Globex Corporation Newsletter

It's a Christian holiday (contraction of holy-day) that due to crass commercialism has become a national phenomenon, a retailer's bonanza as people feel the need to buy each other gifts and spend lots of money on decorations. Hey, I'm not against commercialism, I'm sure it's worth lots of jobs. I'm sure it's good for the economy. It's supposed to be a holy day, celebrating the birth of the world's most famous carpenter, a carpenter who went on to do some amazing things for humanity.

Then again, if you read the biblical account of the birth of Jesus, there are indications that the actual birthday of Christ was probably not on December 25th. Why celbrate on that day? Because the church decided to celebrate on that day. Why did the church choose that day? Probably because it coincided with the pagan festival of the winter solstice. The early church co-opted a lot of pagan stuff in an attempt to draw people to their religion.

I'm not putting down Christmas. It simply doesn't matter when Jesus was born, or what we do to celbrate. I think the important thing is that we celebrate. Another important thing is that we know what we're celebrating.

I'm not anti Santa Claus or any of the commercialism that is associated with Christmas, but I always had a bit of a problem with non-Christians co-opting the Christmas celebration. If Christmas is a Christian holiday, then why do Moslems and Jews get the day off from work as well?

There's a value to all of us celebrating at the same time. Jews celebrate Hannukah, actually a somewhat minor Jewish holiday that has gained importance do to it's temporal proximity to Christmas. Ramadan is at roughly the same time as Christmas. Some professor at Long Beach State University came up with the idea of Kwanzaa, cobbling together Aftican harvest traditions into a celebration specifically for African Americans. Regardless of what the religious right wants you to believe, this time of year is the holiday season.

I celebrate Christmas because I'm a Christian. I realize that not everyone is a Christian and there's really not any value to forcing my particular holiday down anyone's throat. Do I say "Merry Christmas" to people? Of course I do. I've also been known to put up Christmas lights, bring a living tree into my living room and send cards proclaiming my best wishes to the recipient. If someone commits the 'sin' (according to the Christian right) of saying "Happy Holidays" to me, I may respond in kind or I may reply with "Merry Christmas." It just depends on situation.

The Christian right is trying to persuade/force retailers to celebrate Christmas instead of a seasonal holiday. I understand why a company would try to stay nondenomenational as possible this time of year. Namely there are plenty of retail outlets in existance, if they proclaim a "Merry Christmas" they are potentially alienating customers who don't celebrate Christmas. I don't care what store you care to name, this time of year they are more worried about their bottom line than proclaiming their celebration of any specific holiday.

I don't see the value of forcing a Wal-Mart to tell people Merry Christmas. If the Christian right wants to force Wal-Mart to do something, force them to buy American goods, force them to treat their employees fairly and pay them a living wage. Instead of forcing them to put up a Christian facade, force them to act in a Christian manner.

To those on the Christian right, if a clerk at Wal-Mart or Target says "Happy Holidays" to you, don't be offended. They have no idea of your religious beliefs, they can't possibly know and are better off not assuming that you're Christian. As a Christian, though, you can reply with "Merry Christmas." That's your right and there's nothing they're going to do to try to make you say otherwise. Extend them the same courtesy.

BOJ