The War on Christmas: 2012 Edition

[freejoytoo]

In the UK practically everyone celebrates Christmas but it's essentially a secular holiday. People know the roots of the holiday but they just celebrate it because it's tradition and only 2% of the population go to church weekly. I can understand people being annoyed in other countries where it's strongly emphasised as a Christian holiday.

[luckystone]

I consider Christmas to be pretty much a secular holiday (unless you want to make more of it), it bugs me both when people try to over-Christianise it and when people complain about it.

[Rosa]

Me too, I think it brings the worst out in many people. I see more rude people at the grocery store the closer we get to christmas. I understand that people are stressed. But, I think they put that stress on themselves. You can have a perfectly nice family christmas without going all out, and without getting super stressed. Just keep it low key. There is no law that says that you have to spend thousands of dollars on presents, decorations and food. But once again, people in America seem to have a problem with doing things in moderation. It seems to be all or nothing here.

SOME of us have families that make the season stressful whether we want it to be or not - they get their way by making a bigger problem if you say no than if you say yes.

[Lady_M]

Me too, I think it brings the worst out in many people. I see more rude people at the grocery store the closer we get to christmas. I understand that people are stressed. But, I think they put that stress on themselves. You can have a perfectly nice family christmas without going all out, and without getting super stressed. Just keep it low key. There is no law that says that you have to spend thousands of dollars on presents, decorations and food. But once again, people in America seem to have a problem with doing things in moderation. It seems to be all or nothing here.

I'm with both of you on the issue. The holidays always seem to bring out the stress. As someone who's pretty introverted, the constant whirl of events/people can leave me feeling like I don't have any time to recharge. That, and working in health care means I always have to work on either the holiday itself or the weekends surrounding it when there are things going on, so I wind up feeling a little left out/guilty when everyone else is doing stuff. I usually have to remind myself that there are 360 or so other days of the year to see people and it's not that big a deal (I mean, I did choose my career knowing what was involved). It's also hard as I lost a family member on Christmas eve several years ago, so that sadness works into the emotional stakes of the thing as well.

Keeping it low-key can be harder than it sounds, though. There are a lot of irrational feelings/family dynamics/tradition associated with the holidays and it can be pretty hard not to get caught up in that, especially if someone insists on having/doing certain stuff, or won't abide by set limits on the amount spent on gifts, etc.

[2xx1xy1JD]

I've been sitting here honestly baffled that so many Canadians did this sort of thing in school, because it wasn't my experience at all. I guess the provincial divide explains it. It's funny, though -- if any province was going to do the lord's prayer and christmas pageants in public school, I would have guessed it would be Alberta. Maybe we didn't do the anthem singing because there is still an element of self-centred separatism? Or maybe I just went to a weird school, lol.

We had the Lord's Prayer every day right after the national anthem, until the end of grade 8 (1985). In high school, it was just a moment of silence, followed by a "thought of the day". When the vice-principal did the announcements, the "Thought" often came from the bible. When it was the student council president, it was more likely to be from The Doors. These were schools that were 50-75% Jewish.

[2xx1xy1JD]

I really want to make "stick his head in a pile of snow and shove a carrot up his ass" part of my facebook status. Love it. I love Christmas. I love Christmas music, but please, not before Thanksgiving.

Not all "winter music" is Christmas music.

There is nothing remotely religious about Winter Wonderland or Jingle Bells. [i've had this argument with some Jewish friends and family - these are just songs about a snow, period, and it snows here for non-Christians too.]

[2xx1xy1JD]

I'm with both of you on the issue. The holidays always seem to bring out the stress. As someone who's pretty introverted, the constant whirl of events/people can leave me feeling like I don't have any time to recharge. That, and working in health care means I always have to work on either the holiday itself or the weekends surrounding it when there are things going on, so I wind up feeling a little left out/guilty when everyone else is doing stuff. I usually have to remind myself that there are 360 or so other days of the year to see people and it's not that big a deal (I mean, I did choose my career knowing what was involved). It's also hard as I lost a family member on Christmas eve several years ago, so that sadness works into the emotional stakes of the thing as well.

Keeping it low-key can be harder than it sounds, though. There are a lot of irrational feelings/family dynamics/tradition associated with the holidays and it can be pretty hard not to get caught up in that, especially if someone insists on having/doing certain stuff, or won't abide by set limits on the amount spent on gifts, etc.

Wimps. :D

For me, Xmas is the season that I get to relax (except for last-minute year-end accounting stuff), and take a needed break between MY festive seasons. If you want some hard-core stress, try the Orthodox Jewish version of September/October (2 nights of feasting with your entire extended family, 2 days at a crowded synagogue for Rosh Hashana, a day of fasting (with big meals before and after) and praying again at synagogue for Yom Kippur, building a leaky hut in your yard a day later and inviting guests over for two more nights of feasting, 2 more days spent in synagogue, 4 days of working while still eating in the leaky hut, 2 more nights of feasting and 2 more days off of work, in synagogue, this time topped off with sweets for the kids, booze for the adults, and dancing for all.) and Passover (clean your house like a maniac for a month, toss out most of your food, buy Passover versions of food as if stocking up for a famine and even attend "Midnight Madness" sales at the supermarket, cook enough to feed an army, do 2 nights of Passover seder feasts for the extended family/friends/ 2 days off work and at synagogue, 4 days of work while eating only Passover food, and 2 more days of feasting/synagogue.)

