I hate it when things don’t make sense.

first off, let me state, right at the start, that this is not a post about secular vs. religious celebration and/or observation of christmas. that is an entirely different issue than what I am about to go on and on about.

I state this at the start, because I’ve posted about this very topic in the past, and all of the comments I get back are very much in the “keep Christ in christmas” and “we know what we are celebrating” school of thought. THAT IS NOT WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT HERE. but, because I’m a wordy, opinionated person, who everybody also knows to be a committed christian, that’s what everyone assumes I’m talking about, even though I think I’m pretty clear that I’m not.

at any rate… the rant of the day is an annual one, in recent years.

“HOLIDAY”

this one, single, solitary word drives me absolutely CRAZY for the entire month of december, and even before, and a little bit after.

I am not opposed to holidays. I like holidays. usually, holidays mean that my husband gets the day off of work, the kids don’t have to go to school, we do something different from the norm, the day is somehow “special”.

it is not the word, “holiday” that bothers me. it’s the blatant and nonsensical use of that word, this time of year, that makes me want to scream!

someone (the media, I guess) has decided that “christmas” is a bad word and should not be used to describe the holiday that many people celebrate on december 25th every year. it’s as if a bunch of people got together and collectively decided that americans should deny that that particular holiday has a name. we’ll just call it “HOLIDAY'’ why? is it because the NAME of the holiday has the word “christ” in it? I suppose that might be offensive to some people, but hey, that’s the name of the holiday. if THEY are that offended by it, then THEY should either not celebrate it or THEY should choose to call it something else. why the whole country has to go along with this is beyond me.

but really, that’s just the start of it. apparently, what is behind this whole “christmas is a bad word” movement, is the fact that we don’t want to offend anyone. we don’t want to be so narrow-minded that we assume that everyone out there celebrates the same holidays as we do. that’s fine. I’m all for not offending. I don’t particularly like to be offended, and I feel terrible if I find out that I have unintentionally offended someone. I have also learned throughout my life, that a lot of people think and live a lot differently than I do. that does not offend me. it makes life interesting. if it did offend me, then I have a problem because they are living their lives and that is their business. I hope the fact that I think and live differently than a lot of people does not offend any of them. if it does, then I think they have a problem, because I’m just living my life, same as them.

so apparently, the blatant celebrating of christmas is offensive to some people. I guess. I’ve never met anyone who was offended by people celebrating christmas, but apparently they are out there, because we are pussy footing around the issue now like we’re going to get sued if we mention the word christmas. and really, that’s what it comes down to. the word.

according to the media (and anything involving retail), christmas DOES NOT EXIST. now this is interesting to me, because if you open any grocery store ad right now, you will find that stuff like candy canes and gingerbread houses are on sale. hmmm… interesting. walk into any mall, and you will be affronted with christmas trees towering to the 3 story-high ceiling; lines of well-dressed, impatient kids and their parents waiting to see santa claus; department stores selling bad christmas sweaters and naughty santa lingerie. go to target or home depot, and you have a whole section devoted to trees and lights and wreaths, and all sorts of ways to ‘deck your halls’. turn on the radio, and you will hear traditional christmas music. turn on the tv, and you will see “miracle on 34th street”, “how the grinch stole christmas”, “a charlie brown christmas”, “it’s a wonderful life”, and countless other christmas movies.

so what I’m gathering, is that we’re not supposed to STOP celebrating christmas. we’re just supposed to stop calling it christmas.

THAT DOESN’T MAKE ANY SENSE!!!!!!!!!

this is where I just go nuts!

if someone is offended by the christmas tree in the mall, are they going to cease to be offended if I call it a “holiday tree”???

really?

if the media and retail operations are THAT concerned with offending people, then the only logical way to go about ensuring that that does not happen is for them to not observe it. they shouldn’t sell christmas trees, or christmas cards, or christmas lights. they shouldn’t show christmas specials, or christmas movies, or christmas concerts, or christmas-themed cooking or game shows. they shouldn’t play christmas music.

can you imagine?

I mean, really, that’s the only way to not impose a holiday that some people don’t celebrate (and are apparently offended by) on everyone.

because people don’t put up holiday trees in their houses. they don’t string holiday lights on their roofs. and I’ve never gotten a holiday card from anyone, unless you count one that wished me both a merry christmas AND a happy new year. and I’m sorry, but “miracle on 34th street” is a movie about christmas. there is no way of avoiding that. you can call it a holiday movie until you’re blue in the face, but the holiday it’s about is CHRISTMAS! why are we required to deny that? it’s stupid! it doesn’t make sense!

the one that really gets me are the commercials that tell me I have X many days until december 25th. have I done my holiday shopping yet?

um. no, I haven’t. I don’t usually do any special shopping for memorial day, and the fireworks stands won’t open for at least another 6 months.

just admit it. you mean christmas. if I don’t celebrate christmas, I’m probably not concerned about getting any shopping done by december 25th. calling it ‘holiday shopping’ does not make it inclusive or any less about christmas. we all know what you are NOT saying.

but we all know that no retail establishment is going to deny that christmas is coming. are you kidding? they stay in business, based on the sales they make this time of year.

maybe the media doesn’t want to impose christmas on those that don’t celebrate. but nothing has changed except one word. that changes nothing.

it’s just stupid.

I don’t care about traditional greetings like “happy holidays” or “season’s greetings”. those are fine. they have been around forever and have never been used, until recently, as an attempt to NOT wish people a “merry christmas”. they used to be interchangeable, and as far as I’m concerned, they still are.

so there. that is 2011’s version of rachel’s annual HOLIDAY rant! hope you enjoyed it! blah blah blah.