Archive for December 1st, 2010

Christmas Should Be Christmas

Wednesday, December 1st, 2010

My mom and I were in the mall the other day, running a couple of errands. She commented on the bag I had placed on the table filled with my three small purchases from a major retailer.

She didnít like the color. It was bright green with the companyís logo and white snowflakes and three little houses with evergreens next to them.

It should be red or a dark green, my mom said.

ìWeíve whitewashed Christmas,î my mom said.

Nobody can say, ìMerry Christmasî anymore. It has to be happy holidays.

So what happened? Are we so politically correct and all inclusive that we exclude those who believe that Christmas should remain Christmas. Itís a day on the calendar, inked in as Christmas Day. It carries religious meaning. It also has been commercialized into a gift-buying, spend-lots-of-money holiday.

A few years ago, my hometown decided to discontinue putting up colored Christmas lights in favor of white or blue holiday lights. I lived out of state then, but my mother said a controversy arose over those of another religion feeling excluded by the choice of color. The group claimed the colored lights signified a Christian holiday.

If you take away someone elseís rights, it slippery slopes into a loss of other rights. I wonder when I wonít be able to fly the red, white and blue when itís the colors of my nation, but not of all nations.

It makes me sad ñ no matter what my religion is ñ to not be able to yell Merry Christmas out my window. I love red and green. Bright green is okay, but itís a color for springtime. Itís not a natural color you see during the winter when the trees are barren and the days shorten.

Itís Christmas Day that adds excitement to the otherwise dull month of December.