What d' ya think?
I just posted an article about the "War on Christmas" being lost and I am wondering what you readers think about it. Please tell me.
Here are some of my thoughts about it.
"War on Christmas" language makes me uncomfortable. I am actually pretty in favor of our government not having nativity scenes, or menorahs or such. I don't want government involved in my faith. It doesn't seem like a good mix to me. They are already too in. Anyway, I think the "War on Christmas" language is used by fairly conservative Christians. There is no "war" it is christmas in a capitalist economy. Capitalism will use whatever it takes to get people to spend. Including using religious approaches.
Ultimately I think this article get's at it real point (or at least the helpful point) at the end
"But, post-war, all is not lost. My advice is to go underground: engage in some nonviolent protest and some passive resistance to the new regime. Keep Christmas holy in your heart. Read the Scriptures. Sleep late next year on Black Friday. Refrain from buying stuff that no one needs. Tell everyone else not to buy you so much stuff. Spend less. Turn off QVC and turn on a CD of Christmas hymns. Don't even open those emails from J. Crew and Eddie Bauer and L.L. Bean. Send cards not to 100 people, but 10. Pray more. Buy fewer gifts for fewer people. Set a limit on visiting department stores. Remember that Macy's can't tell you what to believe in. Cut back on the holiday parties. Stop eating so many cookies. Don't get sucked into the craziness."
Isn't this what we should all be about! All times of the year. Stop buying stuff just to buy stuff. Make meaningful choices not meaningless ones. This is a problem of people not really living from their best selves, their deepest desires, and their values (or at least their most authentic ones!).
I do appreciate in the article that he is being explicit about critiquing consumerist Christmas not the use of inclusive language of holiday rather than Christmas. The reality of that is that I think there are different issues at hand.
I also think th
Here are some of my thoughts about it.
"War on Christmas" language makes me uncomfortable. I am actually pretty in favor of our government not having nativity scenes, or menorahs or such. I don't want government involved in my faith. It doesn't seem like a good mix to me. They are already too in. Anyway, I think the "War on Christmas" language is used by fairly conservative Christians. There is no "war" it is christmas in a capitalist economy. Capitalism will use whatever it takes to get people to spend. Including using religious approaches.
Ultimately I think this article get's at it real point (or at least the helpful point) at the end
"But, post-war, all is not lost. My advice is to go underground: engage in some nonviolent protest and some passive resistance to the new regime. Keep Christmas holy in your heart. Read the Scriptures. Sleep late next year on Black Friday. Refrain from buying stuff that no one needs. Tell everyone else not to buy you so much stuff. Spend less. Turn off QVC and turn on a CD of Christmas hymns. Don't even open those emails from J. Crew and Eddie Bauer and L.L. Bean. Send cards not to 100 people, but 10. Pray more. Buy fewer gifts for fewer people. Set a limit on visiting department stores. Remember that Macy's can't tell you what to believe in. Cut back on the holiday parties. Stop eating so many cookies. Don't get sucked into the craziness."
Isn't this what we should all be about! All times of the year. Stop buying stuff just to buy stuff. Make meaningful choices not meaningless ones. This is a problem of people not really living from their best selves, their deepest desires, and their values (or at least their most authentic ones!).
I do appreciate in the article that he is being explicit about critiquing consumerist Christmas not the use of inclusive language of holiday rather than Christmas. The reality of that is that I think there are different issues at hand.
I also think th
At first I was skeptical of this article because I think that the whole "war on Christmas" is a little overblown and kind of silly. If stores want to call them "holiday sales" or "Christmas sales" or "red/green sales" or "if you don't buy enough from us between Thanksgiving and Christmas we will go bankrupt" sales then that is capitalism.
ReplyDeleteThis year I watched a lot of news and read a lot of news on the internet on Black Friday and at one point I think I was actually in tears because of how sad it seemed to watch people being trampled to buy a cheap flat screen. It seemed to get to me more this year than any other.
I think that Mark and I have done well with avoiding consumerism this year, agreeing to spend $20 only on each other, limiting the boys to 2 gifts each (and some free swag for stockings that Mark has picked up from insurance companies throughout the year) and making a Christmas game (complete with game pieces, and a decorated box and game board)to send to his family. And we've found it easy in that regard to ignore the consumerism aspect.
However, I think we are lacking in coming up with ways to make it feel more special, more holy, more meaningful to our family. We're spending Christmas Eve and Christmas day together as a family and I want to have some tradition, some meaning to the day and am struggling to what we do to make the season meaningful without making it about consuming. (Although we won't ever be a family that doesn't eat Christmas cookies!) :)