War on holiday cards

So you think there's a "war on Christmas"? The reality of it is that there's a much stronger "war on non-Christians". Before Dubya got in there and fired up the xian right-wing, this time of year was more peacefully settling in to what it really is: an ancient holiday held around the solstice to honor certain gods or prophets, some of which have virgin-birthdays around that time... a time when people bring out their own particular choice of traditions that come from various influences over hundreds to thousands of years. It's also a time of year when people feast and imbibe quite often and buy things like there's no tomorrow.

I've always had a very weird and dysfunctional relationship with Christmas for various reasons, even when I was a Christian myself (many years ago). What it has come to be for me is a list of obligations that I would rather skip except in a few cases where it means getting in contact with friends. Mr B's family still require cards and simple gifts to be sent (and besides, he is not a godless heathen like I am, although he's a bit heretical) so we are down to just a small pile of those. Fortunately, although they are Christians, they are not of the evangelical variety (there is lots of wine at family gatherings), so they don't give a hoot if it says Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, or what... as long as it's a nice card and not something with nudity like this, or something that's not rude or in bad taste, but funny is alright. My family, on the other hand, are of the other variety of Christian... Baptist, Pentecost, Assembly of God, right-wing protestant dominionist, blah blah blah etc. So because of the political climate that has developed (the war on non-Christians) I no longer send them anything. I don't want to potentially insult them with my secular greetings.

I'm rather stubborn, and rather than taking an "I don't give a crap, it means nothing anyway" attitude, I go with my conscience, so I refuse to send out cards that say "Merry Christmas" because that has become a political statement. Now see what you did, all you Christian Warriors? You've created an ugly divisive wall where there wasn't one before. I believe in tolerating other people's beliefs as long as they don't involve hurting others. That's why "Season's Greetings" and "Happy Holidays" work for me. There's shouldn't be anything offensive about them at all.

Holiday cards can be really odd, can't they? Look at the one above with the guy shooting at you (WTF?) and how about this one from the Swingin' Sixties? (click to enlarge, as always) What is that? Interspecies Erotica? (sorry, we just watched "Clerks II" last night, which is pretty funny if you like just a bit of tastelessness, and I do) Is this like a manly-man's fantasy? A woman's body with a trophy head? [snort]

Tags: Xmas - War on Christmas - Christmas - religion