The War On Christmas: Why I say "Happy Holidays"

 I’ve had it, yes I have had it. The commercialization of Christmas by corporate America, the lack of tolerance and compassion by so-called Christians, the exploitation of Christmas by so-called religious leaders, their mega-churches, political war chest and TV empires.  It baffles me that people seek to define the presence of God in symbols, the presence or absence of Christ in a word, the proof of devotion in tithes, and the identification of worthiness by the choice of political party.

I have no problem with boycotting a corporations product or services based on their practices or policies, but to identify a company as worthy because they prominently portray the word Christmas and unfavorable because they don’t, while at the same time ignoring their policies that encourage third world wages, unsafe working conditions, the use of child labor, and the export of jobs to COMMUNIST nations is so far from responsible it is mind boggling.

The so-called “War on Christmas” is a political hoax:

Let me start by saying that if you believe that someone with different political view than yours is evil, or un-American then you probably don’t want to read on.
If you believe that because 86% of the country claims to be Christian that makes us a Christian nation, but at the same time you believe that the remaining 13% are oppressing Christians in this country, then you probably don’t want to read on.

…but, you might want to look at how Christian churches in China have to operate “…within the narrow boundaries of theology and church life dictated by the State Administration for Religious Affairs,…”, or how Christians have been persecuted, oppressed, tortured and killed in the former Soviet Union, modern North Korea, and the middle east. These are places where Christianity is persecuted and oppressed, in America what passes for oppression is little more than differences of opinion about religious choice, the right to practice and the right to refrain.

If your not outraged by the commercialization of Christ and Christmas how can you be upset about someone choosing between “Happy Holidays” or “Merry Christmas”?

War On Christmas 2015

This year the first shot of the 2015 was fired before Thanksgiving. Ironically, or maybe not so ironically, the ‘war’, like the commercialization of Christmas is starting earlier each year.

The following comes from a Facebook discussion:·

WAR ON CHRISTMAS?

I was reading this morning about how the new Starbucks holiday cups are the first strike in this years' war on Christmas.

May I say something as a Christian pastor? The message of Christmas is already lost on much of the church whether or not the season has "Merry Christmas" stamped on it. At this point, the birth of a poor child in the cold darkness is celebrated by lights, glaring music and by the biggest shopping season of the year. Nothing could silence the message of Christmas more than how it is already celebrated.

Let's be clear, if the spirit of Christmas is under attack this year, it is by capitalism which has turned the holiday into a commodity like it does everything else; and by selfish Christians who refuse to to obey Jesus' command to be a good neighbor to those who walk different paths.

As we wander through the mockeries of this holiday season, this Christian is lifting a holiday cup to honor my atheist, Jewish, Muslim, pagan as well as Christian neighbors who share the same hope of "peace on earth and goodwill to all."

Jim Rigby    https://www.facebook.com/jim.rigby.12/about

---

10 Things Christians Shouldn’t Do At Christmas

142/171 / 220

Happy Holidays: Christmas Day

December 25th, Christmas Day:

A Christmas Message Of Hope

---

The Holidays: An 8 part Series

• Intro        

• Happy Holidays, for me                    Part 1:

• The First 20 Days                             Part 2:

• The Winter Solstice                          Part 3:

• Pre-Christmas Day Celebrations     Part 4:

• The Days After Christmas                Part 5:

• The New Year                                   Part 6:

• When Was Jesus Born                    Part 7:

10 Things Christians Shouldn’t Do At Christmas

14/23

Happy Holidays…all of them, yours and mine.

This article is an introduction to an 8 part series on holiday traditions.
For more on the following articles see the bottom of this post.
by Glenn Littrell

Yes I say Happy Holidays.

The decision whether to use the specific greeting “Merry Christmas” or the more inclusive “Happy Holidays”, is a question of manners, not faith.
The imposing of any Political Correctness upon a persons choice of greeting is a distraction and attack upon what might be called the message of Christmas and what it celebrates.

The so called ‘War on Christmas’ is a political hoax:

Perpetrated by right wing conservatives to divide and alienate us from common cause and common good.It is the result of an unholy alliance between leaders of the religious right and corporate purchased political leadership that is intent on convincing their followers to buy into their message of victimization and persecution. By convincing members of the predominant religion in America that they are persecuted by a conspiracy from a non-existent majority of evil Americans they have pit Americans against Americans, Christians against Christians, families against families. A personal dispute over a minor practice, a simple greeting, is used to drive a wedge between us, and that wedge serves a larger purpose as it creates a festering cancer that creates and expands a to simple acceptance of a most divisive and unchristian message: “Anyone who disagrees with us is against us…”.

