December is that fine month when political correctness at its ludicrous extreme. Yes, December, when if you listen to the people with a voice, you’d believe we were celebrating a day called “Holiday”. Or that we were simply celebrating the onset of winter. And for some strange reason, when we’re celebrating “Holiday”, every retailer in town wants you to spend all your money on things to give to other people, and then stuff it all under a big pine tree, as viewed here in this excerpt from one of the Hi-HO commercials. But for what reason? The people who are promoting “Holiday” the hardest won’t tell you why. But political correctness has hidden the reasons underpinning this frenzy of gift-giving. This gift-giving stems from two religious observances traditionally held during December. You have the Christian holiday Christmas, and the Jewish holiday Hanukkah. Christmas is celebrated in December due to a decree by Pope Julius I in AD 350 stating that the birth of Christ would be celebrated on December 25, with the intention of making it easier for pagan worshippers to convert to Christianity, due to other celebrations already being held at the time. Hanukkah is celebrated on the 25th of Kislev on the Hebrew calendar (a lunar calendar), which generally places it in December on the Gregorian calendar, though the specific date varies from year to year. This date was made based on the events that make the foundation for Hanukkah, the date that the temple was rededicated. Regarding gift-giving, Christmas gift-giving stems from the Wise Men (not necessarily only three) giving the gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. In Hanukkah, according to beingjewish.com, there is technically no gift-giving involved per se, but has been added in more recent times as part of the holiday’s interaction with others. Now of the two holidays, most places give Christmas precedence, but then try to act like they’re not by using “Holiday” (strange holiday, that “Holiday”) and “Winter” to hide it. A perfect example is an event that I attended recently that I would describe as a Christmas party. Instead, this event was called a “Winter Celebration”, despite the fact that it was practically screaming out CHRISTMAS without actually saying it, with people wearing Santa hats and elf outfits, Christmas-themed decorations, and Christmas-themed serving trays for the Christmas-tree-shaped cookies and such that they were feeding us. Then they also gave everyone a little bubble-blowing necklace where the container holding the bubble soap was shaped like the Star of David. So instead of just making a mockery of Christmas, the organizers also made a mockery of Hanukkah, in their thinly-disguised throw-in to appear sensitive to all religions’ holidays. Another great example is a “Holiday Dinner” I recently attended, where inside there was a tree, Santa Claus, and poinsettias, and what could be described as a traditional Christmas dinner, with turkey, stuffing, and best of all, eggnog. And at this “Holiday Dinner”, you’d think that the music over the loudspeakers would be, as Lucy once said on the Charlie Brown Christmas special, “You know, jingle bells and deck them halls and ho ho ho and presents for pretty girls?” You’d think that, but no. Instead, you’d think we’d just wandered into a church, with music of choirs singing religious Christmas carols playing at a strong volume. In fact, the entire time I was there, all I heard was religious Christmas music – not a single secular song, let alone anything that would be considered other-religion-friendly. So what is the point of this rant? Well, I wish that people would not act like we’re stupid enough to believe they’re being all-inclusive by substituting the term “Holidays” for “Christmas”. In fact, the word “holiday” literally means “Holy Day” (does that sound vaguely religious to you?). So… if you’re going through all the motions of celebrating a specific holiday… just say it. Don’t openly celebrate a holiday and then say you’re not really celebrating it.
