I'm an atheist. I'm a moral atheist, meaning that I derive my morals from what is (proven to be) conducive to a well-run society as a whole. My morals are pretty close to Christian morals, except I love adultery. Safe, monogamous adultery, that is.
Anyway, I also think Jesus was a pretty great guy, one of the finest humanitarians who ever lived. Not "pop-culture is-my-homeboy" Jesus, but the real Siddartha-like Jesus.
I don't hate Christians or religion, although I will admit that supernaturality in general is distasteful to me. Give me existentialism, humanism, give me Nietzsche (or in a pinch, the Tick would do).
..............extended entry fun awaits.
I'm also a perfectionist, a leftist perfectionist. And I can't stand Christmas. I can't stand a holiday that takes an entire month to celebrate and whose apparent purpose to society-at-large is to flood the airwaves and Muzak systems with obnoxious music and hyperobnoxious commercials, and which assumes that its own existence merits having glorious, overwhelming precedence over everything else. That and of course the accursed commercialism.
But try criticizing Christmas and get ready to dodge snowballs. Just Shut Up And Take It. Why do you hate Jesus? Yeah, the commercialism's obnoxious, but it's about the SPIRIT of Christmas (SPIRIT should be pronounced so gushingly sweetly that your feet will fucking stick to the floor like when you leave a cheap movie theater)...
So what about that spirit? What's it about? Even as much as I hate the commercialism and shitty music (Jingle Bells makes my ears want to throw up) it bothers me on a deeper level, albeit more subtly, that
the Christians can't even get their own holiday right...........
...pardon the overgeneralization.
Christmas is about celebrating observing the birth of Jesus (I believe Easter is a more important holiday according to the Church yet note that it does not dominate the springtime). That's IT. That's it! Nothing else! It is not necessarily even about being with your family, although I gladly concede that I enjoy the hell out of seeing everyone and wish that such occasions didn't have to revolve around holidays.
I've always opined that celebrating Christmas as a winter holiday was strategized for the purpose of displacing a major pagan holiday, and that Jesus was born in the summertime somewhere. (hm, just imagine that Jesus was born on July 4th, and then imagine what the Republicans would do with THAT?! Maybe Dec. 25th isn't so bad!)
I've read bits and pieces that have given me that impression and someday I want to seriously read up on early Christian history, because therein lies the origins of our very society. But for now, it gives me great pleasure to present the following article from the International Herald-Tribune.
Much of the article's content feels familiar to me, but there are a few passages which are somewhat refreshing or especially well-distilled:
"What the boycotters [read back a little] are doing is not defending America's Christmas traditions, but creating a new version of the holiday that fits a political agenda." Nice one.
"The Puritans considered Christmas un-Christian, and hoped to keep it out of America." I must admit that I did not know this. Probably because to teach this in school (unless they do and I slept through it?) would dilute our Invincible American Religious Heritage.
And in closing, the article reads:
"Most Americans do not recognize this commercialized, mean-spirited Christmas as their own. Of course, it's not even clear the campaign's leaders really believe in it. Just a few days ago, Fox News's online store was promoting its 'Holiday Collection' for shoppers. Among the items offered to put under a 'holiday tree' was 'The O'Reilly Factor Holiday Ornament.' After bloggers pointed this out, Fox changed the 'holidays' to 'Christmases.'"
I was wondering about ol' Bill.
I think next year I'll find some reason to call him the day after Thanksgiving just so I can wish him a merry Christmas and obligate him to return it to me, way too fucking early.