Various comments and statuses on Facebook have gotten me thinking recently. A lot.
What I wish I had the guts to type in the Comments boxes:
- There is no such thing as a War on Christmas. It doesn’t exist, at least here in the U.S. Stop the fear-mongering. PLEASE.
- The fact that I am a liberal does not mean I automatically agree with everything Michael Moore says. Stop lumping all liberals together. Hell, stop lumping all conservatives together. It makes no sense. We. Are. Individuals.
- I say, “Happy Holidays.” I also say, “Merry Christmas” to people I know celebrate Christmas, “Happy Hanukkah” to people I know celebrate Hanukkah, “Happy Solstice” to practically everyone, and “Ahoy, Matey!” on Talk Like a Pirate Day. Which part of this makes me a terrorist?
- Oh, you might have meant that terrorist thing as a joke? It’s not funny.
- Your status is offensive and hurts my feelings. I thought you were more open-minded than that.
- Saying “Merry Christmas” is not ‘The American Way.’ Methinks you need to go to a local college and take a course in Constitutional Law. Or a course on the history of world religion. Or, come to think of it, both.
What I posted instead:
- “It’s in every one of us to be wise. Find your heart. Open up both your eyes.”*
You know, not being Christian does not make me un-American, anti-American, or a terrorist. Happy Holidays, everyone! Love and peace to all, all year ’round.
What I learned:
- Holding love and peace in your heart can help melt some hurt away, but the support of friends melts it away almost completely.
*This quote is from one of my favorite Christmas Albums. Oh. My. Gosh. The videos of the original special are on YouTube! They weren’t up the last time I looked! I know what I’m showing the boys this weekend…
Wow. I know the story of Alfie and the songs by heart, because they’re on the CD, but the bit in the middle with John and Kermit…it had been too many decades…Sniff…
In THIS Life 
3 comments
Comments feed for this article
December 17, 2010 at 3:19 pm
Jason
Well said. Too many people are blinded by hate, misunderstanding, and ignorance. We should all be more open-minded and strive to learn more about the world around us from all angles.
December 28, 2010 at 4:25 pm
angelina
People were saying it’s unAmerican to not be Christian? People are getting so over the top. I have to watch myself though because I have noticed myself lumping conservatives together and it’s really unfair of me. I’ve been slowly mellowing about Christianity and it’s helped that I have a couple of really kind amazing non-proselytizing Christian friends and when I start feeling resentful of the closed minded Christians and want to retaliate with unkindness, I think of my friends and remember that it isn’t Christianity I have a problem with but some people who practice it.
Living here has stretched the limits of what I used to think of as my open-mindedness and shown me that I have so far to evolve to truly call myself that!
Anyway, I’d like everyone to stop spreading the hate and the fear too.
December 28, 2010 at 10:19 pm
Gretchen
Yikes. Facebook has it’s dangers, doesn’t it? Many months ago, I got into a long, drawn-out, weird, public argument about gay marriage with some uber-conservative-born-again-Christian-dudes that I went to high school with in Texas. It went on and on, with MANY people chiming in on both sides. And the more I tried to present reasonable, well thought out arguments, the more whackadoo and crackpot they got. Stuff like…dinosaurs and humans coexisted. Finally, after DAYS of this argument, the thing was put to rest by a rather interesting party. Another old friend of mine from high school, who is now a preacher at one of those mega-churches in Texas, but who is one of the most open-minded, truly Christian and loving of all people human beings I have ever known, send me a private message saying “Stop arguing with them, Gretchen! These dudes are the Pharisees! They can’t hear you!” He then told me that for certain kinds of Christians, like these guys, their very salvation, their existence in this world, depends on the notion that they, and every word of the bible, is absolutely right. They couldn’t possibly listen to me, or hear anything that might shake their belief, because if their belief isn’t true, their existence is meaningless. This totally freaked me out. And I stopped arguing. And it made me…sad for them.
And I totally hear you, I hate being lumped too. I’m a mass of contradictions,as we ALL are. I think you handled yourself very well.
Oh, and happy winter solstice!