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Was there ever actually a war on Christmas?

Dessi said:
It was Colonel Atheo Jewgar, "The Barbarian" as he's called, who lead a racially motivated genocide against Elfin natives living the in polar icecaps. His campaign reduced a once prosperous nation to a failed state, many of its citizens turning to prostitution or a kind of chattel slavery rather than face the shattering cold realities of Elfin winters. The lacerated bodies of once-living rebels were hung upside down against burnt and blackend firs, affixed with the holy tinsel crafted by ancestors before them. It is said that the bodies of several prominent tribesmen were found crammed in the chimney chutes of their own homes, their stockings dangling lifelessly through the opening below. In a land where tribes once rode wild reindeer in the spectacular defeat of St Kringles paratrooper army in 1823, there is only a wasteland. And the echos of 10,000 Elfin screams.

My reaction after writing this: "wait, what the ****?"
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I saw this on "World's Dumbest Santas".
 
Cainkane1 said:
http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/13/9421835-war-on-christmas-waning-list-shows

Being an atheist never meant I wanted to spoil someone elses fun.
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In the UK we have had a seasonal story that "The council's changed the name of Christmas to Wintervale because Christmas is offensive to non-Christians". This would be wheeled out year after year (I've "debunked" it several times myself on this Forum).

This year a newspaper that often repeated this made up story even admitted it wasn't true!

Will the non-story now die a death? Who knows but as the famous newspaper man, deWorde, put it: "A lie can run around the world before the truth has got its boots on."
 
I'm an atheist, and anything but fond of the religious right, but it still irritates me when the giant public trees which are covered with Christmas decorations every December (here they're in the malls, with one in the park) are renamed Holiday Trees.

I don't believe in Jeebus either, bit I'm not required to be offended by the word "christmas", come on.
 
Marcus said:
I'm an atheist, and anything but fond of the religious right, but it still irritates me when the giant public trees which are covered with Christmas decorations every December (here they're in the malls, with one in the park) are renamed Holiday Trees.

I don't believe in Jeebus either, bit I'm not required to be offended by the word "christmas", come on.
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That is because the "Christmas" is not left out to be PC. The Christmas is left out so that Festivus Poles, Yule Goats, Hannukah Menorahs, "What the Hell is Kwanzaa?" books, various pagan references, and flaming atheist strawmen do not have to be permitted as well. When it comes to the US government it is an all or nothing thing as far as allowing religious displays.

Holiday Trees squeak by because such trees are across multiple religions, and more importantly the majority are fine with not so subtle nods to Christianity where they would not be with minority religios displays with the serial numbers filed off.
 
:holly1:Steve, I'm sending live from the war on Christmas, here on Canterbury High Street. Judging from the amount ot tinsel, advent choir events being advertised in the cathedral and the sheer number of buskers in Santa hats, I would say Canterbury is at the moment completely in the hands of Christmas. The high street merchants seem to have chosen their side. Apparently, this isn't just a Christmas pudding - it's an M&S hand launched missile, designed to spread suet, burning brandy and sticky dried fruit on Winterval stragglers.

Ongoing talks have failed to achieve the much hoped for "Multi-Holiday" solution which was supposed to see a return to the the 2000 borders, as laid down when the Holiday Armadillo negotiated an interminable armistice between Christmas and Hanukkah. The dreams of a return to the 1997 borders with room for Winterval, Festivus and Kwanzaa seem to grow more remote with each passing day and, of course, Christmas' continuous refusal to recognize Diwali keeps creating issues with the export and import of marzipan which in turn may adversely affect relations with Yule, who remains neutral but is reliant on import to feed its insatiable need of almond products. This stance will, however, have very little effect on the outcome of this conflict but is disappointing to Christmas, who has always seen Yule as a natural part of Christmas.

More news as events unfold. :holly1:
 
Zelenius said:
Yes there was, but it was mostly about removing the pagan Winter-solstice traditions that crept into the holiday, which is why Christmas was banned by Christians in various Christian countries a few centuries ago(as described by previous posters). It was never that big of a holiday to begin with, until recently.

