Forgive me for not posting for a while, but it seems lately I've been extremely busy. Thanks to Zach for keeping the thoughts coming. Merry Christmas to everyone.
Blessings,
Joe
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Holiday Trees
Today two of my coworkers (both Christians) and I had a short discussion about some major US retailers selling “Christmas Trees” labeled as “Holiday Trees”. My coworkers both felt that this was an absolutely ridiculous act that to some extent offended each of them. In fact, one of them was even boycotting one of the retailers that retagged the trees as “Holiday Trees”.
I only listened for the majority of the discussion, mainly because I’m a non-Christian and didn’t want to open that can of worms, but I couldn’t help but think, “Who the hell cares what they call the trees, is it really that big of a deal?”. Seriously though, is it really that big of a deal? One argument that was continually brought up throughout the conversation was that corporate America and the media were trying to destroy or get rid of Christmas and make it a completely commercial “holiday”. But I say that’s hogwash because I don’t believe that corporate America or the majority of the American media would try to alienate their Christian consumers, whom generate the bulk of their revenue. If anything, I think that the main reason any retailer would take the word “Christmas” off of any product or out of any ad would be to conform to the Politically Correct Trend that our nation has been on over the past decade. Subtracting the term “Christmas” or any other word with a religious connotation has far more to do with being PC than it has to do with being part of a nationwide conspiracy to completely abolish Christmas and the Christian faith.
Although I am not a Christian I did grow up in a Christian household and was raised to be one, so I do understand what Christmas is supposed to be about, so I find it odd that some serious Christians are so upset about this issue. I always thought that the core of Christmas was to celebrate the birth of the Savior Jesus Christ and, although presents have become a tradition, giving presents is not what all of the fuss is about. So I think it’s almost ironic for a Christian to boycott a Christmas-less store in favor of a more Christmas friendly store. Because by boycotting, that person is making the statement that they want their belief in Christmas to be recognized and celebrated, but at the same time they shop at another store and buy PRESENTS which essentially dilute, degrade, and ignore the true spirit of the season. So, it appears to me that many Christians may have lost sight of what Christmas is all about.
-Zach
(Side note: I often find it absolutely outrageous how Christians, the religion that the majority of the country follows, often acts as though they are the small minority which is being trampled upon. Will nothing satisfy the Christian faithful short of global religious and maybe political, domination?)
I only listened for the majority of the discussion, mainly because I’m a non-Christian and didn’t want to open that can of worms, but I couldn’t help but think, “Who the hell cares what they call the trees, is it really that big of a deal?”. Seriously though, is it really that big of a deal? One argument that was continually brought up throughout the conversation was that corporate America and the media were trying to destroy or get rid of Christmas and make it a completely commercial “holiday”. But I say that’s hogwash because I don’t believe that corporate America or the majority of the American media would try to alienate their Christian consumers, whom generate the bulk of their revenue. If anything, I think that the main reason any retailer would take the word “Christmas” off of any product or out of any ad would be to conform to the Politically Correct Trend that our nation has been on over the past decade. Subtracting the term “Christmas” or any other word with a religious connotation has far more to do with being PC than it has to do with being part of a nationwide conspiracy to completely abolish Christmas and the Christian faith.
Although I am not a Christian I did grow up in a Christian household and was raised to be one, so I do understand what Christmas is supposed to be about, so I find it odd that some serious Christians are so upset about this issue. I always thought that the core of Christmas was to celebrate the birth of the Savior Jesus Christ and, although presents have become a tradition, giving presents is not what all of the fuss is about. So I think it’s almost ironic for a Christian to boycott a Christmas-less store in favor of a more Christmas friendly store. Because by boycotting, that person is making the statement that they want their belief in Christmas to be recognized and celebrated, but at the same time they shop at another store and buy PRESENTS which essentially dilute, degrade, and ignore the true spirit of the season. So, it appears to me that many Christians may have lost sight of what Christmas is all about.
-Zach
(Side note: I often find it absolutely outrageous how Christians, the religion that the majority of the country follows, often acts as though they are the small minority which is being trampled upon. Will nothing satisfy the Christian faithful short of global religious and maybe political, domination?)
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