This falsely created wedge and message opens the door to growing fears, past and present, that are not easily dispelled because of the level of distrust they create. The further wickedness of this falsely created wedge and message is that it is not driven between Christian and non-Christian… it serves to divide Christian from Christian.

The decision whether to use the specific greeting “Merry Christmas” or the more inclusive “Happy Holidays”, is a question of manners, not faith. If we pretend to know what would offend or not offend Christ I find the idea that any greeting that wished a fellow man well would be considered acceptable. I even find it strange that we believe that Christ would care one way or another that we celebrate his birthday, especially on an arbitrarily chosen date.

I have to believe that he would be more upset by such a commercial and politicized event would be carried on in his name. The sight of so-called religious leaders turning his church into a political vessel and the pagan-like commercialization of his birth surely is akin to the keys of the temple being handed over to the moneychangers.

There are over 80 holidays in December alone, some are ill defined, others are commercially motivated, many are of questionable origin,
many are frivolous:

National -Cookie, Dice, Ninja, Bathtub, & Cat Herders- Day,

civic in nature:

Rosa Parks Day, World Aids Day,International Anti Corruption Day, Human Rights Day, Nobel Prize Day, Abolition of Slavery Day,

but some are of a patriotic nature:

Civil Air Patrol Day, National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, International Civil Aviation Day, Bill of Rights Day, Forefathers Day, Pledge of Allegiance Day,

some are religious:

Winter Solstice Day, National Christmas Tree Lighting Day, St. Nicholas day, Hanukkah, St. Stephan's' Day, Boxing Day, Yule (Yuletide festivals were pagan winter festivals that were adopted into the Christian practices related to Christmas), Asarah B'Tevet (the Tenth of Tevet) is a fast day (observed from sunrise to sunset) that marks the beginning of the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon (in 587 BC) and the beginning of the battle that ultimately would destroy the Temple and send the Jews into the 70-year Babylonian Exile. (12-25), Santa Lucia Day, Fiesta of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Three Kings Day/Epiphany, Ramadan (Muslim), Eid al-Fitr (Muslim), Eid'ul-Adha (Muslim), Kwanzaa, Omisoka (Japanese New Years), The Elephant Festival, Bodhi Day (Enlightenment Day(Buddhist)), Hindu(7 in November)

So, during November and December of every year, if I say happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas to you, then am I waging ‘war on Christmas’? Have I insulted your religious believes?
So let’s extend your logic:

• You didn’t say ‘Happy Human Rights Day’, does that make you against human rights? My rights?
• You didn’t acknowledge Bill of Rights Day, Forefathers Day, Pledge of Allegiance Day. Are you anti-patriotism?
• You didn’t acknowledge National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, are you disrespecting our veterans?

So how is the choice of a personal greeting either practically or religiously unjustified?

---

Everything You Might Want To Know About The Holidays 

The Holidays: An 8 part Series

• Intro                                                    This post

• Happy Holidays, for me                    Part 1:

• The First 20 Days                             Part 2:

• The Winter Solstice                          Part 3:

• Pre-Christmas Day Celebrations     Part 4:

• The Days After Christmas                Part 5:

• The New Year                                   Part 6:

• When Was Jesus Born                    Part 7:

by Glenn Littrell

---

10 Things Christians Shouldn’t Do At Christmas

December 9, 2014 by Mark Sandlin

The real point here is that Christmas is what we make of it.

10) Celebrate Consumeristmas
9) Forget Those Without Food
8) Forget Those Without Shelter
7) Forget About Immigrants
6) Miss The Message About Resisting Abusive Power
5) Forget Those Without Presents
4) Insist Your Religious Celebration Rule Them All
3) Get Mad About People Saying “Happy Holidays”
2) Think That It Is Actually Jesus’ Birthday.
1) Confuse The Religious Observance With the Secular Holiday.

FROM: read the complete breakdown of the ‘10 things’ http://www.patheos.com/blogs/thegodarticle/2014/12/10-things-christians-shouldnt-do-at-christmas/

---

1193/1248