Mishegas, Religion

You Know It's The "Holiday Season" When…

…when you find that virtually everywhere you look is a front-line battlefield either for or against the “War On Xmas.” From the Houston Chronicle:

Forcing religion on consumers is anti-Christmas
By WAYNE MADSEN
Only America’s Religious Right is able to find controversy where it does not exist. There is nothing more anti-Christmas than forcing American businesses and employees to say Merry Christmas. And only in consumerism-run-amok America is it important to force retail workers who make minimum wage to wish every shopper, “Merry Christmas.”
Humbug to those phony Christians who think Christmas is all about minimum-wage employees uttering vapid niceties to gluttonous shoppers in mega-store foyers and checkout lanes!
If the Religious Righteous want to demonstrate their commitment to the Christmas spirit, let them start by boycotting the big-box retailers who refuse to pay their workers a living wage and family-sustainable benefits. The Religious Right, in its zeal to make every American conform to a specified form of speech during Christmas, is not much different than the Roman Empire requiring its citizens to say “Hail Caesar!” or the Third Reich requiring Germans to greet one another by uttering “Heil Hitler!”
[…] Like the Pledge of Allegiance and American flag lapel pins, Christmas has been co-opted by the right for their own nefarious purposes. Companies should allow their employees the latitude to say “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Hannukah” or “Allahu Akbar” or “Happy Kwanzaa.”
We are after all — and always have been — “a nation of nations” rather than a religious state.

Whoa!
Somehow, I don’t think we’ve seen the last of this year’s installment of the “War On Xmas.”
Still, I can’t help but wonder how I’d actually react if I heard, “Thank you for shopping at Target, All-hu akbar!

6 thoughts on “You Know It's The "Holiday Season" When…

  1. What about the “phony” Hebrew dominated retail industry whose greatest windfall each and every year lies between the day after Thanksgiving and Dec. 24. I don’t see or hear them having a problem with Merry Christmas as they close out the registers each night.
    Aren’t you quite the apologist Mr. Madsen diverting attention away from “The Jews” by lashing out against so-called “Christian right.” In the end–as always– it’s only the faux pearl of “New Anti-Semitism” as practiced by Abe Foxman, Morris Dees, and the ever plagiarizing Alan Dershowitz against any and all who would expose Israel and its sordid underbelly. What is an anti-semite? Anyone who doesn’t agree with them or Israel.
    Don’t say it’s wrong to demand “Merry Christmas” of your employees as a salutation when “Merry Christmas” paid for your Long Island residence and cabin in the Poconos.

  2. Meh! Last week, my friend told me how she saw someone wearing a button that said, “I CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS.” She Googled it and found out it was some weird campaign to “put the christ child back into the Christmas season.” I rolled my eyes at it because it just seems like they’re purposely making a scene and a big controversy where none exists. A few days later, I finally saw one myself and honestly felt sad/sick. How does someone get offended by the suggestion that nobody cares what holidays you celebrate, it’s all cool either way, so have a good one? That is the point of “Happy Holidays.” :
    I have a button machine and I decided to make some Chanukah buttons for me and some folks I know. If anyone is curious/wants one, I’ve got them up here. I’m going to make some other, non-Christmas holiday season ones too.

  3. How does someone get offended by the suggestion that nobody cares what holidays you celebrate
    How does somebody get offended, not to mention SICK, by somebody declaring which holiday(s) they celebrate? Is it any different than somebody wearing a green, red, or white ribbon (although not at the same time, because that may mistakenly infer what the button explicitly states) for their respective causes?
    I think it would be great to have a button that says “I celebrate Channukah”. But, one shouldn’t wear it as a protest against those who wear one that says “I Celebrate Christmas”. Rather, it should be worn as a declaration of pride and, perhaps more importantly, as an aid to those who want to extend to you the most appropriate holiday wishes.

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