We started talking about the Christmas...err...HOLIDAY season yesterday and all of the politics that go into it.

Yesterday, I consulted last year's World Almanac (that I keep in the can for effective reading)

Get these stats on America's religious breakdown:

85% of Americans are Christian
2% are Jewish
4% are other
10% don't have a religion

Based on this, WHY ARE PEOPLE TRYING TO PREVENT CHRISTMAS FROM DOMINATING THE HOLIDAY SEASON LIKE IT ALWAYS HAS????

85% of the country celebrates the birth of Jesus on December 25th and celebrates Christmas trees, Nativity scenes, Santa Clause, Frosty, stockings over the fireplace, presents, caroling, and everything else that is associated with Christmas.

Based on these facts, why should I have to stop saying Merry Christmas or calling the next month Christmas Season???

Oh yeah…Mr. Hankey wears a Santa hat so he’s included in this too…

So from me to you:

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!

I appreciate what you are saying.

Christmas is, by definition, a Christian holiday. It seems like our PC culture is always trying to take the "Christ" out of Christmas" and make it into some sort of generic holiday.

It is a great holiday and season. There is nothing to be ashamed of in celebrating Christmas. Similarly, jews and muslims etc. should be able to celebrate their holidays without having to water them down.

First of all, EFF off for bringing up Christmas on November 18.

Second, I have a few of Jewish friends who think all the "holiday" stuff is nonsense. I wish them a Happy Chanukah, and they wish me a Merry Christmas. We've been at their house with our child when they light the Minora (sp) and their kids help us decorate the tree. Big friggin' whup.

What really kills me on this is that on December 24th, the TV crews will be at local malls reporting on "Holiday" shopping. Look, on December 24th, it's CHRISTMAS shopping.

I think it's OK to wish people happy holidays as a general December greeting, but I always go with Merry Christmas in our Christmas cards, even to our Jewish friends. And when I see those same friends, I wish them Happy Chanukah.

Anyone, and I mean anyone, who gets offended by "Merry Christmas," is an idiot. I play basketball in a league with a lot of Jewish guys. I'm sometimes presumed to be Jewish, and will get Happy New Years after Yom Kippur and the like. You know what? I accept the well-wishes, pass them back, and move on. I don't stop and say, "Actually, I can't accept your goodwill because I'm not Jewish."

Exactly. If I was to have somebody come up to me and say "Happy Kwanza", I'd return it with a "Happy Kwanza" of my own. What's wrong with that?

I do the decorations for our office every year because I LOVE Xmas. But since my office is half jewish, I always email everybody and ask "who wants to help me decorate for the Holidays". In that context I can deal with it. But other than that, Merry Christmas!

What's eff?

Oh..it's xmas time by my book. I live in a big shopping disctrict of Brooklyn called Bay Ridge (where Saturday Night Fever was filmed!) and the Xmas lights are up all the way down the street and there's xmas sales and signs in all the stores.

Exactly.

Good Yom Tov!!!

Hey, Good Day NY was at a diner down there this AM. Man I miss a good Bklyn diner, we have nothing up in the burbs.

I also miss the steet lights on Avenue U, 18th Avenue and other busy streets during the Christmas season. And from going from store to store in the bitter December cold (before the greenhouse effect kicked in) we hardly went to the mall back then.

I also hate the shopping theme that has dominated Christmas. Those reporters on Christmas eve, can take the night off, run last years tape and noone would notice. Luckily for me, my wife does all the shopping so I actually get to enjoy the season.

And as far as bringing up Christmas too soon, at least its after Halloween!

Eff is the sound that the letter "F" makes. So Eff off is really F--- off, and I stick by it in the context of you wishing me Merry Christmas in November.

I saw that! It's about 10 blocks from me, been there several times. I was very tempted to go down there and meet Mike Woods. I love Fox 5 in the morning!

ahhh...booooooo

Seems to me that in fact, Christmas does "dominate" the holidy season. I am not sure what the complaint is here. You can say "Merry Christmas" all you want.

