Monday, December 25, 2006
Holidayism
Over at the Posthuman Blues blog [link] Mac Tonnies mentioned that he wasn't a big fan of Xmas. A few comments from his readers also reflected this POV.
One of the commenters, Paul Kimball, who was probably making an observation in jest, caused me to write a knee-jerk reaction comment. Anyway, for those who don't frequent Mac's blog, here's my observation today on this so-called Holiest of Holidays.
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Racism. Sexism.
Well, I love Christmas you grinches and Scrooges.
And let me coin a new term: holidayism.
If someone enjoys the holidays, that's fine by me. But don't criticize anyone who doesn't share your enthusiasm. Individuals are entitled to like, not like, hate, or love anything they want -- assuming that they're not infringing upon someone else's rights.
This Grinch-Scrooge label, even in jest, smacks of one thing I hate the most: conformism. It's not funny or annoying: just tiresome.
Ray
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Comments via email: rayxr@yahoo.com
3 comments:
Ray:
If someone enjoys the holidays, that's fine by me. But don't criticize anyone who doesn't share your enthusiasm. Individuals are entitled to like, not like, hate, or love anything they want -- assuming that they're not infringing upon someone else's rights.
And my response would be - this is about as banal as it gets, i.e. well d'uh.
Further...
When you write:
But don't criticize anyone who doesn't share your enthusiasm.
That can easily be flipped around the other way - "don't criticize anyone who doesn't share your lack of enthusiam", which, to my mind, was exactly what you guys were indulging in, in the usual Scrooge-ist way (see how easy it is to coin a term).
I say these things not to be mean, but to provide... er, the other side of the truth. ;-)
Your faithful reader,
Paul
Paul:
Do you get tired of hearing the same narrow-minded labels? OK, maybe you haven't been called an "UFO kook" or "flying saucer nut" that often. Me, I'm tired of the Grinch/Scrooge label. I've heard it too many times. (That and the comment, "Oh, you're Jewish?)
Go back to the comments section at Mac's blog under his post about Xmas and you'll notice the word "depression" mentioned by a couple of people. Depression has been described as anger turned inward. Obviously I'm not one to keep my anger inside.
You mentioned at Mac's blog you like the holiday shopping hustle and bustle. Not all of us are Type A personalities; I've been in enough rat races, thank you. But what I think is a "rat race" is your recreational activity. So please enjoy; me, I avoid the malls until the hustle and bustle is over.
You also stated that you thought we "guys" at Mac' blog were criticizing your enthusiasm. I don't think that's true. In my case, I was only criticizing your comment that implied (even in jest) people who don't like Xmas easily fall into the shallow Grinch/Scrooge stereotype. People who don't like - or even hate - the holidays are not all evil or petty or narrow-minded. It's like the term "UFO kook" - it implies that anyone interested in ufology is crazy or stupid or both. Of course, there are a few "kooks" out there in the UFO field; but we shouldn't allow any fundamentalist skeptic barnbrush us all with that label.
If you enjoy Xmas, don't let me or anyone else who doesn't care about it ruin it for you. (Gee, that sounds banal, but I want to make that point, even though it might smack of "duhness.”) But keep in mind there are individuals who are honest enough not to put on a false smile just to appease the public at large. And let me make this observation which I can't prove but is probably true: a lot of people go along with the crowd, they might bitch a little and feel the same way as I do about Xmas, but in the end they would rather fit in and pretend instead of expressing their true feelings.
I wish more people wouldn't be afraid of saying what they feel. In the process they might find out they really aren't alone. And after a while Xmas might be regarded in proper perspective.
If you notice, in the comments section at Mac's blog, you were the only pro-Xmas voice. A rare event: I was in the majority. In fact, it's the only thing that made me happy this holiday season. [G]
Speaking From Another Side,
Ray
No one over the age of about 12 really likes Xmas. From 13 - 18 one kinda puts up with it for material gain. Once one is a full-fledged adult it's a pain in the keester. However, many adults really want to pretend it doesn't suck, and that relies on everyone being "in the spirit" to maintain the delusion. It's weakness when you get down to it.
But the lights are pretty, I will admit.
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