Please, No Whine Before Its Time
John McKay noted that It’s that time of year, with the Christianists firing the first shot in the annual War Against The War On Christmas™.
Newsday reports on the next assault out in Suffolk County, Long Island: Patchogue parade loses fireworks in ‘Christmas’ dispute
Grucci, which donated $5,000 in fireworks to last year’s parade, will not assist with the event if “Christmas” is not in the title, said Grucci vice president Philip Butler.
“They are using all the themes of Christmas and plagiarizing all those themes and not using the name,” said Butler, who has campaigned in the past against what he describes as the secularization of Christmas.
…Of Patchogue’s lack of fireworks, Mayor Paul Pontieri said: “When I think about fireworks, I don’t think about Christmas anyway – I think about the Fourth of July.”
I hate to break it to Mr. Butler, but all of the “themes” of which he speaks were ripped off from pre-Christian Celtic and German celebrations of the winter solstice. Explosions in and around Bethlehem are not a good thing these days, so fireworks, created by the Chinese to scare off demons, is not a very appropriate way to honor the “Prince of Peace”.
4 comments
…one of the many things I fail to understand (and oh how that list is long) about some of my brothers and sisters in faith is just what exactly is their point about Christmas. They are, on the one hand, constantly mad about how American society has – as it is said – taken “Christ” out of Christmas with the powerful commercialization of the season and yet, on the other hand, get all torqued out of shape over situations like this where a clearly secular celebration of that season decides to remove the word “Christmas” from the billing. This whole “war on Christmas” gig is clearly a scam, but the degree to which these grifters try to carry it off strikes me more as a philosophical alignment with the Pharisees than with Jesus…
What I don’t get is why the local, super atomic evangelical churches never have a Crèche at Christmas. That is the whole point of the season. Some of them stage a “living Crèche” at a local shopping mall parking lot, but they don’t put up one at their church.
Among other annoying things are that they don’t sing the traditional carols at their services and in 2005 a lot of them canceled Christmas morning services because it fell on Sunday. I’m hearing a local preacher saying that no one would attend a Sunday service on Christmas because they would stay home with their family and, anyway, they had the midnight service. After that one I really have to question their commitment. Neither of my grandmothers would have bought that excuse I can tell you from experience.
Hmm and there was me wondering where the tree, Santa (as he is portrayed) flying reinderr, yule logs and so on and so forth appear in christianity!
Jams, they are stored right next to the bunny and eggs for Easter. The original Puritans who settled in Massachusetts fined people for celebrating Christmas as they considered in a pagan celebration. So much for the Pilgrim forefathers and the US being founded on “Christian” principles.