THE "WAR ON CHRISTMAS" AND OTHER LOONINESS

Caption: I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills...

(Once again, please excuse the weirdness of spacing etc. as Goat Rope tries to deal with a change in software.)

One of the loonier cultural moments in the last few years--and the competition has been fierce--has been the whole "war on Christmas" jihad, (which in El Cabrero's opinion is just a distraction from the real war on Arbor Day).

I haven't heard a lot about it lately, which is probably one advantage of living too far out in the sticks to get cable.

Anyhow, the next few posts will share a version of a rant on the subject that appeared in an op-ed of mine in the Charleston Gazette last holiday season.

Here's the first installment:

I usually enjoy customs and rituals, especially when they are sanctioned by age and tradition. Some of the newer ones, however, get on my last nerve.

A case in point is the recent holiday ritual of the annual Christmas jihad, a feeding frenzy of pretended persecution and pseudo-martyrdom the coming of which is heralded not by the singing of angels but by the braying of jackasses.


The jackasses in question summon the faithful via the airwaves to a veritable hissy fit of outrage over the fact that some people have the gall to say “happy holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas.” This apparently is seen to be the latter day equivalent of being being fed to the lions in the Roman coliseum.

As a practicing although not entirely successful Christian who celebrates Christmas, this seems bizarre. I don’t personally care how I’m greeted at that season, having learned as a child that it’s rude to get angry when someone wishes you well, however they express it. But there is more to this than bad manners.

Which will be the subject of the next installment...

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED