Christmahanukkawanzaa

[Todd Robinson]

I hope I'm not offending anyone here by posting this. Is it just me or is this the turning point for the death of the word "Christmas?" The years leading up to now have shown a steady decline of the use of the word but it seems like absolutely NO ONE is using it this year.

Something else: department stores, city streets, and just about any other public place are either not using or throwing away any decorations related to Christmas. I might could understand not putting up a manger scene or star of Bethlehem but Christmas trees? Candy canes? Santa Claus?

Here in Durham, NC, the city council ordered all street-lit decorations that reflected anything Christmas related to be taken down or not used. Why? Because one person said they were offended. One person!

Now I know not everyone out there celebrates Christmas. But how many decorations and slogans are we going to take away because we're scared we're going to offend someone? Viewers of South Park (I watch it very sparingly) know what I'm talking about. During a school play, parents one after another stood up and complained because of "decoration X" offending them. So one by one, they'd take a decoration away until there was nothing left. I wouldn't be surprised if within 10 years, we'll see nothing related to Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, holidays, or anything.

Let me know what you think. And one more thing...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

[Hiro Nakano]

Merry Christmas to you too, and to everyone here!

If anything, I find it offensive that they're trying to get rid of Christmas just because people are complaining about it. The idea of getting rid of Christmas -- something almost everyone regardless of religious affiliation celebrates -- is absolutely ridiculous! Look at Japan -- about 97% of the population is either Shinto or Buddhist, but they celebrate Christmas probably at least as much as any Christian country unafraid of whether or not a few people will be offended -- and only about 3% of them are even Christian! Whoever complained about that, to put it simply, is a big baby. If people don't want to celebrate Christmas because they don't believe in Jesus, that's up to them, but they have no right to ruin it for the rest of us. This is exactly what forcing political correctness down our throats and sanitising the world of anything that might offend anyone leads to, and it offends me and probably many other people that our celebration of a holiday is being hindered by these people.

[Juwse]

Merry Christmas to all as well. Granted early.

I agree with you guys on all points. Even in the classroom it's changed. We're not allowed to do anything 'Christmas' as far as parties or events. So we have to call everything 'Winter' so and so and what not. What's the world coming too that Christmas is become a hot topic in a negative light. It seems like the old saying is true, one bad apple spoils the bunch. The minority in thinking seems to have more power than the rest. And Christmas to a lot of people is not just about the religous aspect. It's about family and togetherness. It's just crazy.

[Grey]

Juwse said:

So we have to call everything 'Winter' so and so and what not.

That reminds me of the time we had a "winter solstice" party in Physics two years ago which is actually a religious practice in Paganism (solstice/equinox celebrations). I highly doubt the teacher had any idea that it was so, but this just illustrates a point.

The point is that we're walking on eggshells with everything we do and someone's not going to like it. The ones who don't like it, IMO, can either put up or shut up. Everyone is offended by something. I've just chosen to not speak up about most of the stuff that offends me. Granted, this can lead me to having multiple miniature meltdowns over the course of the day, but all in all, I find it better to "make love, not war" and, as such, I find it justifiable in the end.

We can choose to be so uptight that our bodies start breaking themselves down or we can choose to just disagree with it and let it be. We're not to bend over backwards for one person all the time, period.

[barneyg]

Todd, I think you should take that statement and send it to your local newspaper to be printed in the OPINION section. Such a sensitive issue should not (in MY opinon) be disscussed in a primarily "game show" forum.

[WesternEstates]

I'm so offended that people are always being offended about one thing or another. What ever happened to being tolerent and understanding. I'm agnostic and I freakin' LOVE Christmas. People are so focused on the name that they lose sight of the big picture. It's not just about Christ it's about getting together with loved ones, exchanging gifts, eating, etc, etc, etc. Being offended just by the word Christ is just plain petty . It makes me want to rip my hair out. It just seems like more and more people want to homogenize our culture. Next thing you know we'll all be the same and that's just boring. Variety is the spice of life.

[Todd Robinson]

barneyg said:

Todd, I think you should take that statement and send it to your local newspaper to be printed in the OPINION section. Such a sensitive issue should not (in MY opinon) be disscussed in a primarily "game show" forum.

This is a "general discussion" forum. Anything goes here within reason. *I* decide the content of this forum, what's appropriate, and what's not appropriate.

[Todd Robinson]

From the very beginning of our country, most of our country's founding fathers were Christian who brought up their children to be Christian who then passed it down from generation to generation. With over 200 years of this, you're going to have a lot of Christians. While we're not a country that supports religion by law, there just happens to be more Christians running around because of our roots as Americans.

My point is this, if you're going to either come into this country with a minority belief or if you're an American who converts to a minority belief, you're going to have to expect hardships. And you're going to have to be prepared to be the odd person out sometimes. You're going to see decorations and symbols that don't support your religion. Get over it. Ignore them. Just let the majority of people who enjoy the decorations and symbols enjoy them. That's what *I* would do if I were another country with differing beliefs!

American is supposed to be a country of oppritunity. I really think there's a better way around this problem. Why can't we share beliefs in a way that we can display all symbols together? People on all sides here are getting the shaft by not having their freedom of religious expression which is given to all of us by law.

...it's time to make a Merry Christmas display for my web page. :-)

[FrankieV]

I agree with what you guys are saying. Im tired of people being so sesitive about EVERY little thing ( like what should be talked about on this forum). I dont know why a christmas tree or any chirstmas decoration for that matter should offend anyone. Its like me saying," I DONT EAT MEAT SO THAT OUTBACK STAKEHOUSE OFFENDS ME TAKE IT DOWN". ( by the way I eat meat just using that as an example)

With all the BIGGER issues we have going on in this world im offended by the people that get so peeed off over the little things but do nothing to help with the real issues such as hunger, aids, homelessness, and terrorism.

Lets lighten up people we are screwing up this world way too much and we only live once so just enjoy the ride.

[Joe Lourenco]

Mele Kalikimaka everybody!

There is definitely a trend among retailers and public officials lately to switch from the traditional "Merry Christmas" motif to "Happy Holidays", where the only icon in common with every belief system is snow.

George Carlin put it best after the Janet Jackson Super Bowl incident, when TV and radio broadcasters were pulling the reigns on so-called "indencent" programming. He basically said that if there's ever a risk of offending somebody's wallet, freedom of expression in the mass media will go out the window. Retailers don't want to lose sales, and politicians don't want to lose votes. Of course, the flip side is if you offend the majority by not offending the minority, you end up losing more in the end. To paraphrase Abe Lincoln: "You can please some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not please all of the people all of the time."

There may be certain issues and practices that are upheld by the majority -- in every country, not just mean ol' America -- that should be challenged by the minority; basic human rights, for example. However, I believe that a holiday in December is not one of them.

A lot of people call this time of year "Christmas" because that's what they've always called it. It's almost a brand name for the season, like "Band-Aid" for bandages or "Q-Tip" for cotton swab. A rose by any other name would smell just as sweet. But we shouldn't forget that the whole point of Christmas is to: 1) celebrate together as a community -- even if some don't want to play our reindeer games; 2) cheer ourselves up in what for most of us is awful weather; and 3) keep the economy rolling by buying lots of cool stuff.

So Happy Holidays, Todd, and all you other GS fans! And remember, if one person can make a town take away Christmas, then just think what TWO people can do!

- Joe

[WesternEstates]

There was another point I forgot to make. I actually know some of these people who want to abolish the word Christmas from our culture, while I won't try and genealize them I'd say most are very bitter people. Bitter people epitomize the saying,"Misery loves company" and if they are not happy then nobody will be happy. I think when Dickens wrote "A Christmas Carol" he was writting about a scrooge in his life who didn't like Christmas and wished misery upon everybody that did. So let's all pray that all of these scrooges in this world will be visted by three very special ghosts and hope that they get the crap scared out of them ;D.

[Todd Robinson]

Good points by everyone. Thanks for the feedback.

Will any of you be offended if I put up a Flash app. on my web site of the Family Feud board switching from "FAMILY FEUD" to "MERRY XMAS"?

[Hiro Nakano]

I wouldn't mind at all ^_^

[Todd Robinson]

All right, that's the spirit!

[Juwse]

Good grief no. Put it up, tis the season!