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As you may or may not know our middle son, AKA Odd, does an online radio program. Today he sent me a copy of his latest editorial, this one being about Christmas. Odd also did the artwork.
Enjoy....
Today we live in a world filled with censors and safety terms as to not offend anyone. Political Correctness has run amok and diluted everything down to a nice beige bland sauce to pour over everything.
I have been keeping my ear to the ground and eye on the news. More and more you hear about how the "season" is being changed, from no longer wishing folks "Merry Christmas" to Santa's in Australia being asked to say "HA HA HA" instead of the normal Santa banter. Christmas is being attacked, not by bomb wielding terrorists, but by PC happy consumer conglomerations.
Every year you hear about the regret that comes in January when the credit card bills come. Stores thrive on this time of year, they get you to spend gobs and gobs of money on crap you don't really need. Corporate juggernauts battling for your buck, trying to entice you with "LOW LOW PRICES!" then getting you on the back end with some creative wording in their "Sales ad's". You may say "oh well I am never duped and I don't spend more than I need to" You lying crusted sack of the yeti you! Of course you have, we ALL have at one point or another.
The real question is, where did this all begin? Over the last 5 to 10 years, Christmas has been getting an under-haul. If you remember, people were up in arms over the nativity scenes. Spouting off about how seeing baby Jesus in the manger was "offensive" to their religion. Lets dissect this one shall we?
Jesus, savior of the Christian faiths. Christmas is his birthday, if you so believe it to be true. Catholicism is a subsidiary of Christianity, they were mainly responsible for creating saints. If you look up the history of Saint Nicolas, you'll see it mentions that he had the habit of secret gift giving.
Saint Nicholas of Myra is the primary inspiration for the Christian figure of Santa Claus. He was a 4th century Christian bishop of Myra in Lycia, a province of the Byzantine Anatolia, now in Turkey. Nicholas was famous for his generous gifts to the poor, in particular presenting the three impoverished daughters of a pious Christian with dowries so that they would not have to become prostitutes. - Taken From Wikipedia.com
How is a baby in a manger "offensive"? I mean even if that baby was drinking a forty and flipping the bird, it wouldn't be "offensive" it would just be unfortunate and slightly humorous. It would be the kind of humor one might find coming from someone like Sarah Silverman, ya know what I am talking about right? The type of person who thinks it would be funny to put Jesus in a "I hate Jews" t-shirt.
So first they attacked a baby, then they started in after what you should be saying. "Happy Holiday's" is the preferred saying for most retail employers. Case in point. A few years back my wife worked at Value City. They were specifically told to not say "Merry Christmas" as it might offend someone. Now what in the blue **** is that? We currently reside in a time where everyone would rather say "**** you" than "Hello", almost like the whole country slowly turned into a NYC street.
I have talked to some of the meanest people you can imagine. Just those kind of folks who would shoot you the evil eye for even crossing their line of vision and even they say its nice for someone to care enough to wish them a "Merry Christmas". Is it so wrong that for at least one month a year to wish goodwill and cheer onto others? Who the hell cares if you get the holiday wrong? Does it really matter if you celebrate Hanukkah or Kwanzaa as opposed to Christmas? Isn't the fact that someone cared to be cheerful and warm hearted to you enough? Must we condemn them to hell for getting the holiday wrong? Christmas is the norm for most people. So it's just natural to say that. It has been that way for many years, so why do we need to change it now? How is it insensitive? I mean, if it's that big a deal to those who get told "Merry Christmas", then they will pipe up and say "Oh I don't celebrate that holiday, I celebrate (insert holiday here)".
Now we move on to the jolly fat man himself. No I am not speaking of myself in the third person, I am talking about the big SC. Santa Claus is one of the final relics to be sterilized. More and more you hear about how schools don't want to do Christmas programs or how certain groups want to do away with Santa as a mascot for the holiday. Not to mention how corporate America has hijacked and crucified this icon for all America to see. Santa is on everything this time of year, from cans of pop to advertisements slinging diamonds for your high maintenance girlfriend or wife. It is sickening to see how quickly this holiday got turned into nothing more than an excuse to go shopping.
Santa is now a caricature of what he use to be. I mentioned above about the Santa's in Australia. Here is the story; No more HO HO HO?
Who benefits from it? Not you, not with that aching pocket book. Someone should make a DVD called "Consumers Gone Wild", take video of how crazy these stores get with customers freaking out because they might not get this years Tickle Me Dildo. Their little ungrateful brat might have to go without those stupid Whorez dolls. How many people donate clothes and toys to people who are less fortunate? Have we forgotten that thats what Christmas was supposed to be about? Poor folks who have nothing being given things they need by people who have the means to give.
I myself am not the richest person out there. I constantly have to make friends understand that we are a low income family so we can't do things with other friends all the time, but every year we donate what we can to those who are less fortunate. We have even instilled this in our son by having him go through his toys every year before Christmas and his birthday. He gets rid of what he wants and gives them to kids whose parents might not be able to afford presents.
Can we salvage what is left of this season or is it forever doomed. Should we get use to the idea of a skeletal S.C. Delivering presents, representing the death of an era? Have the Politically Correct ****oles finally won by killing our last great fictional joy inducing character?
