A lot of
Christian people complain about the war on Christmas, but I wonder
how many of us have become an unwitting participant in it?
Consider the
following statements:
Can you believe
they have Christmas decorations out before October is over?
Oh my God, they
start the Christmas music so soon... I'm so sick of it by Christmas!
It's all about
money, money, money with these stores on Christmas!
I'll just be glad
when it's all over!
But, you say,
isn't it a matter of taste? Well, maybe. But who's taste? I don't
know how these harsh sentiments of the holidays begin... maybe a
comedian at some point began to point out the absurdities. After
all, in all good humor there's a kernel of truth. Is it a little
ridiculous that stores get their Christmas merchandise out before
Halloween is over? Sure. Do the stores fill up with a lot of crazy
people who have put off their gift buying a little too long? Lol..
yeah... But, when did "hating on" Christmas become
standardized behavior? And why?
Let's examine how
well the persecution of Christianity is coming along in the country.
It's going pretty good really. Political correctness and amplified
complaints of a minority of people have helped to shut the Christians
up. The major holy holidays have been secularized, watering down
their spiritual implications. But, Christmas is still a problem;
more so than Easter. Probably because the secularization job was
done too well. Christmas is a huge holiday for the whole country,
whether you're a Christian or not. And as long as there's Christmas,
there'll be Christians. Those damn nativity scenes stuffed in with
the reindeer. Those damn Christmas carols (older ones from the
hymnals) on the playlist rotation with Santa Baby. Subtle reminders
of the reason for the season whether you believe in it or not and
nostalgia of the principles our country was founded on whether you
approve of it or not. Looks like the only way out is to make
Christmas about as celebrated as President's Day.
We're not called
sheep and children in the Bible without a reason. All our lives
we've been trained to follow what's trendiest in the culture, from
fashion, to music, and even to social/political causes. So, the
war on Christmas has had to go secular. Beginning with small
humorous digs, it's become popular to be genuinely angry about
hearing Christmas music on the radio before Thanksgiving and even
then, they'd better not play too much of it! And all the Christmas
merchandising!... I say, what else do you expect a business like
retail to do? But it's vulgar beyond words, and why are you
defending it at a Christian? Nice no-win situation there... lol!
Gradually people are starting to think of it as a children's
holiday... Christmas is really just for the kids, you know. And even
then, the prevailing attitudes that have arisen are a warning to
kids: enjoy it, but not for long! It's a stressful hassle and a
relief when it's over!! You're not really grown up if you think
otherwise and if you are an adult that enjoys Christmas like a child,
you can just keep your damn Christmas cheer to yourself because it's
not normal! Well, it isn't now that all the cool people of the world
have decided it's not...
All of us,
Christian or not, remember a time when we loved Christmas.
Yeah, when I was
like, five... *rolls eyes*
Why did we love
it? We don't really stop to think of that until age and/or mortal
infirmity slow our lives down to a point where we wonder where the
years went and maybe why we were so angry about a thing nice thing
like Christmas, among other things. Why not stop to think of it this
year?
Of course, none
of this applies to people who are experiencing the fresh pain of
going through their first Christmas after the death of a loved one,
or to people who have, perhaps, experienced tragedy and loss around
or on Christmas in the past. For most, the pain will be overcome and
they'll learn not to blame the holiday. I've just had this rolling
around in my head for about a week now and I felt the need to share
it. It's just a thought.
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