As an added treat this year, my extended family has grown (at least 25 people per meal), and I was in the middle of a huge trial. This is why I love slow cookers and fast recipes, along with an extra freezer.

[Sobeknofret]

SOME of us have families that make the season stressful whether we want it to be or not - they get their way by making a bigger problem if you say no than if you say yes.

So much this. I'd be happy with a small celebration and a few, well-thought out gifts, and a quiet day at home with family or visiting friends. Every year I get a three-ring circus, mountains of cheap junk we neither need nor want, and when I try to scale back I get called "anti-family." Phooey to Christmas and a pox on unreasonable relatives.

[2xx1xy1JD]

It's after Halloween and you know what that means... It's War On Christmas Season!!! So exciting! I thought it would take a little while to gear up, but apparently not. The war has started once again and the first casualty is Christmas music in Shoppers Drugmart (a Canadian Pharmacy). RIP Shoppers Drugmart Christmas music. Anyway, the company made the following announcement on their Facebook page today:

Now, they never say that it will stop all together but that doesn't stop the wild speculation, racism, ignorance, and all around Christian spirit and kindness. Jesus would be so proud.

Good spelling, good grammar, and get those people out of our country that we aren't really from either cuz we stole it!

Obviously, she has never read about iPhones=healthcare.

A private company making a decision is communism. Insightful.

Racist comment, racist comment, I'M NOT RACIST!

So true. If someone took a pole to me I would certainly agree with whatever they wanted me to agree with, I don't want to get hit with a pole.

Or not. Who cares about the truth? What really matters is Christmas music!

It's the Muslims I tell you!

And just for relief, a voice of sanity:

Has anyone else seen any War On Christmas stuff yet?

1. If Thunder Bay guy gets sick, maybe he'll end up being treated by our friends - a husband and wife who are both doctors. The wife was born in Taipei. So ya, feel free to spew racist crap about immigrants to your white surgeon, until you spot the family photo......

2. Jehovah's Witnesses, who are the only group that skips the national anthem as well as Halloween and Xmas, include plenty of folks who are born in Canada.

3. I'm not sure what country I'm supposed to go back to. My family has been here over 100 years.

4. The guy who founded Shopper's Drug Mart in 1962 wasn't Christian.

5. A private company can play whatever muzak they want, and respond to customer feedback as they wish.

[BoomerLynn]

Me too, I think it brings the worst out in many people. I see more rude people at the grocery store the closer we get to christmas. I understand that people are stressed. But, I think they put that stress on themselves. You can have a perfectly nice family christmas without going all out, and without getting super stressed. Just keep it low key. There is no law that says that you have to spend thousands of dollars on presents, decorations and food. But once again, people in America seem to have a problem with doing things in moderation. It seems to be all or nothing here.

Thirding this. I especially hate Black Friday. There is no deal worth it for me to get up at 3am, drive to whatever store, stand in line for at least an hour outside in the cold, only to be practically trampled by people the moment the doors open. There was a graphic going around on facebook recently that said "Black Friday: Only in America people trample others for sales exactly one day after being thankful for what they already have." that made me laugh because it is so true. I love the lights and decorations, and spending time with family (and of course, all the yummy food) and even some of the music (the older stuff, not the crap that is usually playing in the stores), but I hate the stress of shopping, the crowds, and the way people seem to become rude and irritable because of it all.

[Lady_M]

Wimps. :D

For me, Xmas is the season that I get to relax (except for last-minute year-end accounting stuff), and take a needed break between MY festive seasons. If you want some hard-core stress, try the Orthodox Jewish version of September/October (2 nights of feasting with your entire extended family, 2 days at a crowded synagogue for Rosh Hashana, a day of fasting (with big meals before and after) and praying again at synagogue for Yom Kippur, building a leaky hut in your yard a day later and inviting guests over for two more nights of feasting, 2 more days spent in synagogue, 4 days of working while still eating in the leaky hut, 2 more nights of feasting and 2 more days off of work, in synagogue, this time topped off with sweets for the kids, booze for the adults, and dancing for all.) and Passover (clean your house like a maniac for a month, toss out most of your food, buy Passover versions of food as if stocking up for a famine and even attend "Midnight Madness" sales at the supermarket, cook enough to feed an army, do 2 nights of Passover seder feasts for the extended family/friends/ 2 days off work and at synagogue, 4 days of work while eating only Passover food, and 2 more days of feasting/synagogue.)

As an added treat this year, my extended family has grown (at least 25 people per meal), and I was in the middle of a huge trial. This is why I love slow cookers and fast recipes, along with an extra freezer.

You definitely win :P ! That sounds like a lot of things going on - I tip my hat to you for managing all of that!