TBradyOwnsYou

Exactly!

No matter who is getting what they want in today's society, someone else is getting offended.

I would argue in America that Christmas has gone beyond a religious tradition. I do not however think "Merry Christmas" should be required and it certainly shouldn't be done in October!!

I will avoid the obvious jokes as I found out later in this thread where your cheerios got peed in and I will instead return this thread to it's first hijacking.
Christmas.
The "holidays" are a time of year that MrsP pointed out a few times doesn't matter what religion or non religion you celebrate the "point" is the same. It's a time to celebrate happiness and brotherhood. The point of the season is to be happy and to share that happiness. America is slowing killing Christmas, not because they are making it more "PC" but because they're pushing it to a 4 month holiday based on consumerism.
I get home hopefully a bit before Christmas this year and that is a big deal. I'm not going to church. I'm not going to even say the word "jesus" unless I stub my toe. It's important to me because it's just a beautiful time of the year and I want to spend it with my wife.
If I see someone during the week leading up to Christmas, I will generally say "Merry Christmas". Certianly not out of malice or anything, just simply because that is the "norm" in my area. If someone were to say to me "happy holidays" or even "Happy Chanuka" (seriously, if you want that to be more popular, make it easier to spell :P) I wouldn't be offended. I'd react just the same as to a Merry Christmas. It doesn't refer to my beliefs, but it's nothing to get mad over. I absolutely HATE those atheist losers that fight tooth and nail to get any referance to "god" or "christmas" gone from everywhere. Dude, I understand. I'm anti-religion too, but you forcing everyone to adhere to your b.s. views is the same reason I'm anti-religion! Why can't everyone just let everyone believe whatever they want and just respect and love each other as humans?
As for bacon. I think if I had to choose between a religion that said "no pork" or "no beef" I'd go no pork. I love me some beef! (I'm anti-hindu?!)

Wolfpack

Well since it obviously irritates you so much, and since you asked so nicely, here you go! Now get back in the kitchen and make me some bacon and eggs ayyyyyararrhrrrhhghghghhghg.

PatsFanInVa

Hey, I don't care if people "Merry Christmas" their little hearts out. Doing it pointedly when I've made it clear it's an issue, and you're the waiter, means you get a lean tip.

The story I related here has to do w/the waiter extending his "War for Christmas" to his job.

If that is not what he is doing, too bad... he obviously, despite repeated cues, wanted to extend wishes that I celebrate his holiday. After 3 tries at guiding him gently toward recognition of what he was doing, if he's too stupid to understand that not everybody is a Christian, that's as bad as pointedly extending some trifling "culture war" point at the expense of your customers.

Sorry if the dude lives in a bubble, but it's sort of like talking to someone who idly scratches his forehead with his middle finger. It might be an unrelated gesture, but more likely he is trying to tick you off.

Were I a Christian, I should think I would want to extend love and fellow-feeling and the like. Those who are all concerned about establishing Christianity above other confessional groups via their campaign to say "Merry Christmas" to everyone in every context and every venue are not wishing them a "Merry" anything. They are trying to make others feel secondary by universalizing a specific group's greetings.

I would not expect to cheerily greet people with an "Odin Loves You!" and expect religious monotheists, whether Christian, Muslim, or Jew, to think highly of me. They'd think I was trying to tick them off. Same thing with this campaign to over-emphasize "I wanna say Christmas to EVERYBODY!!!! I want the state to say Christmas!!!! I want Christmas in my public schools and my government!!! JESUS DIED TO LOWER YOUR TAXES!!!!" or whatever.

I don't give a damn if somebody walking down the street or for that matter in my office says "Merry Christmas" - but in my office they probably wouldn't. If someone doesn't know me, they're just sharing their holiday good-feeling.

What I object to is this new ideological point of fighting a Christmas War every year, whereby the majority complains that there is not enough foisting of their culture on minorities. The entire culture runs on your calendar, dudes - and all you do is complain that we've started to observe others' holidays as well, in some cases.

The majority hates ceding power that it has assumed through tyranny of the majority in the past. When equality and diversity - the American way - becomes even slightly more prevalent, there is a backlash. This "War for Christmas" rubbish is precisely such a backlash.

TBradyOwnsYou

Curious:
Do you/did you do the whole Santa Claus thing with your kids?

Mrs.PatsFanInVa

Curiouser - do you do Hanukkah with your family? Or Ramadan?

And if not, why would you even ask?

TBradyOwnsYou

I do not. I ask because in my experience, people who are NOT Christian still do Santa/presents which is what I do as well, even though I am not Christian. I was wondering if this was common or if maybe other faiths ignore it completely and do their own thing.
Let me be blunt. The majority of what I know about Hanukkah I learned from Adam Sandler. So ya, I don't mean to be offensive if asking it is, I was just curious if you guys did the Santa thing, which would be more similar to my view of Christmas, which is less secular and more commercial, or if it maybe interferes with your particular celebrational, um, SOPs?

Mrs.PatsFanInVa

Ah, ok, sorry. I'll try to answer for Mr since he's at work right now.

No, his family did not celebrate Christmas or have Santa when he was growing up. I do understand that "Santa" is kinda sorta secular, but not really since he's nothing more than a basterdized version of St. Nicholas - which is still a Christian concept.

It's probably a personal preference. There were a fair amount of Jews in the town I raised my kids in and a few of them celebrated the Santa side of the holiday but most simply went out for Chinese. I think alot depends on how religious the parents are. Orthodox Jews would never celebrate it - Reformed Jews might bow down to guilt at "depriving" their kids but most won't. They have Hanukkah, after all, so why bother? I also worked with some Orthodox Christians who did not celebrate on Christmas Day but waited until their holiday came around.

There are more and more "mixed marriages" nowdays, too, which means that the kids get to celebrate both parent's religious holidays - or neither.

Even tradition can be flexible.