'Tis the Season to Be Jingoistic

To the Editor:

Recently inspired by the new book, "The War on Christmas," by John Gibson of Fox News, I felt the need to share my feelings with my local newspaper.

Since Christmas in America has always been considered to be a family holiday whose roots are the birth of the Christ Child and not the "pagan" background described recently by a spokesperson from Walmart, I believe that this "politically correct" movement to saying Happy Holidays in place of " Merry Christmas" has more to do with the continued attack on America and it's values than a specific attack against Christianity.

I for one will "go out of my way" to say "Merry Christmas" to all I meet this holiday season . . . oops! Christmas season, I mean . . . I mean.

David

This whole "Attack on Christmas" ranks among the most pathetic attempts to stir up the masses as I've ever seen. You have got to have really lost your grip on reality to believe that Christmas is in any danger here in the good ol' U.S.A. Here's an experiment to try: walk through your nearest mall, and using a separate sheet of paper for each, count the number of times each of the following is used: Christmas iconography, Hanukkah iconography, Winter Solstice iconography, and Kwanzaa iconography. All done? Now look at your lists. You most likely have one very long list (did you have to continue on the back? If not, you weren't looking hard enough!). You probably also found a few Hanukkah displays, but my guess is you have two pristine, empty sheets of paper you can use to pen an angry letter about how Christmas is under attack.

Oh, but see, Christmas in America has "always been considered to be a family holiday whose roots are the birth of the Christ Child..." Well, yeah, maybe to you and me, jackass, because we're Christians. But much as the Solstice doesn't mean squat to you, non-Christians don't really care much about the birth of the founder of a religion they don't subscribe to. In this land of free religion, that's their right, and in no way implies an attack against your beliefs. Why does this intimidate you so much? Are the Pagans tearing the Christmas lights off your home? Are gangs of Jewish teenagers painting Stars of David on your holiday lawn statuary? No? Then shut the fuck up and stop whining about an attack that isn't happening.

People use "Happy Holidays" because it's inclusive, you ignorant prick, not as an offense to you. And as a Christian, you should have enough humility to accept the goodwill of others graciously, not bitch and moan because they don't offer you warm wishes in exactly the way you'd prefer. It's kind of like you moved into a new neighborhood, and your new neighbors bring you a green bean casserole to welcome you, and you slap it to the pavement and berate them for not baking you a chocolate cake. Why should anyone have to guess that you're a Christian, and therefore assume "Merry Christmas" is the correct greeting for you? I've always been told that Christians show their faith by their actions, but I don't remember the scripture where Christ instructed his disciples to be sniveling, paranoid, self-righteous pricks. Frankly, as a Christian, it is your duty to be an advocate for Christ by displaying a demeanor that inspires and attracts non-believers. Do you think you are doing that by accusing them of "attacking" you in a nation where you outnumber them many times over, simply for trying to retain their own traditions?

Of course, the real fault can't be placed on mindless sheep like you, Davey. You're just doing what you're told. John Gibson and the gang at Fox News should be strung up for many, many, many reasons, and this certainly ranks among them. They, like everyone else who is pursuing this tactic, are simply using inflammatory rhetoric to stir up morons like you. Anyone with a teaspoon of neurons in their skull hears a statement like "Christmas is under attack in America" and wonders just how many tequila shooters it took to come up with something so hallucinatory. But you, a privileged white male at the top of the cultural food chain, in your constant attempts to avoid feeling guilty about not doing more for people who have less influence, need to believe that your lifestyle is in imminent danger. The "politically correct" movement, which is really just an attempt to validate the right of everyone to some modicum of the respect that you take for granted, is a threat to you because it implies that you might not be more put upon by society than a poor black gay woman. So along come your knights in armor polished with hundred dollar bills, ready to convince you that you are under attack and that your best chance for survival lies in watching their programs, buying their products, voting for their candidates, and basically making them very wealthy, very powerful white men. It's a good thing they're being so selfless and valiant, isn't it Davey?

The final outcome of this is obvious. People use Happy Holidays because it is non-offensive to everyone. It includes, and doesn't exclude. But pricks like you are now offended by people who don't exclude everyone but yourselves. Well, asshole, they're not going to start saying "Merry Christmas". They're just going to stop wishing people holiday greetings of any sort. It has already started, as employers are telling their employees to avoid using any holiday wishes to avoid the controversy. The obvious answer is to just keep saying "Have a nice day" and leave it at that. So thanks for that, Dave. Thanks for killing another part of the holiday season by being selfish and self-important. Goodwill towards men, Dave. Goodwill towards men.