A few words about Xmas
I wish you all the happiest of holidays, the merriest Christmas, the sexiest Saturnalia, or joyous Paganism...however you like to celebrate. One thing I ask - please don't try to lord it over others by being holier than thou.
Because of my family and culture, I'm a "Merry Christmas" girl by default. True, I am nonreligious, but I adore Christmas with its festive music, decorations and good cheer...the spirit of sharing and giving filled my childhood with the happiest memories. I celebrate Xmas with a kid's heart.
I would never ban Christmas decorations and celebrations from public places, I would just invite other religions to display their symbols too. I'm certainly open to other festivities, and will accept whatever vibes you send my way...as long as they're positive ones, and I'll try to do the same.
Just this year, if at all possible, let's avoid any debate on "The War Against Christmas."
Preaching like a holier-than-thou loudmouth is not a good example of living one's life well. Let us all be a shining example of our ideal worldview/mythology/ideology and keep the loudmouth-ery at a minimum.
A society built on liberty gives us the freedom to celebrate our private holidays however we see fit - as long as it doesn't infringe on the rights of others. Who cares if your Walmart greeter says "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas"? Walmart (or any other retailer) is not supposed to be a religious missionary...besides, the drive for profit overrides it.
Another thing -- around Christmas each year there are always those holier-than-thou loudmouths who complain about the use of the abbreviation "Xmas" as some kind of blasphemy against Christ and Christianity. "Did they take Christ out of Christmas, Daddy?"
I write it both ways. Remember that the word "Xmas" is of Christian origin. The letter X comes from the Greek letter chi (X) - the language the New Testament was written in - which is the first letter in the Greek word, Christ.
By the fifteenth century Xmas was a widely used symbol for Christmas. Then along came the Gutenberg printing press with moveable type. To cut down on the cost of printing, "Xmas" became an accepted way of printing "Christmas"...along with the abbreviations Xian and Xianity. Even Webster’s dictionary says that the abbreviation Xmas was in common use by the middle of the sixteenth century.
So get over yourselves, O'Riley , Hannity and Limbaugh.
Last thing about holidays -- They're all made up. We humans made them up so we could celebrate on a specific day every year. From Christmas to Kwanzaa to the Fourth of July, even our own birthdays. All are invented to celebrate something fantastic, cultural, or spiritual.
It's not a bad thing that we make up these holidays...they represent our stories. Humans without stories would be like birds without song. That's what makes us human - telling stories.
