People who work so hard to take the "Christ" out of Christmas.
No, I'm not one of those RWNJs who believes there's a "war on Christmas." And I am, in fact, against the government-supported displays of nativity scenes because I'm a strong proponent of the separation between Church and State.
On the other hand, I consider "Xmas" disrespectful. And I have a dear, very sweet Jewish friend who just sets my teeth on edge when she says, "Christmas trees and carols don't really have anything to do with Jesus." She doesn't mean to offend me, but she does. It would be as if I said the menorah is really just a pretty candle holder and who cares about the Maccabees?
There. Was that Grinchy enough?
Your dear, sweet Jewish friend is only about 1/3 right. "What Child is This?" is all about Christ. "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," not as much. Christmas trees are an adopted tradition, but that doesn't deplete their symbolism to Christians.
ReplyDeleteI used to feel the same way about Xmas, until I read an article similar to this one: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/editorials/2011/12/03/xmas-is-ancient-not-anti-christian.html, explaining the origin of the term, within the church.
Now I have read some authors who throw around the term "Xtian" as a pejorative, but they're really just shooting themselves in the foot with that one.