Comments on: Who’s Winning the War on Christmas?

By: JG

JG — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 12:29:39 +0000

Christmas is pagan and of the devil. It celebrates the birthday of an antichrist, Nimrod.

Am I surprised that mormons love christmas? Not!

Let the mormons celebrate christmas all they want.

But christians should not celebrate christmas!

http://www.israelite.net/christmas.htm

By: James

James — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 09:01:22 +0000

Interest thoughts!

I live in the UK and have wondered about cultural views and Christmas. Inner London in the schools their could be neighbourhoods/ communities which may almost be completely ethnic Asian, Moslem , Jewish etc. One basic requirement they are pushing and hoping for is that people learn and speak English, but should they have to learn about Jesus and Christmas? And how does that effect those that are the minority Christians in that community before it was taken over by an ethnic group its roots and schools were Christian mainly Church of England. Its a tough dilemma!

By: John

John — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 01:51:02 +0000

I remember when I was in school and we celebrated Christmas with trees, decorations and carols. I doubt that anyone gave a thought to those who were Jewish or otherwise not Christian. They didn’t count. That was clearly wrong, but we’re also clearly swinging the other way now. I complained when our local library announced it was closing on Dec. 25 for “the winter holiday.” Our county board of supervisors said they were rethinking that. My main argument was not religious, but political. I pointed out that both Congress and our state legislature declared Dec. 25 as a holiday identified as Christmas and no local entity should be trying to undo what Congress and the legislature had done. I think Christians of all stripes should fight back and demand that Christmas be referred to as Christmas. On the other hand, I do not believe this is being done in any kind of war context. The war on christmas was fought a long time ago….and the merchants won. If we really want to protect Christmas, we will scale back our lavish giving and focus on what is really important. We might rethink going skiing on Christmas Day or attending pro basketball games while we’re at it.

By: PeaJay

PeaJay — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 01:24:53 +0000

Most everything has been said, but as to “Xmas” vs “Christmas.” First, #2 makes a great point. Second, I used to see it as eliding the Savior from the holiday but then realized it was more akin to using “Melchizedek” for refering to the “Holy Priesthood, after the Order of the Son of G-d.” It “avoid[s] the too frequent repetition of his name.” Similar to when my Jewish friends do as I did above and omit one of the letters when writing about the deity. FWIW.

By: hawkgrrrl

hawkgrrrl — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 19:38:24 +0000

Interestingly, we just got back from London where people pretty unabashedly use “Merry Christmas.” Perhaps in a more secular country with fewer outspoken evangelicals clamoring for attention, they feel less apologetic about this religion business.

By: Ray

Ray — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 14:27:59 +0000

#13 – Just get sick and don’t fight about the words.

Awesome (or, as my teenagers would say, “beast”).

In that spirit, happy holiday seasons Christmas!

By: Gwennaëlle

Gwennaëlle — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 08:37:05 +0000

How about instead of “Christmas” using “Noël”? It is shorter and this would include all the french descendant Americans who may feel left aside because of the outpouring of english language in their daily life.
No, seriously, there is always a good reason to complain or to feel offended and I don’t get how we came to this kind of mess.
In France we don’t have this kind of word battle and I suspect that we won’t ever just because Christmas mean tones of food and chocolate and alcohol and there is no way we are going to focus on a word and skip a good occasion to damage our arteries.
Then there is New year’s Eve when we just do it all over because we want to have a “christmas like feast” with people we did not spend Christmas with. Theeeeeeeeeeeeen, on the first sunday after Christmas (which may be before or after the New Year) we eat this very “heavy” cake loaded with fat to make us regret we are french and that we are supposed to handle any kind of food.

No seriously, between the longing for the mean to be sick and the sickness itself we have no time for all this vocabulary war.

You should do it too. Just get sick. All of a sudden the word in the name of which you got sick won’t have that much importance anymore.

By: Ray

Ray — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 04:24:22 +0000

Left Field, I feel the exact same way about the cards. I have no problem whatsoever with “Happy Holidays” and “Season’s Greetings”. I think the card should reflect the feelings of the sender, and I see the militant reaction to these cards largely as a manifestation of the intolerance and arrogance of a certain segment of our society – to a degree within the membership of the Church, but much more prevalently in the extreme wing of Protestantism. I certainly heard it most profusely when I lived in the Deep South.

I also have no problem whatsoever with “end-of-year bonus”. For companies that don’t want to tie bonuses to Christmas, especially those that employ people of all religious beliefs (including atheists), “Christmas bonus” just doesn’t make sense to me.

Again, the terminology people use should reflect the perspectives of those people. It’s a pretty simple issue to me.

By: Left Field

Left Field — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 03:56:55 +0000

I don’t get the thing about people taking offense at being wished “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas.” When I was a kid 40+ years ago (and I assume for quite awhile before that), “Happy Holidays,” “Seasons Greetings,” and “Merry Christmas” were basically interchangeable. There was no significance whatsoever to which one happened to appear on your Christmas Card. That the first two are also general enough to also apply to your Jewish friends made them useful in certain circumstances, but that hardly diminishes the sentiment for those who happen to celebrate Christmas as their holiday of choice. In some situations, a more inclusive greeting is most appropriate. What could be wrong with that? What the heck could be so wrong about wishing someone a happy holiday, anyway.

