Christmas and Religion
Last night was our weekly gaming session. The week before, Adamczykon has finished up a very long (and excellent) story arc for his Vampire: the Requiem campaign, and this week was to be a bit of wrap-up, as well as deciding what to play next, and what to do for our gift exchange.
In the process of chatting, the “War on Christmas” was mentioned by our so-called “moderate”, Felonious — who seems to display a lot of admiration for Rush Limbaugh for a self-proclaimed moderate, I might note. We’re an argumentative bunch, so of course, this led to a debate.
Felonious took the stance that of course people were trying to outlaw Christmas, to which I asked, “Where is this happening? Are people being forbidden to have Christmas in their homes? Are they being stopped from shopping for Christmas presents in malls?”
No no, of course not, but there were “a lot of schools and businesses” that weren’t being allowed to say “Christmas”, and so forth. To which I asked, “Is it wrong to want Jewish people, or folks who celebrate Kwanzaa, or whatever, to have a happy holiday? Is it wrong to acknowledge that other people are celebrating things this time of year, too?”
Well, no. But what about the “Holiday” tree in Rockefeller Square this year? That indicates a bigger problem, with the “PC People” wanting to take over everything, and so forth . . . Adamczykon, the token Republican, had chimed in on Felonious’ side at this point.
They seemed to have fallen prey to the idea that this “War on Christmas” is some sort of nation-wide epidemic, with people outlawing mentions of Christmas everywhere, and people being forced to abandon their celebrations everywhere, and whatnot, when I don’t think it is. What we have is an episode of a vocal handful making a stink, and the media picking it up and making it sound like a much larger thing than it is.
The real problem I see here is a lot of intolerance and stubbornness. According to Adherants.com (From the 2001 ARIS study, using a sample of 50,000 Americans), 76% of the US population identifies as Christian, 13% as nonreligious/secular, 1.3% as Jewish, and .5% as Islamic. Since the Census doesn’t include a question about religion, this seems to be the best information we’re going to get.
So, at least 75% of the American population celebrates Christmas. Almost certainly more, because there are probably a lot of nonreligious people celebrating a secular Christmas, using that celebration by default. I know of members of alternative religions who celebrate both the solstice and Christmas. So . . . say, 90% celebrate Christmas? Is that fair? It seems fair to me. Unless someone cares to chime in with better numbers, that’s what I’m going with.
Why is “everyone” so offended then that Christmas becomes the default celebration and terminology, when that’s what the huge majority of the country celebrates? Isn’t that just natural? That doesn’t mean it’s right to force Christmas down everyone’s throat, though. That’s why I think the majority of us in the service industry say “Happy Holidays!” We don’t know. You might be Jewish, or Muslim, or Pagan, or who knows what else, and not only do we not want to offend you, most of us would like you to have a happy Whatever You’re Going To Celebrate.
I think, though, that certain things are just foolish. Calling them “Holiday” decorations, when they’re clearly Christmas decorations, is silly. Other faiths don’t use a fir tree to celebrate their holiday. Most of what the stores sell as decorations are junk you put on your Christmas tree. That would, it seems, make them Christmas decorations. Same thing with the tree itself. Other faiths don’t use a tree. Christians and those who celebrate Christmas do. Therefore, it is a Christmas tree, not a Holiday tree. Calling it a Holiday tree is just silly. Now, if you’ve got a whole aisle in your store full of not only tree ornaments and garland and whatnot, but menorahs and candles and . . . um . . . help me out here . . . y’know, whatever other faiths use to decorate with, assuming that they do, then it becomes right to refer to them as Holiday decorations, because it’s not just Christmas stuff. But, seeings as I’ve been through an awful lot of stores with an awful lot of Christmas decorations, and seen almost nothing else but Christmas decorations, calling it Holiday decorations becomes silly. Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, but that’s what I see.
