tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4640470443420164863.post4851573369171589987..comments2024-03-26T10:26:51.288-04:00Comments on Jim Leff's Slog: The Evil Impulse Behind Christmas WarriorsJim Leffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00007232702717055047noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4640470443420164863.post-20453475815880345872011-12-12T11:54:32.699-05:002011-12-12T11:54:32.699-05:00vhliv-
That's pretty much the distinction I&#...vhliv-<br /><br />That's pretty much the distinction I've attempted to draw, both in my article and in my response to the first comment.<br /><br />O'Reilly, et al, aren't offering spiritual reminders to fellow religionists. They're shrieking about how "forces" out there are literally "at war" with Christmas, attacking their religious freedom and destroying the holiday. That's not about "commercialism". It's a different thing. I don't see any equivalency at all between that stance and a gentle reminder ala, "Hey, let's not forget, if we happen to be Christian, what we're celebrating here amid all the commercialism!"Jim Leffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00007232702717055047noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4640470443420164863.post-30353717045411243612011-12-12T10:38:13.729-05:002011-12-12T10:38:13.729-05:00I think anonymous is right, but there is I think r...I think anonymous is right, but there is I think real confusion between the anti-commercialism tack many Christians are sympathetic with and the "War on Christmas" among the supporters of the latter. What seems to upset these people most is not the commercialism or the exploitation of a Christmas holiday, which the folks at Fox News in particular indulge in, but what they see as the unwillingness to acknowledge that what is driving the annual festiveness is Christmas. They really want more explicit commercialization of Christmas not less, like they imagine it was back in the 1960s or the 1940s.vhlivhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08014847502010321186noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4640470443420164863.post-34552326357631143672011-12-09T11:51:14.424-05:002011-12-09T11:51:14.424-05:00I've written about that same perspective befor...I've <a href="http://jimleff.blogspot.com/2010/03/unorthodox-perspective-on-opposition-to.html" rel="nofollow">written about that same perspective before</a> (not with respect to Christmas). And I think there's more to it than you do. It's more than just nostalgia (much less false nostalgia).<br /><br />I don't think they should stop complaining about crass commercialism. I don't think their nostalgia is necessarily so false. And I don't think they should stop reminding kindred spirits to remember the spiritual aspects of the holiday.<br /><br />My question is simple, and nothing you've said has answered it: Who, precisely, are O'Reilly and the rest warring against here? <br /><br />Listen, I'm not interested in Judaism (theologically or culturally) and I don't tribalize myself via my bloodline. I rarely take offense at perceived anti-semitism. But in this dynamic, I feel like Woody Allen at Annie Hall's parent's house.....bearded in a black coat, with an enormo shnozz. Christmas Warriors: what do you want/need <b>me</b>, specifically, to do? How am <b>I</b>, personally, threatening your beliefs? <br /><br />Same for atheists, Buddhists, Moslems, nonbelieving Christians, and everyone else who leaves the Christ out of Christmas. What, quite specifically, would you have us do? And if you're not speaking to us, that means you're speaking to kindred spirits. But if you're preaching to the choir, why so extraordinarily angry and combative? If there's a "war", as you call it, you're certainly not waging it on yourselves. So it's got to be me, no? And if it's me, then, hey, waddayaknow, my bloodline just throbbed a little....<br /><br />It's a question worth asking, but no one else is asking it.Jim Leffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00007232702717055047noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4640470443420164863.post-71707799717768407992011-12-08T19:42:31.827-05:002011-12-08T19:42:31.827-05:00Oh yeah, and did you notice how I didn't use t...Oh yeah, and did you notice how I didn't use the obvious analogy of Chowhound? You're welcome.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4640470443420164863.post-10806120283241316662011-12-08T19:12:00.367-05:002011-12-08T19:12:00.367-05:00An oversimplifed way to look at it might be like t...An oversimplifed way to look at it might be like this:<br />You grow up in a small, beautiful town. There are only a couple of restaurants, the druggist knows everyone by name, the summer festival is truly a community event and you know everyone there. Then, for whatever reason, your little town becomes a popular tourist destination. The restaurants serve "regional" favorites to appease the tourists, and their awesome coffee that you used to enjoy has been replaced by a cheaper, less flavorful mass-market brand. The druggist now sells postcards and novelty sunglasses. Part of the fairgrounds where the summer festival is held is paved so it's easier for popular bands to set up their equipment. In the meantime, that old tree your parents carved their initials in as teenagers is cut down just to make room for the tourists. They've ruined everything. <br /><br />I think that's how the Christmas Warriors (in the O'Reilly sense) think they feel. But it's actually more like they were born in Key West in 1990. It was a tourist destination long, long, long before they came along. So really it's just a bunch of complaining from people who are trying to reclaim an authenticity that never really existed--particularly since the holiday we know as "Christmas" is mostly a rebranded pagan holiday anyway (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/115686/Christmas).<br /><br />Apologies to Christians. And I respect the right of everyone to make the holiday as holy as they want it to be, but I also don't see how crass commercialism impinges on anyone's right to celebrate as they see fit. And I hate crass commercialism. The thing is: I've learned to ignore it. You can, too.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com