The Three Christmases.

[BryanMaloney]

"Three things go by the name of Christmas. One is a religious festival. This is important and obligatory for Christians; but as it can be of no interest to anyone else, I shall naturally say no more about it here. The second (it has complex historical connections with the first, but we needn't go into them) is a popular holiday, an occasion for merry-making and hospitality. If it were my business to have a 'view' on this, I should say that I much approve of merry-making. But what I approve of much more is everybody minding his own business. I see no reason why I should volunteer views as to how other people should spend their own money in their own leisure among their own friends. It is highly probable that they want my advice on such matters as little as I want theirs. But the third thing called Christmas is unfortunately everyone's business. I mean of course the commercial racket. The interchange of presents was a very small ingredient in the older English festivity. Mr. Pickwick took a cod with him to Dingley Dell; the reformed Scrooge ordered a turkey for his clerk; lovers sent love gifts; toys and fruit were given to children. But the idea that not only all friends but even all acquaintances should give one another presents, or at least send one another cards, is quite modern and has been forced upon us by the shopkeepers."

CS Lewis, from God in the Dock.

And that says all I need to know about whether or not mere stores are the front line in a "war on Christmas".

 

[hidonmesahj]

Complex & obviously well read is your stance, brother..open to interpretation, but presented solidly..I like it. I wonder if u think the war on Christmas is, in actuality, a war on those who oppose unnecessary amounts of greed within capitalism? Or if the "shopkeepers" are, now at least, a euphemism for a more sinister entity within our modern society?

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[BryanMaloney]

The so-called "war on Christmas" is a propaganda ploy by right-wing talking heads to drum up support and distract a large number of people from real problems in our society. Either that, or Bing Crosby was always a member of the hard-core anti-Christmas Left, even as far back as World War II.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJi-8ulYevU

 

[Bro Darren]

I love gathering with the extended family on Christmas day, with my Brothers, their partners, their kids and my Mum. We share a traditional lunch followed by sitting around and sharing stories from our past and there is no exchanging of gifts.

After this get together I then move on to my other family, my partners family to share few social drinks and laughs. Here is where the expectation of lavish gifts were exchanged and that awful gut feeling of "did we spend enough on them this year" began.

My wife and I work hard but our disposable income is not as disposable as others and Christmas sure does put the stress levels up. For a long time now I have not received a gift from my wife under the tree because we just can't afford to do so. Because of my wifes upbringing she was a little confused and upset that I didn't want a gift from her and it took a few years of explaining that Christmas to me is about family coming together and not going without the basics in life just so that we can exchange gifts. Her attitude all changed 3 years ago when 2 weeks prior to Christmas we had a huge financial crises of our own and we had to return all but 1 present for each of my kids to the store. That Christmas was a wake up call for my wife and one that will live with us for a long time. 3 gifts under a tree and my kids were shocked, but "santa" had left a letter for my kids...

I can't remember the exact wording on the letter, but It went a little like this:

"Dear "insert kids names"
Here is a gift from me Santa that I would like you to hold onto for a long time.
Its only paper thin but its should never be wrapped up or stored in a box.
Its a gift that I would like you to remember and share.

Children,
Christmas has always been about sharing your love for all those around you.
Christmas has always been about sparing a moments thought for children that have less than you.
Christmas was not meant to be about the number of gifts you get.

Children, this year could you do something special for Santa?
Will you go to the local charity hall and share your Christmas lunch with someone that has no one to spend Christmas with.
Will you give your one gift to a child that did not have a home and no place for me to leave them a present.

Love Santa

Well, this little letter from the big man sure got my kids thinking and talking and that Christmas we had lunch at the local charity hall and each of my kids found a child there to give their one present too.

Every year now we place a present under the local wishing tree - The kids buy something from their own money and gift it to a stranger that they will never meet. Each year now they also get a letter from Santa and its the same one each year

Dear "insert kids names"
Thank you for remembering what Christmas is truly about!

Love Santa

 

[crono782]

*sure is dusty in here all of a sudden!*

Thanks for sharing that. Very thought provoking.

 

[dfreybur]

The so-called "war on Christmas" is a propaganda ploy by right-wing talking heads to drum up support and distract a large number of people from real problems in our society ...

My take is that it is an unfortunate twist on how values have been expressed. I don't think there has been any plan by anyone, not even a conspiracy by shop keepers.

There are folks who want the traditional reveling but who aren't interested in the religious aspects. There are folks who want the religious aspect but who for some reason push against the revelry as if asceticism were the optimal religious approach. This has led to a negative feedback loop that has put the religious and the secular in opposition. But once faced with what is perceived as opposition the conflict hardens.

I like the secular revelry. I like the religious aspects. I decline to buy into a movement to asceticism. I decline to buy into a level of commercialism where we are measured by the price tag of our gifts. I celebrate and I am glad to be with my family and friends. And I wonder how to interrupt the cycle of sibling rivalry between my daughters that still happens between my brother and sister. Sigh. Plus sa change, plus sa meme chose. Es ist immer so wieder.

 

[jimbo]

I think about this issue a lot. The materialism that seemingly over shadows the true meaning of Christmas and the reluctance of those who choose not to acknowledge it in favor of a false happiness that last a couple of weeks and then it's back to the old grindstone. The name Jesus Christ forces people to look inside themselves and when they do, they see the ugliness and they just want that feeling to go away. Our society has become too pacified by short lived material pleasures. It would be easy to say that unbridled capitalism is responsible, but society will accept what it desires.


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[JohnnyFlotsam]

I wonder if u think the war on Christmas is, in actuality, a war on those who oppose unnecessary amounts of greed within capitalism?

No, though I could get behind the "Pan Sectarian Anti-Commercialization of Religious Holidays Liberation Front". : )

I do believe that the whole "war on Christmas" thing is, as Bryan points out, a concoction by right-wing talking heads, aimed at demonizing those merchants and individuals who have decided to express their seasonal well-wishes to a broader audience than just Christians. They (the right-wing talking heads) want very badly to have their audience swallow the idea that Christians are being persecuted in this "war". It's all complete bushwa, of course, but hey, it sells advertising spots like nobody's business.

 

[BryanMaloney]

From time to time, I am in communication with Coptic Christians. The vast majority of American Christians haven't the faintest cue what persecution is.