Letters to the Editor
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The PC war on Christmas
I too believe Christmas is being attacked by the PC crowd. I am sick and tired of being told I'm a bad person if I say "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas" just because I want to respect people of all faiths. I'm tired of being called a murderer because I believe in a woman's right to choose to have an abortion. The PC Patriot Police call me a traitor because I believe the war in Iraq is counter-productive to this country's interests. And I've had it up to here with being told that Jesus Christ would rather have us ignore the poor and infirm because their problems are due to there own sins.
Yeah, PC circa 2006 has gone too far!
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the shot heard 'round the Fox studios?
Has anyone read the book, 'cause I REALLY want to know how I'm plotting to Ban the Sacred Christian Holiday. Seriously. I always miss something. I never saw Janet's nipple and then had to listen to weeks of media analysis, and now I'm stuck listening to media analysis on the war against Christmas and I missed the first shot!
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The real war on Christmas--help!
Another Christmas dinner with right-wing, Catholic family.
As dinner is at my house this year, I'm trying to come up with an alternative to the Catholic before-dinner grace. A poem maybe, something vaguely spiritual, or about winter, or family being together...
Any ideas?
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The real war is on Christ I think . . .
I think most people who've read Matthew, Mark, Luke and John (the four Gospels that tell Christ's story of life, death and resurrection) realize that Christ was a radical (like Ghandi, like Martin Luther King).
Christ didn't raise an army when he lived under a brutal occupation. He didn't take up arms and kill Romans, he offered them love and paradise. He told his followers to "turn the other cheek", "love their enemies", "love their neighbors as themselves", and "forgive those who have sinned against them 70 times 7 times".
Christians were to be "known by their love", to be peace makers, to live in the kingdom of God where all men (all men including terrorists) are brothers at all times. His followers were never to fear because they have _nothing_ to fear. That was the point of the resurrection. "Look, you are indestructible. Act like it."
They were not to judge.
When "Christians" decide to be disciples of Christ, every tree on the damned planet will be a Christmas tree and every single day will be Christmas (which, by the way, its supposed to be).
Christ warned about "sheep in wolves clothing" and it describes O'Reilly, Bush, and Fox News to a T.
The "Good News" is "You don't have to fear." That is the "Peace which passes all understanding."
Am I a Christian? I'd like to be, but I can't help but fear the wolves . . .
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The Republican Party was born in the early 1850's
>>>the country has always been polarized; we just never used to hear the non-left point of view. >>>
whew, get a sense of history kid! You could not be more wrong! The right has a long long history in the US. Presidents during most of the late nineteenth century and the early part of the twentieth century were Republicans. Bush, Bush, Reagan, Ford, NIxon, Eisnehower, Truman, Hoover, Coolidge, Harding (skipping some) Lincoln. --those are the Presidents, I haven't listed Governors, Senators, Congressmen.
The Republican Party was born in the early 1850's, it's been around a long time. Believe you me, we've been hearing from conservatives for a long time. Geeze, I could go on and on and on, how misinformed.
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Indeed...
I am sick and tired of being told I'm a bad person if I say "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas" just because I want to respect people of all faiths.
That, itself, is NOT "political correctness" (I HATE THAT TERM!) but good manners.
And as a secular Unitarian who enjoys singing Christmas carols, attends Christmas Eve services, has a tree and Christmas lights and EVERYTHING, I feel as though Christmas is being stolen from ME. My Christmas is all about kindness, generosity, love, mercy, joy, and peace. While these are all Christian values, at least in theory, they don't require subscription to a particular faith--or any faith, for that matter, other than faith in humanity, which the Right Wing Noise Machine and its hordes of followers are sorely trying right now.
By insisting that Christmas must be all about the putative birth of a rabbi whose betrayal by his own religious leaders, politically expedient execution, and alleged resurrection--while entirely ignoring that rabbi's important, difficult, and possibly dangerously subversive teachings--they're basically saying that one isn't really entitled to celebrate Christmas unless one toes their dogmatic line. That people like Bill O'Reilly enable the sanctioning of rude, petty, vicious, uncivil behavior underscores the petty vicious mess they're making of the Christmas they're howling about protecting. What would Jesus do?
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Your family too, huh?
Amazing. Will Wheaton's talking about my Dad here too, formerly a pro-union, sheet metal worker, Humphrey Democrat. But Bill O'Reilly and the rest of the Fox News team are about to ruin my Christmas too. Every night, my Dad is on and on about the transportation strike in New York. He's practically frothing at the mouth--'The Mayor or the Governor should fire them, like Reagan did!' Reagan?!?!? I want to scream. The same Ronald Reagan who you thought ought to be impeached over Iran/Contra? Since when have you EVER been on the side of management?
In the interest of peace and harmony, I watched Fox News with him, for One Solid Hour. I'd never actually watched an entire broadcast before. Unfreakingbelievable. So when I gently (I promise, gently) pointed out that real journalists don't actually feel it necessary to remind you every five minutes that they're being fair and balanced, he looked at me pityingly and said 'you've really bought into the liberal media line, haven't you.'
My twenty four year old son actually talked him into watching five minutes of the Colbert Report. He squirmed and snorted and growled, and then told us that if that was supposed to be funny, he didn't get it. But he got it.
I don't know where all this came from, but I think it has a lot to do with Clinton. I think the idea of discussing blowjobs on national TV unhinged him. But I really don't know how to handle this. Christmas is in two days, and they're not leaving for three days after that. And I honestly am afraid that my father and my son are going to come to blows.