What I do think is uncalled for are the mocking references to Kwanzaa. Whenever I hear a reference to Kwanzaa, it is usually by someone mocking it out as just another example of PC. There are those who do not accept it as a legitimate holiday and so make a joke of it. If that was done with regard to Christmas, there would be candle light vigils by millions of tearful Christians demanding a Constitutional Amendment banning manger jokes.

Ann Coulter for example calls Kwanzaa "...a lunatic blend of schmaltzy '60s rhetoric, black racism and Marxism." Tony Snow has claimed that "There is no part of Kwanzaa that is not fraudulent." David Limbaugh, Rush's brother, complained about kids chanting "Celebrate Kwanzaa" at a Tupelo elementary school he claimed had removed all christian references from Christmas songs. Coulter repeated (typicall right wing parrot/echo chamber, spread the crap far and wide stuff) that charge in her own column. Of course, Limbaugh was wrong and had to withdraw the charge. The kids routinely sang religious music including Christmas Carols.

I don't think that the holidays other people celebrate are any of my business but then again, I live in a blue state so what do I know. I guess when some people prattle on about religious and political tolerance, what they really mean is tolerance for their religion and their politics. Any one else's are fair game for ridicule.

By the way, with numbers like that, why is it that Christians cultivate and air of perpetual beleagueredness and persecution? They are an incredibly dominant majority and are certainly not shy about throwing their weight around. Christmas is a good example. It is EVERYWHERE. From Thanksgiving to the big day, Christmas oozes from every pore of politics, industry and culture. In reading your post however, one might conclude that Christmas is the holiday that dare not speak its name as if we were all hiding from the wrath of Pharoah.

Yeah Mike Woods is a stud....oh man this is getting gay.

In reading your post however, one might conclude that Christmas is the holiday that dare not speak its name as if we were all hiding from the wrath of Pharoah.
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But thats the point, we light up NYC, the stores start selling the deocration in August, but if someone in an office says Merry Christmas then we are insenstive to non christians.

here is little diddy that annoys me just enough for me to make a post about it.

i would disagree with Mickey slightly.
The term "Christmas" is subltely being removed.

Call some local Museums or other non-for profit organizations....and ask what their hours are.

They will say something to the effect of:
"We are open every day of the year except December 25th and New Years Day."

December 25th huh? Why not say Christmas? If you call them and ask....why are you closed on December 25th? They will say because of the "holiday". If you ask them, "which Holiday"....they finally break down and spit out the word "Christmas".


what gives?

RamaHanuKwanzMas song.




http://www.premiereinteractive.com/cgi-bin...tart=&stop=&RL=

Some of us might say "Happy Holidays" because it's all-inclusive. If someone doesn't celebrate the religious aspects of any specific holiday, they still recognize New Years Day.

So, to all of you I say, "Happy Holidays!"

Instead of worrying about what people say in a salutation, perhaps the more pious among you might want to focus your energies on those whole celebrate Christmas yet leave out the Christ part. IMO, that'd be a better way to "save" Christmas than worrying about what people call it.

Uhh...that's because this country was founded by Christians, and Christmas is older than the country itself. On top of that, as I stated before, 85% of Americans celebrate the holiday.

And in regards to your "Christmas is the holiday that dare not speak its name as if we were all hiding from the wrath of Pharoah", It's now not PC to call it Christmas season, it has to be called Holiday season. Look at the stores again, it's not Christmas they are advertising, its the Holidays. Huge difference.

what'd you guys want to do to me?
I'm not christian...am an atheist conservative libertarian brought up in a buddhist household...I actually enjoy the christmas season and celebrate it because i enjoy the company of friends and it's an excuse to buy something nice for people once a year (ok, maybe not once since there are birthdays, valentines day, baby showers, bachelor parties...etc...but whatever)...you could say I'm celebrating the holidays, but I refer to it as christmas because that is how i've always known it...i don't see why people get all up in arms about all this religious stuff...being christian these days is worse to some people than it is to be a transvestite
anyhoo, i feel that people should be able to do whatever they want, as long as they don't try to convert me...i've already looked at many religions and none of them interest me

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

From my perspective, the ACLU has made themselves the mouthpiece of the liberal agenda. This really is not fair to liberals, because the ACLU in fact has redefined liberalism as something that isn't even palatable to most of those who reside on the left (and who would be proud to call themselves liberals if it wasn't for such extremists).

