Thursday, January 26, 2006

The War on Christmas and other thoughts

I'm finishing up "The War on Christmas" right now and have had some thoughts on this...

In the book John Gibson makes a case that there is a war against Christianity in this country. I am not convinced from this book. I do believe that thier is a war on Christianity, however I think Mr. Gibson makes a more compelling case for a war on the commercialism that has become Christmas. The United States is absolutley crazy for Christmas, but not in the right way. We spend gobs of money on parties, gifts, decorations and in the end all we want is for it all to be over with. That is not a holiday, and people are rebelling agains Christmas, but using religion, and separation of Church and State as the pedestool upon which to build the case.

I have commented before that we as a country are watering down our heritage as Americans so much that we have become a nation that no longer stands for much of anything. We try to 'multiculturize' and practice 'diversity' so much that we no longer have a clear stance on anything. It is okay for us to have differing opinions. It is okay for us to disagree. It is part of what makes us stronger. What we try to do now is accomodate everything. And that is the crux of Mr. Gibson's book. We try to be inclusive of all religions, everyones opinions, instead of looking at any one thing (Christmas in this case) as something that is already a mix of different cultures and has now become something that is uniquely American.

We cannot accomodate everyone's individuality in all things that are in the open. It is not possible. In every decision there is always a winner and a looser. Even if you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.

-End of Ramble

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ordinary,

I am glad that you did not find much empathy with the 'War' part of Josh Gibson's war on christmas. Here is some more information that factually debunks much of his argument (http://www.au.org/site/PageServer?pagename=resources_xmas_tales). This appears to be another example of Fox news bluster minus any fact checking or editorial input (more - http://mediamatters.org/items/200601130013).

Regarding your insight into the real problem with Christmas and commercialism, that christians should be concerned about, here is some further reading (http://mediamatters.org/items/200512140015).

Ordinary Guy said...

Thank you for your comment anonymous. I am trying to present the argument that Christmas as a holiday has become something of a 'turf war' over who can get our money first. Now it has become one where Religion must be expunged from our society. I will say that I disagree with the expunging of religion from our society.

I appreciate your links, but it concerns me that they are all from mediamatters.org. Do you have anything from other sources that may bring a different opinion? I do agree that there is a war on Christanity in this country, but using Christmas as a stump is where Mr. Gibson lost me.

-Rambling on...

Ordinary Guy said...

Thanx for that catch melgibsonismyhero...

The book is actually written by John Gibson.