via the New York Times:
“There is also something perverse, when Christians are being jailed for discussing the Bible in Saudi Arabia and slaughtered in Sudan, about spending so much energy on stores that sell ‘holiday trees.’”
Great article about how the conservative christian right in America is trying to commercialize Christmas. Who cares if Target doesn’t say Merry Christmas? I’m not about forcing secular companies to have Christian values. That’s just a bit over the top. What’s really interesting about the article is the development of Christmas in this country — one hundred years ago, the church rejected Christmas as a religious holiday.
Now I’m all about having a day and a season to celebrate Christ’s coming to Earth. I still consider Easter to be a more holy day. And I’m fine if we want to do that on December 25th and call it Christmas. But I’m not going to get my panties in a wad because it’s a commercial holiday to boost Retail’s numbers before the end of the year. THAT doesn’t have jacksh*t to do with what I’m religiously/spiritually celebrating anyway. So let every store say Happy Holidays or Season’s Greetings.
So Joshua’s wondering if we want to stop celebrating Christmas. Well, I’m not into that either. It’s still an American cultural tradition. We are still American (sigh). It’s fun to give presents to friends and pick things out and decorate a tree and our house. They’re good things to pass on to kids. And we can infuse meaning into those things as well. If our lives are truly integrated, then spirituality is a part of everything anyway.
So there’s some random thoughts. But you should totally read the article.