However, I will say that the term “holiday tree” is kind of silly. A decorated tree is a Christmas custom, not part of any of the other midwinter holidays. If we were to refer to a “holiday menorah,” it wouldn’t fool anybody into thinking that the menorah is a symbol of Christmas, Kwanzaa, and Festivus.

By: Ray

Ray — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 23:07:07 +0000

Doc, it’s done. We now will hold you to your promise. *grin*

By: Doc

Doc — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 20:33:27 +0000

My comment was eaten by moderation or spam filter or something. I would be eternally grateful if someone were to rescue it for me. I promise never to link two things ever again.

By: N.

N. — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 20:17:42 +0000

On Seinfeld, George’s father creates his own holiday “Festivus.” Festivus is the holiday for “the rest of us.” They decorate the silver festivus pole while screeching “serenity now” at each other.

“Serentiy now” isn’t one of the traditional activities of Festivus, it’s a New Age add-on. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Festivus
Traditionally Festivus has, besides a plain aluminum pole, (1) Dinner; including Pepperidge Farm products (2) Airing of Grievances (3) Feats of Strength. (4) OPTIONAL: Festivus miracles.
If I could get invited to more Festivus parties in addition to or instead of Christmas celebrations, I’d be a much happier person.

By: Christmas « Irresistible (Dis)Grace

Christmas « Irresistible (Dis)Grace — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 19:03:49 +0000

[...] Christmas-time…and these are things that don’t really have to do with Christmas at all. First, is the “War on Christmas.” I haven’t seriously been keeping up on this, so I don’t even know if it’s [...]

By: Stephen M (Ethesis)

Stephen M (Ethesis) — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 18:37:47 +0000

John, I didn’t know you taught at the UofU.

By: John Nilsson

John Nilsson — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 18:15:26 +0000

Do my eyes deceive me, or are your kids fully decked out with an AK-47, an AR-15, and an M-16? With scopes even? That’s sweet Christmas love!

One of the best kept secrets at the University of Utah is the staff’s Festivus. I just came back to my office from it, having stuffed my gizzard with catered sandwiches, tarts, cream puffs, and heavily whip-creamed cocoa, of course. There is even a whiteboard for airing your grievances, a Festivus pole and feats of strength.

Come to Zion, come to Zion…

By: Rick Grunder

Rick Grunder — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 16:21:40 +0000

When I was a first-grader in 1954-55 Boise, Idaho (the western part of the state, not predominantly Mormon), we children were required to recite grace in unison over our exquisite hot lunches (served on tasteful Melmac compartmentalized plates): “God is great, God is good, let us thank Him for our food. Amen.”

As a sixth-generation Mormon boy, this prayer made me feel bad. First, I knew better than to say “God” so often. Second, I knew that for a prayer to be any good, it had to end with the special phrase, “Inthenameofjesuschristamen.”

For the rest of my life, I have tried to remember those early feelings whenever anyone of any faith or non-faith is tread upon in any region. I don’t want to be like the early Puritans who, feeling persecuted, came to America to persecute others. When people disparage the notion of “P[olitical] C[orrectness],” or of being considerate of others’ feelings, I ask myself if they are really Christian at all.

Amen. Er, I mean . . .

By: CarlosJC

CarlosJC — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 15:28:22 +0000

I hope the anti-Christmas mob win outright soon. Means the end of the world is nearer!

In the mean time “Best summery wishes!” (It was like 90 here today)

By: Palm Springs LDS

Palm Springs LDS — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 14:41:18 +0000

Lately my attention has focused on the several radio stations (at least 4) in my area that switched to an all Christmas format for the season. For the most part they all play the same old ‘Santa Claus’ type music.

I get excited when they play something new and different as I really like variety.

I think it would be a could idea to give them a Christmas present of more upbeat religious Mor Tab Choir CD’s to improve their playlist.

It would seem that the station with the most exciting playlist should draw the most listeners.

By: TT

TT — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 14:27:58 +0000

Hawkgrrrl,
This is a excellent summary! I love your posts.
Just one minor clarification. The abbreviation Xmas doesn’t come from a symbol of the cross, but from the Greek letter chi (X), which is the first letter of the word Christ. The objections to this abbreviation are done out of ignorance since this is not a crossing out of Christ nor some esoteric symbol, but the first letter of his name.

By: Doc

Doc — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 14:24:06 +0000

Personally, I think it is wrongheaded to discouraged the use of the word Christmas in the name of religious freedom. Talk about irony, I guess religious expression is protected unless you are in the majority. It emphasizes everything goofy about our secular public culture. That said, escalations in the Christmas wars like this make me embarassed to be a Christian. This is just plain ugliness. I do feel for those who don't celebrate the holiday. They are left out, I just don't really see any perfect remedy. At the same time I can't imagine that I could be that upset over Ramadan living in a Muslim country, or Hannukah, living in Israel. I wrote more on this when I admitted to the world that I am in fact a Christmas junkie.