I just got an email forward from someone (who frequently sends me forwards with which I disagree because they're usually political and she and I don't agree on politics). This particular forward was about how Christians should send a letter to the Mrs. Fields company and/or boycott their products because they're removing the word "Christmas" from any of their products. This frustrates me. On the one hand, Christians complain about how Christmas has become so secularized and commercialized. I agree with this point. The whole point of Christmas is the birth of our Savior and to reflect on what he did for humankind. Some other, though certainly more minor, points are giving and spending time with family. So, it makes me sad how commercialized and secular Christmas has become and, in becoming so, how frustrating and depressing a time it is for many people.
Why, then, do the people who complain about the commercialization/secularization of Christmas care when secular industries won't say "Merry Christmas" or remove the phrase from their products? I think that people get separately offended because if you put the two thoughts together it would read something like this: "It offends me that such a holy season has been hijacked by commercialism and the real meaning of Christmas has been forgotten. And how dare those who have hijacked Christmas (with whom I'm offended for doing so) not wish me a "Merry Christmas" while I walk around their store angry that they've taken the real meaning out of the holiday!" It seems that if these industries are leaving Christmas out of it, we as Christians who want to focus on what it's really about, should be happy. Of course companies are going to target those who will be spending big bucks in December. It'd be stupid not to since their whole existence is based on people spending money. But if they'll leave Christmas out of it, aren't we getting exactly what we want?
4 comments:
I agree!
Don't worry, the conversations my husband and I have at home are a little more exciting than me going off forever and him chiming in with "i agree!" every now and then. ;) But sometimes they resemble that!
right on!!
Well said, sistah.
In a quasi-related note, I stopped saying Happy Holidays to folks when I was a bell ringer for the Salvation Army outside of an ABC store several years ago... A middle-aged man and his twenty-something son emerged from the store, dropped a few coins into the pot, and started walking off into the night. I cheerfully shouted "Happy Holidays" (not wanting to offend...), and the older gentleman stopped in his tracks, held up his hand, and for a brief moment I thought he was flipping me the bird- until I realized he was showing me his ring and pinky fingers, where his recently deceased wife's wedding band was nestled carefully next to his own. His holidays were not happy that year, and I'll never know if his Christmas still held joy... but it made me rethink what my typical season's greeting is.
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