The War on Christmas
(from our own Stephen Colbert)
One of the best from 2005:
http://www.devilducky.com/media/39373/
Pre-emptive strike in 2006:
http://onegoodmove.org/1gm/1gmarchive/2006/10/the_war_on_chri.html
An entry from Kell, our own local-grown godless killing machine:
"Recycled Christmas"
I liked this article a lot…please read it with an open mind.
Every year as the Christmas holiday approaches I find myself grimacing & completely irritated by the whole thing. I'd rather hibernate in Mexico for the whole month. Don't get me wrong, I do love spending time with family & friends and I don't mind spending money on people (in fact, I have a much easier time spending money on family than I do myself) and gathering together for a nice meal is fun too…
What I don't like is the fact that I actually have no reason to celebrate Christmas, I cannot rationalize it or justify it…yet I still do. Why??? Because I was raised this way I guess. I am a sheep, a lemming. I do it to please others. I do it to fit in. Despite the fact that I hate the Christmas season, I hate all the shopping and agonizing over getting the perfect gifts, I hate that my life becomes consumed by all this nonesense…I still freakin do it. Why? What is the purpose? What purpose does it serve in my life? And is all that aggravation worth it in the end? Sure, I like to see people's eyes light up when they open a gift I have given them BUT why give gifts on Christmas? Christmas itself means nothing to me. I could care less about celebrating Jesus' birthday (You all know I'm not religious, this should come as no surprise. And was he really even born on Dec. 25 anyway???). So if I take the aspect of Jesus' b-day out of it then what we have left is gift giving and a feast…in the name of what? I'm not a Pagan who celebrates Saturnalia by giving small gifts in the name of Sol Invictus and celebrating with a feast. Also, I do not follow Mithraism.
So I ask myself over & over again, every year…why do I celebrate Christmas?
And I ask myself, why do those around me celebrate Christmas?
Can it be rationalized? Can it really be justified?
My view is that Christmas has turned into a wet dream for the retail mass-consume world…and unfortunately we've let ourselves become part of that corporate wet dream (I just had a nasty visual…gross). We're spending more & more on material items that we, in all likelihood, don't even need. There is a mad dash on Black Friday to buy buy buy all the while trying to save save save which creates a scene for mob-like behavior, rudeness & irritability…all in the name of what? Jesus? Would Jesus approve of this madness, this massive consumerism and retailers' wet dreams??? Would he? WWJD anyway? I think Christmas needs to be Recycled. It needs to be into something new..or returned to it's original intention. A fresh start, new traditions (as in, lets cut back on giving corporations an easy 'in' when it comes to marketing), new values (or rather, re-emphasizing the best aspects of the entire holiday season)…rituals that are good for the Earth, that promote wellness and true happiness among all people. Afterall, is that 30 GB iPod Nano really going to bring you true happiness?