This recent "War on Christmas" BS, on the other hand, is a political weapon obnoxious right-wing Christians use to rally their storm-troopers to bully the non-Christians into submission. The political-economic aspects seem to be far more important to the hate-mongers than preserving the actual holiness of the holiday; hence their extreme anger over store employees saying "Happy Holidays" to customers instead of "Merry Christmas", while there is never any anger over buying countless goods made in atheistic China. There's no anger over the commercial nature of it from the Reich-wing Christian blowhards at all.

They similarly cry "persecution" if they can't use public property to promote paganism, uh I mean idolatry, oops I mean their "Christianity", while excluding all other religions, which is unconstitutional. It would be great if these Reich-wing Christians read their Bibles once in a while.

It's obvious who their real master is.
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What i find funny about the whole "happy holidays" thing is this.

In my old job, it was an awesome way to avoid " Oh actually i am jewish/muslim/etc **insert rant about jewish/muslim/etc tradition here**" which honestly wasted a decent amount of time in the call center.

But after a couple of years, this no longer worked, because about the same percentage of folks started to give us a " You know, in my day it was merry christmas **insert rant about war on christmas here**" rant instead.

For customer service folks, its just a good way to avoid b.s., you can't tell what religion someone is by looking at them most of the time, and by staying neutral but nice, with happy holidays, you should be able to make everyone happy. But some folks will always find something to complain about if they are not being treated better than others.
 
Of course there was a war on Christmas. There have been many in fact. Didn't George Washington cross the Delaware in the early morning hours of Christmas to take the redcoats by surprise?


America: We'll murder you in your sleep on Christmas.
 
The Fallen Serpent said:
That is because the "Christmas" is not left out to be PC. The Christmas is left out so that Festivus Poles, Yule Goats, Hannukah Menorahs, "What the Hell is Kwanzaa?" books, various pagan references, and flaming atheist strawmen do not have to be permitted as well. When it comes to the US government it is an all or nothing thing as far as allowing religious displays.

Holiday Trees squeak by because such trees are across multiple religions, and more importantly the majority are fine with not so subtle nods to Christianity where they would not be with minority religios displays with the serial numbers filed off.
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I don't know, the whole thing does have a very PC aspect to it, from the locations of the euphemism zones (just in the more liberal cities around here) to actions taken by retailers that were definitely not federally required.

sadhatter said:
What i find funny about the whole "happy holidays" thing is this.

In my old job, it was an awesome way to avoid " Oh actually i am jewish/muslim/etc **insert rant about jewish/muslim/etc tradition here**" which honestly wasted a decent amount of time in the call center.

But after a couple of years, this no longer worked, because about the same percentage of folks started to give us a " You know, in my day it was merry christmas **insert rant about war on christmas here**" rant instead.

For customer service folks, its just a good way to avoid b.s., you can't tell what religion someone is by looking at them most of the time, and by staying neutral but nice, with happy holidays, you should be able to make everyone happy. But some folks will always find something to complain about if they are not being treated better than others.
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I don't have any problem with people saying "Happy Holidays", the part I objected to was some of the retailers forbidding their employees from uttering the word "Christmas" on pain of firing. I deal with the public, although not every day, and I have yet to come across a person who objected to "Merry Christmas". I'm not saying there aren't any, just that I don't think they are very prevalent.
 
Alareth said:
Why does no one ever talk about the War on Festivus?
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Actually, me and my coworkers brought this up just this morning! I think we should start a website going on about the War on Festivus just to spoof the War on Christmas idiots :)

ETA: The school where I teach has an annual "Holiday Door Decorating" contest, and all manner of stuff gets put out. Me, I put out an aluminum lab pole with a touch of gold tinsel around it and a star on top. It's my Festivus pole, and the kids love it when I point to the pole and wish them a Merry Newtonmass. I have yet to hear a single complaint about me engaging in a War on Christmas.
 
