Thursday, December 15, 2005
Merry Christmas
Though it's starting to become cliché, I thought I would post some musings on the "Merry Christmas" vs. "Happy Holidays" issue. Actually, my thoughts are more general than that. I think the Happy Holidays issue has been blown out of proportion, even by those who complain that it has been blown out of proportion. The problem with it is not so much whether or not we should be forcing Christmas on others. To me, it's similar to the gay marriage issue. I know some readers are saying, "Where in the world is she going with this one?" Well, the truth is, I'm not sure... stay with me. It almost amuses me that people are making it into a legal issue, when it's really a religious one. The institution of marriage is ordained by God. God created it to be a certain thing. The American people either don't realize this, or have forgotten it. The idea of making a constitutional amendment to define marriage, is as crazy to me as making a constitutional amendment to make stipulations on who is or isn't saved. It is almost comical that those who have little regard for anything else scriptural, are fighting to protect an ordinance of God that they really don't understand. With that said, let's consider this phraseology problem. I don't care to force people to say Merry Christmas, as much as I care about the disappearance of the meaning of Christmas. The political correctness has long been out of hand. I think those who are enraged by the removal of "Merry Christmas" are feeling the frustration of the loss of their freedom of religion. No, it's not an incredibly huge problem, but it typifies one. What the American public is failing to grasp is that Christmas is a religious holiday! Yes, many of our traditions have their roots in pagan customs, but Christmas, by its very name, is about Christ! We are a society that is becoming increasingly less Christ-like and Christ-serving, yet we fight tooth and nail to keep our Christmas trees and Christmas presents and Christmas decorations. My desire is that all people- Christians, non-Christians, those who think they're Christians but show little evidence of it- would focus on Jesus and the reason He came, not just at Christmas, but all through the year. And maybe, those who think they have it figured out, could share that message with others, instead of harping on politics and semantics.
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I agree totally! I have actually been thinking the same thing this past month and it really bothers me when others who do not believe in Christ in my family put gifts as a number one priority and that is all that matters. "What did you get me?", "What you get for others at Christmas IS very important!". These are a couple things I heard this past month from my step-mother and it made me so upset. She claims to be a catholic yet does not have anything to do with church or God in anyway. She complained to a cousin-in-law on Christmas day that she was uncomfortable about all the talk of God she was hearing and taht is a catholic and in no way a Christian( That I believe but it is still hypocritical to call yourself something you do not even practice). When I confronted her a couple weeks ago about how the gifts were not that important she was angry at me. I like the traditions and I like having fun and making memories at Christmas BUT, I feel that the first priority should be to keep Christ in CHRISTmas and then you can have all your traditions and fun. But, never forget why you celebrate.
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