Cenk loves Santa, he was raised Muslim and he loves Santa and the USA. I have to agree with him, Santa is one aspect of Christmas or whatever holiday you celebrate December 25th that just plain works. Of course, I figured it out when I was pretty young that the fat guy with the bag wasn't real, he was Mom and Dad, and I didn't mind. I didn't mind getting presents from Santa when I was 17 years old. They were presents and the idea was that giving was a good thing. I don't care that he shows up in the stores before Thanksgiving (Halloween is pushing it) or that Coke made the greatest looking Santa of all with polar bears you'd invite in for a Coke just to sell a carbonated beverage. I like Coke and those are great pictures.
I don't care what religion you practice or don't practice or don't have at all, Santa doesn't have to have anything to do with it. I can't think of any religion that's against giving or anyone that isn't improved by doing it. It's a warm friendly thing to do and I don't care if retailers make a killing off it, it feels good. If commercialization makes you feel bad, do Santa the old fashioned way and make something. Sometimes I think re-naming the holiday Santa Day would work best, but no doubt that would be war against Christmas. Like so many other things that have gotten conflated, Christmas, giving, Dec.25, Santa, etc is now confusing. I am reminded of the 1970s when it got to be improper to use the pronoun him or -man as an indefinite pronoun, to the point where those round cast iron access hole covers in the street became personhole covers, some how manhole became insulting. We all knew a manhole was for the use of whatever gender person needed to get in there, but noooo. Certainly Christ Mass is a Christian celebration, but there are plenty of people who actually see Christmas as a celebration of peace and giving and in the end they all mean the same thing when they wish someone Merry Christmas, it's a manhole cover holiday.
Nope, Santa is cool, he doesn't see race, religion, or national origin and he goes out of his way to do the deed, we could all learn something from the fat guy in the red suit.
My house (wife) has been suffering from empty nest syndrome and I've been suffering from the religion wars anger overload some people would give, none of that is going to spoil my Santa Day for me, I'm just not going to play, Christmas is a great thing to do in the spirit of giving for no particular return and wishing peace, so I'll say it again,
Merry Christmas to all and may the blessings of that spirit shower down on your loved ones.
2 comments:
Santa Claus is a great mythical tradition that promotes demonstations of loving care for our fellow man, especially the innocent children... what's not to love about that?
I can do without all the baggage that comes with the imposition of organized religion on the holiday cheer, because of the ulterior motives that consistently infest their professed altruistic intentions in wanting to include one in their happy "family". It's just human nature to exploit people's need to belong; I can forgive that and bask in the glow of the Yule log. Merry Xmas to you and yours Chuck. You are a genuine, thoughtful man who deeply cares about the welfare of our fellow men, and I trust the Spirit of the season will richly reward you.
I blush....but thank you
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