Hating Christmas

I know, I know. I said this cartoon expressed everything I had to say on this topic… but that’s wrong.

I seriously think the “defending Christmas” people hate Christianity.

I’m not screwing around here. There’s no sarcasm. I’m serious. I don’t mean the stupidity of pretending that “Happy Holidays” doesn’t include Christmas. I think that folks like the AFA or “Stand For Christmas” people who make “Merry Christmas” into an annual December farce are actively engaged in undermining the religious aspects of the holiday.

Let’s examine.

  1. The sheer hubris of claiming this period can only be about your holiday is as sanctimonious as the most uptight depiction of the Pharisees and Saducees in the Gospels. Really. I mean, claiming that NOT saying “Merry Christmas” is the same as censoring it? (Seriously. From the AFA website: “If a company has items associated with Christmas, but did not use the word “Christmas,” then the company is considered as censoring “Christmas.””) How can you think this makes Christianity look good at all? And if I were considering joining a religion, it probably wouldn’t be the one made up of a bunch of sanctimonious asshats.
  2. We are all aware that Yeshua (that’s Jesus to you) was probably born in the spring, right? Shepherds don’t hang out on cold desert hills at night in the winter, even in the Middle East. Face it – the date was chosen because Christian emperors wanted to subsume pagan winter festivals.
  3. But if we want to be concerned about the date, you’re still wrong. It is not Christmas yet. Right now (16 December), it’s Advent. Being all “It’s Christmastime” now is kind of like celebrating graduating college before you take your finals.
  4. That Twelve Days of Christmas? That’s the time between Christmas Day and Epiphany (or 6 Jan). Try wishing people a Merry Christmas then, and you’ll get some strange looks. All you people who take decorations down before Epiphany? Anti-Christmas.
  5. Christmas is NOT the most important Christian holiday. Period. The most important Christian holiday (holy day) is Easter. Where’s the backlash against the Easter Bunny?

I don’t know why these people have been led astray, how “peace and goodwill” has turned into rancor and near-fascist demands to recognize one religion’s holy days. I don’t know why they make a big deal about a lesser holy day instead of the most important one. I don’t know why they focus on the time for preparing for the holy day instead of the actual season of Christmas.

I do know they turn people away from Christianity. That they make Christians I know wince with their strident, selfish demands for attention.

They are more the enemy of Christ than any inflatable snowman.

They are more the enemy of Christmas than a smiling person wishing you a happy holiday.

Happy Holidays to you – whichever you follow.