I was born, baptized and raised as a Christian. I've had a lot of bad experiences with Christian churches, including a minister who told me he wouldn't rent his apartment to black people (he didn't call them that), because they were dirty. I left the church and gave up pretty much any belief in Christianity shortly thereafter.
I still celebrate Christmas - more for the joy of spending time with family, sharing the thoughtfulness of gifts (especially with the grandchildren), enjoying the lights and cheerfulness of those around me - than for any religious reason.
And I certainly don't mind it if someone says Happy Holidays to me. After all, there are three major holidays that fall within a four- or five-week period of time (Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years). Using the plural, non-specific 'holidays" works quite well this time of year.
And as most of you must know, if you're reading this secular blog devoted to caring about others and not focused on the selfish Christian values we read so much about these days (no health care for the poor, no help for women with reproductive problems, non-procreative sex is bad for everyone except moralistic conservatives who can do anything they want, hate for non-Christians, etc.), Christmas isn't even the birthday of Christ. Yep - Christmas was originally a celebration of the winter solstice until the church realized it couldn't get people to celebrate Christ's birth any other time of year, so they confiscated what was previously a secular holiday.
But Christmas is still fun - Santa Claus, TV specials, fantastic music of all sorts, the first snowfalls of the year - I can just ignore the religious crap.
So if you want to wish me a "happy holidays," I'll appreciate it, enjoy it, and I won't chastise you for not saying "Christmas."
This blog will focus on political images I have found all around the Internet, though I will intersperse some commentary and quotes that I find interesting.
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