Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/12/09/a-brief-history-of-the-war-on-christmas.html
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What always annoys me about this shit… is this is all from the Religion that literally stole these holidays from other traditions. I guess maybe from that perspective they do see it as a cultural war that they actually started? You’d think they’d be making an effort to erase all the outsider traditions (easter bunnies/eggs, christmas trees and elves). Maybe they realize those are the only fun parts and it’s futile?
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When I was a kid, and I’m sure for decades before that, there was nothing wrong with saying “happy holidays”, now that’s some kind of threatening phrase, apparently wishing someone well is “evil.”
At last count 93% of Americans celebrate Christmas, so who’s not celebrating? Muslims, Jews, Hindus, even some Christians, which I’m sure would surprise the regular Fox News viewer.
The idea is to generate outrage and victimization, which keeps viewers/listeners coming back for more, and also draws attention away from the immoral and markedly un-Christian things conservatives do every day as a proud matter of policy, like cutting off public assistance, putting kids in cages, denying health care coverage, persecuting minorities, etc etc etc.
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This year they’ve dragged Dr. Anthony Fauci into the fray because of course they did.
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If I were to write a novel about this, I would name it “(unnamed) Fox reporter without a cause/story.”
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The reason I say “Happy Holidays” is based on the fact that I loathe the retail Christmas culture and the stress that surrounds it. Connecting with family and friends should be the priority.
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Seeing that blew my mind. It’s so completely insane it really lays bare the madness of the “War on Christmas” as a whole. They’re so used to rallying the base with this shit, they’re trying to do it with covid. The problem is, it’s aimed entirely at their base, but coronavirus don’t give a shit about their culture wars.
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Not sure about elsewhere, but preaching to financially stable white people that they are the real victims has been a cornerstone of American Christianity for quite a long time.
I would, however like to see the Easter cards that were all about Chist’s brutal death that fellow in 1921 implied existed. I feel certain that eggs and bunnies were always the dominant theme there.
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Jim Jordan? the guy who stood by and tried to cover up his coworker raping student athletes? How does anyone listen this guy? why isn’t he in prison?
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I’m glad they get into the origins of this nonsense. The anti-Semitism may be more muted than it was with Henry Ford, but it’s still humming along today as a constant undertone to the “War on Christmas” rhetoric.
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I say neither “Happy Holidays” or “Merry Christmas” because that same retail culture has robbed me of any enjoyment I once felt in this time of year. I’m sure many retail workers feel the same.
At least this year most people are buying online.
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Any mention of anti-Semitism reminds me of the time I got in trouble at work for slipping Adam Sandler’s Hanukkah song into the carols at the office holiday party.
Strictly speaking it wasn’t anti-Semitism so much as “how dare you force us to acknowledge other belief systems!” but then if you drew a Venn diagram of people who believe Christmas is the only acceptable holiday and anti-Semites you’d have a circle.
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Christmas has had a war on me my entire life. I’m still waiting for that Stingray bike ya’ elderly corpulent elf…
Courtesy Lee Ving and the boys.
Fuck Christmas
Don’t despair just because it’s Christmas
Children they’re all so gay at Christmas
All the children on the street
Hope they get something good to eat
But for me it’s not so great
Fuck Christmas
Fuck Christmas
Fuck Christmas
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Ah, that isn’t completely accurate. Cultural exchange and blending of old and new is how we get to any current traditions. Some of them are quite recent. But it wasn’t stealing as much as the former Pagans adapted their old traditions to work with the new beliefs.
Like the “elf on a shelf”. Growing up, we had an elf very similar to the one marketed today, but it was always just a decoration. It never had a story or the “game” of moving around at night like it does now. New tradition, based on an old decoration, based on an even older idea of magical elves.
Several groups have tried and currently do strip all of the “fun” parts. The Puritans banned Christmas in both their American colonies, and in England in the 1600s. Jehovah’s Witnesses still don’t celebrate it. Ah… poor Tim in elementary school. He couldn’t even have a birthday cupcake. 
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Surely they know that santa has always been anti-gun?
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I say “Merry Christmas” regularly in an affluent part of California, and not once have I been captured and sent to a liberal re-education camp.
But I’ve said “Happy Holidays” to the wrong person and received an ear full about a supposed attack on Christmas. Ahh … the spirit of the season!
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Yeah. Them: “They are trying to make it so you can’t say Merry Christmas any more” Me: “How so? Who said you can’t say merry christmas?” Them: "Well when you go to a store the cashier says ‘happy holidays’. Me: “So someone else is saying something different than what you want and it’s an attack on your free speach?” Them: “der.”
I’m not claiming that there are no people in jobs that involve public interaction who have been told by their boss to say “happy holidays” instead of “merry christmas”. Obviously that happens. But by and large those aren’t the people complaining, and in fact the people complaining are the ones who are eager to stand up for the rights of business owners to treat their employees like shit because if they don’t like it they can quit.
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So to properly celebrate Christ’s Mass, I assume all of the people who have been observing the Christian Sabbath for the last few years…
(every week on Sunday AM. You aren’t breaking the 4th commandment to blow leaves and watch NFL are ya?)
…will be waking up early on the Dec 25th and attending on-line services to remember the birth of someone born in the Middle-East who promoted love, understanding, and tolerance. Even to those people he disagreed with.
Or will they be propping up their inflatable-light-up junk in their front yard, getting the turkey friers out, and prepping to launch another super-spreader Covid event?
Because the last turkey-day event killed quite a lot of people. That I know.
Edit: knew
Edit2: I’m not a religious person. It just angers me that we even have this holiday. It should be something more physical like a solstice celebration where people can learn about the longest night and how the earth works.
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There’s a war on Christmas and the retailers won.
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It was not an equal exchange and blending of cultures, but a violent imposition that allowed some blending.
It’s pretty accurate in that much of the conversion of Europe came at the point of the sword for the most part. The blending was after the fact and still subject to Christianization that stripped away previous meaning from these cultural practices.
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