What does this have to do with Christmas? Well, the ACLU in essence is an organization with a lot of money and a lot of lawyers. They justify their existence by searching for every last crumb to prosecute. Thus we have the case involving the reference to God in the pledge where the plaintiff wasn't even bothered by it. Thus we have the PC police trying to remove Christmas from mainstream society. Thus we have a lot of other silly cases meant to make America a vanilla country instead of a melting pot.

That is done so they can have their holiday sales begin before thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Not only that, but the Jews are not the ones begruding the Christmas spirit. Half my friends are Jewish....many are married to Christians, many celebrate both holidays. I never hear them complaining about Christmas....they are happy to celebrate their holiday and let others celebrate theirs.

It seems to me it is the PC "oh no, we can't risk offending anyone!" crowd that is always throwing the cold water on our nation's traditions. And for no good reason.


p.s. Merry Christmas!

I don't have a problem with it not being called Christmas anymore. To me, our society has ripped the soul out of the holiday and turned it into a giant commercialized orgy.

Now before everyone starts taking it personally, I'm not talking about YOU or YOUR family. I'm talking about the behavior I see generally in public from the day after Thanksgiving on.

Just my opinion.

Well said.

Exact-a-mundo!

I've celebrated Christmas my entire life and its by far my favorite holiday AND favorite time of the year (Friday after Turkey Day all the way to New Years is great) I'm not Catholic (protestant) but I'm pretty much at the point of being agnostic.

I married a Jewish girl who at first wasnt happy about me putting up a Christmas tree and all of that goings on. Over time, she's come to LOVE celebrating Christmas and actually bugs me to get the tree out of the basement and decorate it. Now that we have kids, we have them celebrate both holidays and its all good. Of course, only recently has my mother in law come to terms with this but eff her.


All the Jews I know dont have a problem with it. I acknowledge their holidays and accept greetings and they mine.

Well then, Happy RamaHanuKwanzMas to you too!

[quote=Mediaman,Nov 18 2004, 11:06 AM]
In reading your post however, one might conclude that Christmas is the holiday that dare not speak its name as if we were all hiding from the wrath of Pharoah.
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But thats the point, we light up NYC, the stores start selling the deocration in August, but if someone in an office says Merry Christmas then we are insenstive to non christians.
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What office do you work in? I don't know of any in my neck of the woods that give a rats whisker what holiday wishes we do or don't make. Fact is, the boss gives everyone a christmas ornament every year.

C'mon! What's not to love about Xmas time????

Bill, I am not complaining that xmas is oozing from everywhere, just pointing out that any notion that it isn't the "dominant" holiday is more than overstated.

"Happy Holidays" makes sense if you are selling and your goal is to sell as much as possible. Why risk alienating a non-christian who is trying to find a "holiday" gift for Uncle Olaf? As a christian myself I can't imagine being upset that the Sears web site has a pic of a xmas tree and a greeting using "Holiday" instead of "Christmas". Do you really think Sears is looking to insult Christians rather than being careful to include non-christian shoppers? You can say Merry Christmas all you want, its a free country.

Really. I am no expert on these things but is it really all that christian to get riled up over proving that Christmas is the "dominant" holiday or that stores looking to cash in on Christmas are using more inclusive language in their promotional material?

Yep, it is so out of control that Christmas itself is on the verge of extinction. Sound the alarm! The mistletoe is falling, the mistletoe is falling AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH......

You go Charlie Brown

Maybe Darin celebrates Festivus.

...For the rest of us. Got your pole up yet?

That's a classic episode!