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sadhatter said:
For customer service folks, its just a good way to avoid b.s., you can't tell what religion someone is by looking at them most of the time, and by staying neutral but nice, with happy holidays, you should be able to make everyone happy. But some folks will always find something to complain about if they are not being treated better than others.
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I worked in a call center for six years, I know what you mean. I just avoided the whole thing by not proactively offering any type of holiday wish. If the customer brought it up I would just say "Thank you and to you too," and off the call with no drama.
Had to keep that AHT low!
 
whatthebutlersaw said:
:holly1:Steve, I'm sending live from the war on Christmas, here on Canterbury High Street. Judging from the amount ot tinsel, advent choir events being advertised in the cathedral and the sheer number of buskers in Santa hats, I would say Canterbury is at the moment completely in the hands of Christmas. The high street merchants seem to have chosen their side. Apparently, this isn't just a Christmas pudding - it's an M&S hand launched missile, designed to spread suet, burning brandy and sticky dried fruit on Winterval stragglers.

Ongoing talks have failed to achieve the much hoped for "Multi-Holiday" solution which was supposed to see a return to the the 2000 borders, as laid down when the Holiday Armadillo negotiated an interminable armistice between Christmas and Hanukkah. The dreams of a return to the 1997 borders with room for Winterval, Festivus and Kwanzaa seem to grow more remote with each passing day and, of course, Christmas' continuous refusal to recognize Diwali keeps creating issues with the export and import of marzipan which in turn may adversely affect relations with Yule, who remains neutral but is reliant on import to feed its insatiable need of almond products. This stance will, however, have very little effect on the outcome of this conflict but is disappointing to Christmas, who has always seen Yule as a natural part of Christmas.

More news as events unfold. :holly1:
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:)

War On Christmas Enter New Phase Of Talks

LUSAKA (Reuters) - Richard Noriss, Special UN Envoy, arrived in the African capital last night to oversee ongoing negotiations for an end to the War On Christmas. "It is our solemn hope to perhaps bring about peace and end this war that has claimed so many lives," he said before arriving at the Hotel Zambia to meet with delegates from the war's belligerents. Much needs to be discussed at this meeting including the following key points:


  • Minefields placed by Christmas that are severely impacting the trade routes of Kwanza.
  • Hanukkah military checkpoints around Ramadan.
  • Continued missile strikes by Ramadan on Diwali.
  • Accusations of Christmas providing arms to Hanukkah in defiance of the 1997 Ashgabat Accord.
  • Allegations from the UN that all members, save Yule, are continuing to cover up their roles in the Festivus Genocide of 1999.

Against this backdrop former Christmas Field Marshal Elf Nicooli continues his war crimes trial in the Hague. There attorneys from Yule are laying out a case that Elf Niccoli gave direct orders to his troops to massacre Occupy North Pole protestors. Video clips of the Christmas troops spearing unarmed college students with candy canes earned international condemnation for the heavy handed tactics.
 
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Marcus said:
I don't know, the whole thing does have a very PC aspect to it, from the locations of the euphemism zones (just in the more liberal cities around here) to actions taken by retailers that were definitely not federally required.


I don't have any problem with people saying "Happy Holidays", the part I objected to was some of the retailers forbidding their employees from uttering the word "Christmas" on pain of firing. I deal with the public, although not every day, and I have yet to come across a person who objected to "Merry Christmas". I'm not saying there aren't any, just that I don't think they are very prevalent.
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Do you have even the merest hint of a citation pointing to a retailer "forbidding their emplyees from uttering the word 'Christmas' on pain of firing"?
Hint, if you heard it on talk radio or Fox News, that is good evidence that it is not true.
 
autumn1971 said:
Do you have even the merest hint of a citation pointing to a retailer "forbidding their emplyees from uttering the word 'Christmas' on pain of firing"?
Hint, if you heard it on talk radio or Fox News, that is good evidence that it is not true.
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It was in the local newspapers and on the local tv stations at the time(was it 2 years ago?) with short interviews with fired employees. When this subject came up last year, I put a little time into it and was able to come up with sources for the story behind the renaming of the Zilker Christmas Holiday Tree (it didn't involve the Feds) but didn't find anything on the retail firings. So no, I don't have any evidence, just anecdotes from my memory of tv, newspaper, and friends kids who said the stores told them don't dare say it.
 
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