It is right to be tolerant of differences, and aware of differences. That’s why it is right for a large business to have a “Holiday” party, not just a Christmas party. Unless you’re sure you’ve got nothing but Christians and folks who celebrate Christmas, and that becomes really difficult as the business gets bigger. We have a separation of Church and State, so our government and government offices should be having secular decorations. Just because I consider a Christmas tree a generic and traditional symbol of the season doesn’t mean everyone does, I guess, but I would hazard to say that those who are making a big fuss about a tree in the courthouse — if anyone is — would be the in that minority of people who are determined to be offended about everything.
I guess what I’m saying here is that no one has a right, whether they be in the minority or the majority, to force something on another person. To go along with that, we all need to be a little more tolerant and reasonable. Which basically means that whether someone tells you Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy Hanukkah, whatever, then don’t get your panties in a twist about it. Chances are, they mean you well, and it wouldn’t hurt to return the sentiment.
The other thing we got to talking about was religion, as the Christmas thing segued fairly neatly into religion. Adamzcykon seemed to think I was an atheist.
I’m not so sure.
What he said was that either I was an atheist, or a very bitter agnostic.
I subscribe to the Granny Weatherwax theory of religion: “I don’t hold with believin’ in gods. It only encourages them.”
I believe that perception is reality. What you believe is what is real to you. Does God exist? Well, since the vast majority of people riding this rock around the sun are religious, then yes, God(s) probably does. If only because so many hundreds of thousands believe in him, then yes. If he is not strictly real in the “see it feel it touch it” sense, then he may as well be, because so very many people believe in him. Then again, I also believe that all the other gods and goddesses exist. Possibly in reduced forms, as many of them no longer have real believers and worshipers, but they exist. How can you say they don’t, or didn’t? They had believers in their time, people who thought that Zeus was just as real then as God is now, so why is God the only god who can have existed? Why are only the Christians right?
But I don’t like the idea of living my life in the service of a god or an organized religion. I don’t like the idea that I’m only being a good person because I’ll get to go to heaven if I am. Where is the nobility in that? Where is the point of being good, if they only reason you’re being good is because you’re afraid to be bad? If that’s how you live, are you not then living your life in fear?
I am a good person because I choose to be. I’m not good because I want something out of it from some god, or because I’m afraid some god will punish me. I’m good because I made a choice to be so.
Adamzcykon said, “Well, then, what comes after if you’re an atheist? Just worm food?”
Well, yes. When you die, it’s over. You’re done. And there may well be something after the fact. It would be nice if there were. But I’m not going to depend on it. So far as I know, this is all the life I get. And I’m going to try and live in and cherish every single moment of it, because I’m not going to get anything else. I’m not going to fool myself into wasting my life living for a reward after the fact. I say to myself, this is it. This is all I have, and since there’s no way to be sure that I’ll get another chance, or an eternal heaven, or whatever, then I had better make the absolute most of what I can out of these moments.
When I die, the only judge I know for sure that I’ll have to face is myself, and I’d better make sure that I live up to my expectations.
So, if I’m an atheist, then I’m an atheist by choice, eschewing gods that I think may actually be there, on purpose, because the gods don’t matter.
No god is going to judge me more harshly than I judge myself. No god is going to be more or less forgiving than I am. No god can manufacture a greater heaven or hell for me than I can manufacture for myself. And I can’t be bothered to waste my time worrying about it. I have a life to live, and it’s all the life I get, so I have to do something good with it.
The bitterness Adamzcykon mentioned comes from my intense dislike of organized religion. The good things that organized religion accomplish are often overshadowed by the awful things that happen — overshadowed by Pat Robertson, Muslim extremist terrorists, Christian extremists, nutjobs in the White House promoting their twisted version of Christ. It’s drowned out by the loudmouths promoting creationism or intelligent design in the science classroom. It’s drowned out by bombs and guns and hatred and venom against alternative lifestyles . . . and the thing that makes me bitter is that it seems like the decent, reasonable members of these religions aren’t doing a lot to counteract the extremists. It seems like they need to work a little harder to shut the nutjobs up, so we can hear what the decent folks have to say for a change.
