An Advent ultrasound
Dec.02, 2013 6:00 am |
Scripture verses |
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Jill Stanek is a nurse turned speaker, columnist and blogger, a national figure in the effort to protect both preborn and postborn innocent human life.
Come Lord Jesus come!!!
My response to “happy holidays” greeting directed to me this year is as always “and a Merry Christmas to you too.” Shocking I know..
You will experience the Christmas displays that feature Disney characters, Santa’s Village and even Da Bears theme and not actually what needs to be displayed. Shocking I know..
And we will once again be shunned for exclaiming that Christmas is about Christ above all. But, we will not lose heart and continue to spread the good news. Shocking I know…
Why would it be a big deal if someone says “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas”? I’m never going to get that. Not everyone celebrates Christmas but they may still want to well wish people celebrating holidays around this time of year (other holidays happen this time too, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa and such). Say “Merry Christmas” back if you wish, no one is stopping you and no one is “shunning” you, but there’s no need to take “Happy Holidays” as an insult.
Thanks for taking me up on the “controversial” issues I have put forth for consideration Jack.
To answer your question: those that know that I celebrate Christmas wish me happy holidays. Its like the words MERRY CHRISTMAS cannot even pass their lips. I think the PC movement is to blame. If I know someone celebrates Hanukkah I will not wish them happy holidays but a blessed hanukkah. Happy holidays is a catch-all feel-good invention of the PC-inclined, a phrase that actually takes away any meaning from any particular celebrations.
And I never said I take it as an insult, did I? I take it as an example of how the PC movement destroyed any actual meaning of Christmas.
I tell Christians Merry Christmas, practicing Jewish people Happy Hanukkah, and if I know that a black person celebrates Kwanzaa I’ll wish them a Happy Kwanzaa. I really see that stuff a lot more than I see this supposed erasure of “Happy Holidays”. Where I do see the “Happy holidays” stuff is advertising and people who are working in stores, which I suppose is according to policy to avoid alienating any customers.
Christmas must be pretty fragile if people not saying two words can “take the meaning out of it”. Why do you think other people not acknowledging what you think Christmas should mean “takes away” anything from it?
Christmas is not fragile, not but a long stretch but the effort is there to make it so. I think you missed the point of this thread: Christmas is about Christ, that is the “should” you are referring to. Our society has made it about Santa and shop til you drop and Disney World.
Any idea how St. Nick has been secularized over the years? I dress up every year at my Church for the kids and also for friends and family, and you would be amazed how many tell me that the costume I put on is not Santa’s (google the true St. Nicholas). Our society took away the most salient characteristics of St. Nicholas to minimize his contribution and what he stood for.
Jack, meaning is assigned through the speech we use to categorize things. Speech becomes a big part of how a society assigns and interprets meaning. The words our society uses become internalized by its members and therefore become a part of the vernacular. That is how the PC movement started – with words.
Explain how you are prevented from celebrating Christmas the way you wish by people doing otherwise. Christmas has become more and more secular for the last several decades for many people, just as many other aspects of society have. That’s the way the cookie crumbles. People will do what they will. All I care about is that people are not prevented from celebrating the way they wish on their private property and within their free speech rights.
The “winter holiday” wasn’t even originally a Christian holiday, it was kinda “co-opted” if you will. Take that as you will.
But I think it would be a shame if Christian traditions died out entirely when it comes to Christmas, though I think there is no danger of doing so. I would miss the music.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEJmP8T07JU
I am always open about how I celebrate Christmas and let that be an example for others without forcing them to celebrate it how I want to. Celebrations look different for every family and that’s kind of neat.
Also, I will occasionally say “Happy Holidays” (OMG I know!! Nail me to a Christmas tree already) but referring more to hoping they enjoy the holiday season, that ubiquitous season between Thanksgiving and New Years. And I just don’t see anything wrong or demeaning in that. But mostly I just tell people Merry Christmas or have a joyous holiday season, which I will admit, gets me some odd looks.
I always say ‘merry christmas’, ‘cos it’s christmas time. The origins and plethora of beliefs or otherwise matter not a jot. It’s been commercially purloined for decades if not longer. That’d be greed, not being PC.
The word “holiday” comes from “holy day”. Someone wishing Happy Holidays is wishing Happy Holy Days. Sounds good to me.
Christmas becoming more and more secular is exactly the problem Jack. I can’t understand you cannot seeing it as the crux of the matter. Should any religiously – inclined individual tilt their beliefs to totally disregard the religious tenets their faith’s traditions were established on? I disagree. So it may be fine for some to put up Da Bears memorabilia in front of their yard as a Christmas decoration and do not make room for the nativity scene but they are doing a disservice to the cause. What’s wortsd I know those that do that and yet scream the loudest about how our society disregards Christmas.
Secular Christmas – does that make sense?
“That’d be greed, not being PC.”
No “reality” that would be keeping it real and unaffected by the patronizing/ungenuine liberal lot whose only concern is to provide a false sense of “reality.”
Lrning I get you, I know the origins of this term.
Perhaps a better way of stating it then would be “Have a blessed Holy Day of Christmas.”
So “thomas r.”, you consider the commercial purloining of christmas from its original intent to be keeping it real and unaffected by the patronizing/ungenuine liberal lot whose only concern is to provide a false sense of “reality.” do you? That surprises me. How so?
Did you consider how you twisted my response to “that’d be greed, not being PC?”
Nowhere in my musings on the meaning of Christmas did I discuss the commercialization of Christmas, but you attributing it to me and somehoew relating it to my response must be the spiked eggnog already talking. I had no idea you start so early in December on that beverage :)
The twist “thomas r.”, appears to be in which end of the stick you have grasped.
I stated It’s been commercially purloined for decades if not longer. That’d be greed, not being PC. – because christmas has been purloined on a commercial basis by commercial interests and that is because of commercial greed not because of political correctness.
Would you disagree with this observation?
To which you responded No something something patronizing/ungenuine liberal something something false sense of “reality.” which indicates that you may not think that greedy commercialism has purloined christmas because of greed not political correctness.
Hence my question “you consider the commercial purloining of christmas from its original intent to be keeping it real and unaffected by the patronizing/ungenuine liberal lot whose only concern is to provide a false sense of “reality.” do you?”
I don’t drink eggnog, someone else seems to have gotten to it first ;-)
I just received an email weekly update from our sons’ principal. In it she wrote this sentence:
“This week went by quickly. You can feel the holidays in the air and the cold. The Dore Holiday Tree is up and our Student Council Members decorated the tree today.”
I have highlighted the part pertinent to my musings on this thread. Interesting wording heh? My oldest is on the Student Council so I will ask him what his thoughts are on this and how is the tree actually discussed at school.