love, not war

In the past many years I have heard complaints by some that there is a war on Christmas. The blame many times was heralded against the agnostic, the atheist, the non Christian American who still believed in a separation between church and state. Many conservative talk radio jerks blamed it on the fact that since Obama came into power it was a socialist plot to eliminate ALL Americans from celebrating the holiday. For some the mere insistence that government buildings should remain neutral and not showcase any religious icon was reason to scream war. And for some it was very simple, Christmas was and is both an American holiday as well as a religious celebration so don't mess with it.

In my own opinion I felt that Christmas decorations displayed on city streets the day after Thanksgiving, Christmas music being played in store after store, commercial radio stations making it a 24 hour parade of Christmas music, houses displaying Christmas lights, some right after Halloween, and commercials extolling the Christmas season proved that if there was a war on Christmas it must be those in favor of Christmas who are winning.

But that was then and this is now, and NOW I actually believe there is a war going on and it is giving Christmas a BAD name. For two weeks prior to BLACK FRIDAY we were warned that SALES, SALES, SALES, DISCOUNTS, DISCOUNTS, DISCOUNTS would take place and if you didn't BUY, BUY, BUY you did not understand what Christmas was about and more so you were rather unAmerican.

And to lull you into doing the correct thing, stores were going to be open Thanksgiving night. The hell with family values like eating turkey together, sitting around the table communicating with one another, having quality family time, actually giving thanks, none of that indeed. Nope the stores, you know the all American Christian value stores, like Walmart. Target, were going to be open at 9 pm. And if you really had to spend that time with your family, what would Jesus do, you could abandon your family and BUY, BUY, BUY at midnight (realizing that the juicy discounts would be over).

And in the midst of making Christmas bright, the shoppers stomped upon one another, pepper sprayed one another, shot one another in the parking lot, grabbed gifts out of the hands of one another, or ignored dead bodies on the ground to get that perfect Christmas gift. And as they did all of this Noel, Noel, White Christmas, What Child Is This played like hypnotic melodies through countless loud speakers.

So the corporations, knowing just how poor many Americans are decided to play a game called mouse in a maze. Place the cheese at the end of some confusing maze make the mice either eat their fellow mice, starve or fight to the finish and get the cheese, the cheese being a dozen flat screen TV's half a dozen XBOX games, a few video cameras and whole lot of crap in between. Make the desperate feel that pushing, shoving, leaving their family behind was a good thing and you the CEO, just think about the bottom line of your own corporation. And somehow all of that resonated in the minds and bodies of those who decided pushing, shoving, greed and gluttony was what this Christmas season was all about.

I am not a Christian, but I enjoy hearing about the beauty of Christmas, the birth of Jesus and the hope and promise his birth provided for humans on Earth. I am not Christian and being a religious minority I never questioned the need to celebrate this holiday or questioned the amount of space, momentum and energy in anticipation of this holiday. I am not a Christian but I enjoy participating with others as they celebrate this holiday with pious, joyful and emotional meaning.

But this year it seems to me the holiday season so far looks nothing like the spirit of Christmas at all. I believe, greedy corporations, needy people, selfish people, big business have declared a war on Christmas. I believe any hint of the birth of Jesus and his purpose and message are missing. And if this trend keeps up they will never be found again. It is not the agnostic, the atheist, the non Christian who have delivered a bloody blow to Christmas, but those who somehow think chaos, selfish, greed is a sign from God.

If we don't stop this newest trend it will be one more occasion that is nothing more than a Hallmark Card, a reason to shop, and just one more day to act like a lemming.

Make love, not war!