I would like to hope not. I guess time will tell.
Merry Christmas.
-Odd
Enjoy....
Today we live in a world filled with censors and safety terms as to not offend anyone. Political Correctness has run amok and diluted everything down to a nice beige bland sauce to pour over everything.
I have been keeping my ear to the ground and eye on the news. More and more you hear about how the "season" is being changed, from no longer wishing folks "Merry Christmas" to Santa's in Australia being asked to say "HA HA HA" instead of the normal Santa banter. Christmas is being attacked, not by bomb wielding terrorists, but by PC happy consumer conglomerations.
Every year you hear about the regret that comes in January when the credit card bills come. Stores thrive on this time of year, they get you to spend gobs and gobs of money on crap you don't really need. Corporate juggernauts battling for your buck, trying to entice you with "LOW LOW PRICES!" then getting you on the back end with some creative wording in their "Sales ad's". You may say "oh well I am never duped and I don't spend more than I need to" You lying crusted sack of the yeti you! Of course you have, we ALL have at one point or another.
The real question is, where did this all begin? Over the last 5 to 10 years, Christmas has been getting an under-haul. If you remember, people were up in arms over the nativity scenes. Spouting off about how seeing baby Jesus in the manger was "offensive" to their religion. Lets dissect this one shall we?
Jesus, savior of the Christian faiths. Christmas is his birthday, if you so believe it to be true. Catholicism is a subsidiary of Christianity, they were mainly responsible for creating saints. If you look up the history of Saint Nicolas, you'll see it mentions that he had the habit of secret gift giving.
Saint Nicholas of Myra is the primary inspiration for the Christian figure of Santa Claus. He was a 4th century Christian bishop of Myra in Lycia, a province of the Byzantine Anatolia, now in Turkey. Nicholas was famous for his generous gifts to the poor, in particular presenting the three impoverished daughters of a pious Christian with dowries so that they would not have to become prostitutes. - Taken From Wikipedia.com
How is a baby in a manger "offensive"? I mean even if that baby was drinking a forty and flipping the bird, it wouldn't be "offensive" it would just be unfortunate and slightly humorous. It would be the kind of humor one might find coming from someone like Sarah Silverman, ya know what I am talking about right? The type of person who thinks it would be funny to put Jesus in a "I hate Jews" t-shirt.
So first they attacked a baby, then they started in after what you should be saying. "Happy Holiday's" is the preferred saying for most retail employers. Case in point. A few years back my wife worked at Value City. They were specifically told to not say "Merry Christmas" as it might offend someone. Now what in the blue **** is that? We currently reside in a time where everyone would rather say "**** you" than "Hello", almost like the whole country slowly turned into a NYC street.
I have talked to some of the meanest people you can imagine. Just those kind of folks who would shoot you the evil eye for even crossing their line of vision and even they say its nice for someone to care enough to wish them a "Merry Christmas". Is it so wrong that for at least one month a year to wish goodwill and cheer onto others? Who the hell cares if you get the holiday wrong? Does it really matter if you celebrate Hanukkah or Kwanzaa as opposed to Christmas? Isn't the fact that someone cared to be cheerful and warm hearted to you enough? Must we condemn them to hell for getting the holiday wrong? Christmas is the norm for most people. So it's just natural to say that. It has been that way for many years, so why do we need to change it now? How is it insensitive? I mean, if it's that big a deal to those who get told "Merry Christmas", then they will pipe up and say "Oh I don't celebrate that holiday, I celebrate (insert holiday here)".
Now we move on to the jolly fat man himself. No I am not speaking of myself in the third person, I am talking about the big SC. Santa Claus is one of the final relics to be sterilized. More and more you hear about how schools don't want to do Christmas programs or how certain groups want to do away with Santa as a mascot for the holiday. Not to mention how corporate America has hijacked and crucified this icon for all America to see. Santa is on everything this time of year, from cans of pop to advertisements slinging diamonds for your high maintenance girlfriend or wife. It is sickening to see how quickly this holiday got turned into nothing more than an excuse to go shopping.
Santa is now a caricature of what he use to be. I mentioned above about the Santa's in Australia. Here is the story; No more HO HO HO?
Who benefits from it? Not you, not with that aching pocket book. Someone should make a DVD called "Consumers Gone Wild", take video of how crazy these stores get with customers freaking out because they might not get this years Tickle Me Dildo. Their little ungrateful brat might have to go without those stupid Whorez dolls. How many people donate clothes and toys to people who are less fortunate? Have we forgotten that thats what Christmas was supposed to be about? Poor folks who have nothing being given things they need by people who have the means to give.
I myself am not the richest person out there. I constantly have to make friends understand that we are a low income family so we can't do things with other friends all the time, but every year we donate what we can to those who are less fortunate. We have even instilled this in our son by having him go through his toys every year before Christmas and his birthday. He gets rid of what he wants and gives them to kids whose parents might not be able to afford presents.
Can we salvage what is left of this season or is it forever doomed. Should we get use to the idea of a skeletal S.C. Delivering presents, representing the death of an era? Have the Politically Correct ****oles finally won by killing our last great fictional joy inducing character?
I would like to hope not. I guess time will tell.
Merry Christmas.
-Odd
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