidays" is a slam against Christians, Retailers want *everyone*'s money, not just Christians, so you can put blame there as well.
The good news is I only work three hours on Christmas Eve, and then I have the whole night free. So there's that. I know a lot of people in the U.S. don't even have that.
My other gripe about Christmas was the lack of goats--they can be festive, too. Fortunately, now we have Christmas carols sung by goats. Purchasing the album also contributes to a good cause, too.
The short answer: "I'm working on it."
I legitimately read that first line as "I work part-time as a public library".