I don't know about you, but this was one of the blandest, and quite frankly ugliest, "holiday seasons" I've ever seen.
There are two small shopping centers in my town and, aside from a few stores putting some traditional Christmas items in their display windows, you'd never have guessed we were about to "celebrate" a national holiday.
It appears that the atheists among us have beaten the majority to a quivering mass of gutless wimps.
Atheists and militant non-Christians get offended – offended, I tell you – threaten lawsuits and everyone acquiesces to their demands to be "unoffended."
Of course, it doesn't hurt that spineless politicians, town officials, school and business managers and even some churches are so fearful of causing a scene over this travesty of common sense, that they allow it and indeed, push it forward.
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In my town, there were no banners, no decorations visible from the street, just relatively unattractive storefronts – some made more so because they're vacant due to high rents and a lousy economy.
Well, there was one token move to acknowledge the "season" – whatever season it is – a large fir tree in the park was strung with colored lights.
Wow! A Christmas tree!
Uh, no. They call it the "tree of lights."
Insulting, hypocritical cowards!
Business was booming in those shopping areas, as people spent money on Christmas cards, decorations and gifts. Indeed, store interiors were filled to the brim with the visible red and green of the holiday.
Interesting, isn't it, that even as politicians ignore the holiday, they love to have their town get their share of sales taxes paid in the community and, of course, the merchants want a "good" season.
OK, but as some wag once said, Christ's birth is the reason for the season. It's not just a day to buy presents to give to other people for no reason other than that the U.S. designates Dec. 25 as a national holiday.
It's the same country that does not allow anyone in Congress to send out any official mail or e-mail wishing anyone a "Merry Christmas" or even say – can you believe it – "Happy New Year!"
Apparently, they can say have a happy new year, meaning the entire year, but they cannot reference New Year's Day as a holiday – which, is also a national holiday.
Not that I would want it to happen, but it seems to me that if we're so hell-bent on sanitizing our culture of any religious holiday connotation, then the very least we should do is require all local, state and national offices of every type to be open on Christmas, New Year's Day, Thanksgiving and any other day that "offends" the killjoy, atheist censors.
Fair is fair and quite frankly, we should get as much work out of our "public servants" as we can, since we'll be paying them anyway.
If someone wants the day off for religious reasons, they can use one of their vacation days or, just take the day off without pay.
Can't you just hear the squeals of objection about that?!?
Doesn't it strike you as inconsistent (to say the least) to have public agencies, government offices, schools, etc., deliberately ignore the existence of those days, yet willingly enjoy those days as paid holidays?
What hypocrites.
A big fuss was made about the Obama's "Christmas" card. It was a nice picture of the family, but that's all it was. All were dressed in black, navy or purple. Their other family card, two years ago, had the four of them dressed in black and white. They hardly looked like they were in a "holiday spirit," and there was nothing in the room around them to indicate that it wasn't just another day.
Nice family picture, but so what?
Last year, the Obama card featured a snow scene of the White House. It was a pretty picture of a winter day.
The text of the card references a "holiday season," but what holiday? If you dropped in from Mars, what would you think?
As a matter of fact, Christmas cards in general are hardly that anymore. It's a job to even find any card that says those two "offensive" words: Merry Christmas.
Nowadays, it's almost always "Seasons Greetings."
What season is that?
I've decided that from now on, I'm going to be offended.
I am going to use every opportunity to tell the powers that be that their rules and regulations limiting or ignoring Christmas (or Easter or Thanksgiving) celebrations offend me. I will pressure them to pay attention to my being offended.
(I did that a few years ago, and the local politician told me he didn't "give a f--- what I thought.")
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At least he was honest.
Last week, I complained to management of a food store that their "holiday" gift card only had a picture of a sailing ship.
Bad form, fellas.
I want those people to know that people like me can get "offended," just like the atheists and other professional troublemakers – and I will make their lives miserable by being offended.
So can you. Maybe things will change. Think about it.
Say Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year!
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