Call me Ebenezer.

[chaska]

The snippet below is from an article that is too long, too heavy with statistics, heavy handed writing style, etc. Read the whole thing if you want...

But the condensed version I've posted below is definitely worth reading.

http://civillibertarian.blogspot.com/2006/12/call-me-ebenezer-but-christmas-as-we.html

Call me Ebenezer, but Christmas as we know it needs to go...

snip

Divisive, sophistic arguments crafted by “sage” pundits and readily accepted by genuflecting readers admonish that secular forces are determined to eradicate Christmas and its celebrants’ joy with the zeal of a restaurateur exterminating cockroaches. What an ingenious way to divert attention from the ongoing genocide in Iraq and the gutting of our Constitution! 
 
Christmas may not truly be under siege, but our corporate overlords have certainly discovered myriad ways to wield it as a psychological weapon and to administer it as an “opiate of the masses.” 
 
While Christmas may only come once a year, the pernicious effects of the Consumerism it manifests to such a high degree are virtually omnipresent in a society premised on acquisitiveness. Consumerism is the tap root of the sprawling and gnarled tree of predatory Capitalism. Like an aberrant black walnut tree of gargantuan proportion, American Capitalism(1) exudes toxins that stunt or eradicate nearly every living thing attempting to grow within the circumference of its expansive root system. 

snip

Meanwhile many U.S. Americans are adhering to their indoctrination by acquiring as many material possessions they possibly can. Oblivious to the human or environmental cost, they shop with the fervor of Christian zealots converting the “heathen aboriginals” of Turtle Island.

snip

Anchoring Consumerism as it does, it is patently absurd to believe for a moment that Christmas is the least bit threatened. Consumerism is essential to those stalking the corridors of power in the United States. They need the “Season to be Jolly” to obscure the crimes they have committed (including offenses for which men were sentenced to hang at Nuremberg ) and to ensure that the hoi polloi remains obedient. 
No, Consumerism, and hence Christmas, are quite safe. They are essential components of the power structure spawning and protecting beasts like Bush and Cheney. 

snip

Given the horrendous fallout from America ’s extraordinarily avaricious behavior, perhaps a “War on Christmas”, and hence Consumerism, wouldn’t be such a calamity after all. But rather than launching a belligerent attack so typical of the United States, what we really need is a non-violent spiritual struggle to establish a meaningful observance of the birth of Christ.
 
Some view Jesus Christ as a god, some a man, and others a myth. Yet regardless of which concept one embraces, the moral teachings attributed to Christ rank at or near the peak of humanity’s ethical evolution. Devoting a day to commemorate him certainly makes sense when one considers some of the other historical figures whom we celebrate.
 
While it is impossible to be 100% certain, it is extremely unlikely that Christ would find much virtue in the perversion that Christmas has become. I suspect he would demand answers to at least four questions:
  1.  Why is so much emphasis placed on materialism on a day honoring an individual who devoted himself to the poor and down-trodden?
  2.  What are we teaching our children by showering them with virtually everything they want (and then some) while 10 million people starve to death each day?
  3.  Why do we further enslave ourselves to amoral corporations by taking on mountains of debt to buy more of their products for which we have no real need, thus contributing to their ongoing rape of humanity and the Earth?
  4.  Why do we devote only one of 365 days to “peace on Earth and good will toward men”?
 
How would one respond to such challenges?
 
I have been addressing them head on for the last several years and have no intention of ceasing to toil. For me it has been a slow, steady, and humbling progression. Little by little I have been divesting myself from complicity in the multitude of crimes against humanity perpetrated by those atop the pyramid of American Capitalism.
 
Striving each day to remain free from the addictive, deleterious, and exploitative products of the alcohol, tobacco, soft drink, and pornography industries, I practice a number of the principles of the Twelve Step program along with an eclectic set of moral values I have cobbled together over the course of my spiritual journey, including many of those espoused and modeled by Christ.

snip

During the 2006 holiday season, I am purging yet another ugly aspect of Consumerism from my being. My effort will involve defying years of inculcation by a society that puts a substantial premium on money, violence and crushing the competition.
 
For as long as I can remember, I have been an avid supporter of the Kansas City Chiefs, an NFL football team. Yet as a strident domestic critic of American Capitalism and as a person dedicated to a path of spiritual development, I have determined that my time, emotional energy, and intellectual efforts are wasted when I devote them to supporting corporate entities which generate billions of dollars for a handful of wealthy elites or their pampered employees who receive millions of dollars to play a game.
 
Reflecting on the extent of domestic and world poverty, I have come to view my relatively modest collection of Chiefs apparel and memorabilia as sinfully large. Besides selling these items and contributing the proceeds to worthy causes, I will make a conscious transition from rabid NFL fan to casual observer.
 
Like the gradual yet steady forces of erosion, appreciable numbers of individuals pursuing moral paths can significantly mitigate the damage rendered by Consumerism. And it is possible for one to pursue such a course without dropping off the grid, self-destructing, or going to the extreme of someone like Diogenes.
 
So in the spirit of my proposed alternative to “Christmas as we know it,” here’s hoping that Santa and Rudolph do retire to Florida.
 
Before it’s too late…
 
Bah, Humbug!

[Uncle Joe]

1. I keep thinking of commercials

denigrating people, because they bought someone a present and not from their store, so obviously if you did not buy your sweetie a diamond from Jarred's, your a louse. This is just a small sample of commercialism's impact on Christmas. If anyone is waging a war on the the teachings of Jesus, it's corporate America.

Thanks for posting chaska

Kicked and recommended

[chaska]

2. Amen...!

"If anyone is waging a war on the the teachings of Jesus, it's corporate America."

True dat! There was a lot of stuff about the stuff you mentioned in the article, about how our acquisitivenous is a created phenom, about how manipulated we are. Unfortunately, I snipped that stuff, not wishing to be too "preaching to the choir".

[Efilroft Sul]

3. Visa is the reason for the season.

Oh, yes... Keep the X in Xmas, too.

:hi:, John Gibson!

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

4. Christmas wasn't always this way

In my grandmother's day, the kids hung up their stockings and got an orange. Once they actually got presents--penny pencils. But that didn't make Granmda decide to go all out for Christmas--we gave each other clothes or homemade gifts, mostly, with a toy or two thrown in (my uncle, who lived away, always sent me a doll. I DETESTED dolls). What I recall most about Christmas was making and giving things to others, especially the less fortunate. Perhaps that mindset is what Christians need to go back to.

[chaska]

5. I remember we used to go get a limb from a locust tree....

and we'd make a decorative little tree out of it by sticking gumdrops on the thorns.

And we'd go find a tree growing in the woods and cut it down and bring it back home, and decorate it with strings of popcorn.

Wow, those days sure are gone.

[Der Blaue Engel]

6. Something I've been wondering about the Xmas debate

If the X in Xmas is such a terrible, anti-xian (ha...yes, I said it) thing, why is it okay to pronounce the holiday "crissmuss"...shouldn't they be storming the malls demanding everyone pronounce it "Christ Mass"?

Stupid weenies.