I was thinking about the winter Holidays recently. Ramadan, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, I’m in favor of all of them… to a point. Really. Any reason in this bloody world someone wants to celebrate as opposed to blowing something up, I’m all for it.
Of the ones listed above the two relatively fabricated ones are Christmas and Kwanzaa. Fabricated in the sense their observance, is relatively new and relatively arbitrary.
Kwanzaa is a neat celebration. However, much of its concept and purpose hinges around the idea of a growing season. So in a tropical climate its December time frame may be valid, however transported to the cold and wintry countries of the West… it doesn’t make much sense. It would be more timely placed during the Spring, around Easter actually. So while a fan of Dr. Maulana Karenga’ s 40+ year old celebration, I think it is hurt by its rather forced placement in opposition to the religious holidays of the season. Again I would advocate a spring Kwanzaa, but in its defense there is no reason families couldn’t do its seven day process, in conjunction with their religious holiday.
Okay onto Christmas.
Christmas as we know it, is very much a 20th century fabrication (yes Rome—blah, blah, blah— but as we know it, it is very much a 20th century construct), that has incredibly little to do with religious timelines and dogma, and everything to do with creating a shopping frenzy for merchants.
What the eff does a fat white man in a red suit, climbing down chimneys have to do with a Jew crucified 2000 years ago?
Answer? Not a whole lot.
[Brief aside. The fantastic picture above is from this site BAD SANTA . It’s great, take a look. Okay back to the article…]
The concept of Saint Nick is Germanic-pagan window dressing (And I have no problem with pagans) than anything having to do with Christianity. Same thing with the holiday of Easter, in the west… rather than Easter being about the resurrection, it becomes about painting eggs, and fat bunnies. This significant day, due to a culture of delusion and commerce becomes an excuse to sell chocolate bunnies, becomes devoid of its meaning.
I find the West (particularly America, who was at the heart of this commercialization of supposedly holy days) spends an inordinate amount of time raising their kids on utter bullshit. Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy. And these kids are the same people who grow up… then go out ministering to the rest of the world on what is real and what is not. Delusions passed on like eye color, or prejudice. I have no problem with make believe, with fairy tales, but I don’t think it should be used in place of the facts, or fed to children as facts.
You want to read your kids THE WHOS DOWN IN WHOSVILLE, or THE THREE BEARS that’s fantastic.That’s great, that’s good parenting.
But telling your kid to put their tooth under their pillow, so some tooth fairy could turn it into money, or some fat dude is coming down their chimney to bring them presents… I have no frigging idea what that is about.
You want to tell your kid, an angel looks over him, and you believe that, then that is great.
But when you tell your kid, that a fat man is going to bring him presents, and you know perfectly well that’s bs… I don’t understand the purpose of that lie. Do you? Or is it just something you don’t question… an encoded lie, passed down like child abuse. Your parents did it to you, you do it to your kids, etc. Why isn’t it enough for the presents to come from the parents, for Christmas to be about Christ and a time of giving.
I don’t understand the American preoccupation, with deluding their young.
Fantasy is great, as a huge fan of fiction in all genres, I can say that. But don’t lie to your kids and call it a holiday. This is why Americans have a bad reputation throughout the world. Because we are raised on believing fairytales, from the cradle to the grave, and the rest of the world sees clearly through our delusions.
Biggest delusion?
“America is the greatest democratic nation in the world”
That’s because we’ve spent over 6 decades toppling nations that even look like they might remotely have a stable and potentially competing government. America has spent 60+ years keeping poor nations poor. And setting up bloody dictators. America maintains her crumbling fairytale of being a Democratic country (and I say this in the wake of a historic election) by butchering other nations.
That is not even open to debate. That is an absolute fact, that anyone who takes the time to look… can see. That is a fact, just as much as the presents under your Christmas tree comes from your loved ones.
But America is a society that raises delusional children who grow up to be delusional adults, who just transition from one set of unquestioned fairytales… to another.
So I’m not saying don’t celebrate Christmas, but I’m saying know what you are celebrating. Don’t say you’re a Christian and you’re celebrating Christmas if you have no clue what either of those terms mean. By all means celebrate the Mass of Christ if that’s what you believe, but don’t dilute and lose what you are celebrating. Don’t mistake the trappings of the holiday, for the heart of it.
“For I have that within
which passeth show
these but the trappings
and the suits of woe”
— From some hack called Shakespeare, and an okay play, called… Hamlet
Okay. So that’s me pimp slapping Christmas. Again I have no problem with any celebration of good, just the abuse of it.
And of course Ramadan, Hanukkah, several Vodun or Voodoo religious observances around the winter months, are the real deal, and I won’t mouth off against any of them for fear of being turned into a giant chicken. (But seriously, here’s a great page on Vodun. I’ve spent most of my life sampling different religions, and have to admit to being relatively uninformed about VODUN. But I’m definitely interested in learning more.)
And if you guys think I’m hard on Christmas, check out this site LAST TRUMPET MINISTRIES. You’ll think twice before saying Merry Christmas. Seriously, having read his site, I think I wasn’t hard enough on Christmas. 🙂 .
Oh, and definitely check out this siteCHRIST, THE ETHIOPIAN. Wow, great stuff.
So now that we’re clear on my stance regarding being an equal opportunity celebrator, as long as you’re cooking something good, and no bsing children is involved, I’ll celebrate them all. So with that said next installment we go over gifts to give that loved one in your life, regardless what holiday they observe.
See you soon!
Heroic Times 