Wednesday, December 01 2010: The War on Xmas
I originally wrote this in response to an inane status update my sister posted on Facebook. Upon reflection, I realized there is no reading of this rant that can spin it as being delivered in a spirit of brotherly love, so I've dropped it here into the backwater of the blogosphere where I am free to say exactly what I need to say without fear of offending anyone (because no one is reading it). I have become such a coward, but only because I am such a slacker. I present for your reading enjoyment, Atheist Rant in E Minor:
"I apologize for being a dick here, but I really feel it needs to be noted that the first people to use Xmas as an abbreviation for Christmas were Christians...like, as far back as the Middle Ages. The X is the first Greek letter in the word Christ and is part of a symbol (the chi-rho) that is still used to this day in Catholic, Lutheran, and other Christian iconography. So, it's not blasphemy or some sort of atheist repudiation of Christmas to refer to it as Xmas, but rather an enduring part of Christian history and culture.
However, I think it's far more interesting to observe that implicit in this idea that there is some sort of assault on Christmas (which is as much a fantasy as the idea that Xmas is atheist) is the implicit acceptance or should I say acquiesence that there is a one true reading of the Christmas holiday. As far as I can tell the war on Christmas is Christian propaganda being spread to justify the lurching, shambling spread of "the holiday season". Every year Christmas "comes" earlier than the year before and every year religious fanatics find a new way to force me as a taxpaying non-Christian to fund religious displays on public property. As usual, the reality is that fundamentalist Christians are mounting an attack on freedom of religion, but spinning it to suggest that the militant 15% of atheists in the nation are somehow colluding with the Jews and the liberal media to lynch Baptists. It's nonsense and it needs to stop.
If you want to celebrate Christmas by bowing at the altar of baby Jesus - go for it, but that doesn't mean you get to decide for every other person in the nation how they do or do not celebrate Christmas for themselves in their own home. In other words, mind your own fucking business."
Google hit #2 when searching for chi rho xmas.
"I apologize for being a dick here, but I really feel it needs to be noted that the first people to use Xmas as an abbreviation for Christmas were Christians...like, as far back as the Middle Ages. The X is the first Greek letter in the word Christ and is part of a symbol (the chi-rho) that is still used to this day in Catholic, Lutheran, and other Christian iconography. So, it's not blasphemy or some sort of atheist repudiation of Christmas to refer to it as Xmas, but rather an enduring part of Christian history and culture.
However, I think it's far more interesting to observe that implicit in this idea that there is some sort of assault on Christmas (which is as much a fantasy as the idea that Xmas is atheist) is the implicit acceptance or should I say acquiesence that there is a one true reading of the Christmas holiday. As far as I can tell the war on Christmas is Christian propaganda being spread to justify the lurching, shambling spread of "the holiday season". Every year Christmas "comes" earlier than the year before and every year religious fanatics find a new way to force me as a taxpaying non-Christian to fund religious displays on public property. As usual, the reality is that fundamentalist Christians are mounting an attack on freedom of religion, but spinning it to suggest that the militant 15% of atheists in the nation are somehow colluding with the Jews and the liberal media to lynch Baptists. It's nonsense and it needs to stop.
If you want to celebrate Christmas by bowing at the altar of baby Jesus - go for it, but that doesn't mean you get to decide for every other person in the nation how they do or do not celebrate Christmas for themselves in their own home. In other words, mind your own fucking business."
Google hit #2 when searching for chi rho xmas.
noone wrote:
I think what rubs Christians the wrong way is referring to it as "the holidays." That's taking Christmas out of the entire focus... now, I suppose Fucksmas would be a better option, though. But less digestible for public consumption.
I also like saying things like "Obliquity of the Ecliptic is thew Reason for the Season" and science clinic their holyday.
~Dan