Yes, you can say "Merry Christmas" - c'mon, you know what he means. You can't have an office "Christmas" party, lest someone be offended. Your kids can't have a "Christmas" program at school to sing "Christmas" carols - the "holiday" program may even exclude the more religious songs for "Frosty the Snowman" - type holiday fare, lest someone be offended. etc, etc. Christmas and all it entails is present in most ways it always has been, but we're not allowed to LABEL it what it really is, or an offended employee will sue the company, an offended parent will sue the school, an offended customer will sue the post office, etc. Christians don't fear the wrath of Pharoah anymore, they fear the wrath of lawyers.

I'm not sure where the tangent of Kwanzaa came from. Didn't see anyone here ridicule it. It's not a religious celebration, anyway. So to bring it up in a discussion of Christmas and Hannukah is kind of odd.

"Serenity NOW!"

It's time for the feats of strength. I think we've done enough airing of the grievances on this board.

It ihas no religious basis. It was made up in 1966 by Ron N. Everett,(AKA Maulena Karenga).
He is/was a Marxist Professor in LA . The "holiday" takes stuff from various regions of Africa, several of which will kill each other at the drop of a hat still today (Sudan and Rwanda being examples). Go to anywhere in Africa today and say 'Happy Kwanza" and you'll be met with blank stares.

My opinion exactly. Sorry Mickey. While I agree with you that Ann Coulter and some of her cronies are right-wing nut jobs, I think Ann is actually right about that one.

But here are some facts, so the rest of you can make up your own mind about Kwanzaa.

link

Whoa Whoa Whoa, I'm not done with the airing of grievances. I'VE GOT A LOT OF PROBLEMS WITH YOU PEOPLE!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS !!!

and

Happy New Year !!!

Happy Thanksgiving too !!!

Whether Kwanzaa is silly or not is not for me or Ann to judge. By the same token, whether or not Christmas is silly is not really for non-christians to pass judgment on. We have a right to whoop it up if we want and so do those who think Kwanzaa is the best. Mocking them for what they believe is just as bad as mocking us for what we believe. Free speech is free speech so people like Coulter have the right to be creeps but there is no need for the rest of us to pile on. I don't care if Kwanzaa was invented by the NAACP, I respect other peoples beliefs even in public even if I think they are pretty silly in private.

South Park Christmas lyrics are great:

It's hard to be a jew on christmas
My friends won't let me join in any games
And I can't sing christmas songs
Or decorate a christmas tree
Or leave water out for Rudolph
'Cause there's something wrong with me
My people don't believe in jesus christ's divinity

I'm a jew
A lonely jew
On christmas

Hanukkah is nice but why is it
That Santa passes over my house every year?
And instead of eating ham I have to eat kosher latkes
Instead of Silent Night I'm singing
Hoo Hact Toh Gaveesh
And what the f... is up with lighting All these f..... candels tell me please

I'm a jew
A lonely jew
I can't be marry
'Cause I'm Hebrew
On christmas

It brings a tear to my eye, *sniff*, every time.

I prefer Mr. Garrison's "Merry F-ing Xmas"

OH...and this week's SP sucked...

One great quote though from that episode:

Butters is outside the school looking for celebrities:
"I thought I saw Sigorney Weaver, but it turned out to be a dead horse."

Did it bring back too many flashbacks?

Was reading my copy of the Orchard Park Citizen last night. There was a log letter to the editor in the opinion section about how Christmas is losing its luster as its taken over by the "Holiday Season"

Suprised to see the letter was from Tom Jolls!!!

Isn't it ironic that Jesus was born on Christmas?

Up until his birth, it was known as annual gift day and everyone relished in the joyous secular holiday.

But I understand the rationale behind it, God made baby Jesus on Christmas because it was symbolic that he was God's gift to the world.

I'd rather get Tivo

Just Kidding

Seeing that crappy phrase "Happy Holidays" makes my flesh crawl. Christmas is the greatest holiday in my humble opinion, and I will always say Merry Christmas even if it one day becomes illegal.