What makes me angry.... (cont'd.)

[poltr1]

To continue where I left off yesterday.....

I did some more thinking as to where my anger is coming from.

When I was reading the discussion yesterday on how to greet people during the season, I know I was put out by the opinion of folks who said they'd prefer to hear "Merry Christmas" than "Happy Holidays". Unless there are outward signs of faith, like a yarmulke or a turban, or jewelry, I have no way of knowing what faith people are. So I take the safe road and wish them "Happy Holidays". I don't want to set people off by wishing them a holiday greeting for a holiday they don't celebrate.

Throughout my family, my relatives and some friends see me as I was in the past, not as I am now. That's another irritant. I've grown and changed, and people don't see it.

Several years ago, someone in my Toastmasters club complained about how Christmas became shorted to Xmas. What this person probably didn't realize is that X -- the Greek letter chi -- is the first letter in the Greek word "christos", and that theologians often shorten Christianity to Xtianity.

I'm also out out by the incessant materialism and greed of the season, and have been for years.

And I know full well that all this good-feeling-around-the-holiday stuff is going to dissipate on the 26th.

Comments

[yourmommma.livejournal.com]

Yesterday I wrote a lengthy reply to your first entry about this and then lost it when my DSL went down. I wrote that what bothers me about some people saying "Merry Christmas" is that they are quite aggressive about it, like they are saying "I am going to shove the anniversary of the birth of the Prince of Peace down your throat whether you like it or not!!"

I didn't even put in my rant about how many people I have educated about the X in Xmas. It amazes me when people profess a religion and I know more about it than they do.

So what do you think about Barbara Walters interviewing His Holiness the Dalai Lama about where Heaven is and How Do You Get There? I know he'll come up with a great answer, but she has some f*n nerve.

[yourmommma.livejournal.com]

BTW, CNN is running a great CNN Presents this weekend from time to time. It is called "After Jesus". I saw the last 15 minutes of it yesterday and am recording it later tonight. It is really, really good.

[athenawindsong.livejournal.com]

MUAHAHAHA!!! All shall bow to the Eye of Jesu... I mean SAURON!!!

[trollhagen.livejournal.com]

Interesting thoughts. I grew up in a house without religion and am not religious. As an adult, I identify more with the solstice and host a little party every year (not as a Pagan--as I said, I'm not any religion, but because I like fire and nature and reflecting on life and the coming year). That's the main holiday day of the season to me. But I still "celebrate" Xmas in that I'm inivited to dinner at a friend's house and I exchange Xmas gifts with my friends and I love decorating for Xmas (1950s style is just so cool!).

So "Merry Christmas" doesn't bother me at all because I think of Christmas not as a Christian holiday (it never was in my house), but as a secular holiday. I also think of it as generic greetings of "Hey, have a good tiem of year." I don't care if someone thinks I'm Xtian or not, I try to view it as general good will and all that. Yep.