I'm sick of it

Well, it's starting again.  The season when everyone says "Happy Holidays" or "Season's Greetings" so they don't offend anyone who isn't Christian.

I'm sick of it, thus my usual, annual rant will now ensue.

Last time I checked, we don't change the name of Eid or Hanukkah, but for some reason, society thinks it's perfectly fine to ban the words "Merry Christmas" from the lexicon.  Even worse is "Xmas"!  That's when Christ and Christmas are completely abolished and banished -- the work, no less, of the devil himself.

So, taking the whole insanity to its logical conclusion, I guess we have to re-name 'A Christmas Carol', 'A Child's Christmas in Wales', 'White Christmas', Christmas trees...and on and on and on.  This is how hijacked this feast has become.  

Folks, December 25th is Christmas Day.  Could we not have just one day for those of us who celebrate it, please?  And by the way, everyone has grabbed Christmas and turned it into whatever they want to call it.  I'm not a religious fanatic, but I do cherish and respect the Christmas rite and the traditions it has fostered all over the world.  Please, people, just leave it be. 

A woman who used to work for me was Hindu, but her office was the most decorated on the floor at Christmas.  "I gather you'll be in the office on December 25th," I said once to her.  She looked incredulously at me.  "I mean, you're not Christian, so I would presume you'll be at work," I added to jam home my point.

She was speechless.

Although I have to hunt far and wide, I still send out cards with images of Mary, Joseph and the Baby Jesus every year.  I refuse to send any other kind.  I also wear my Christmas pin proudly:

Time to witness for Christmas.

Often, people will say, "What's your pin?" and when I show them, they immediately turn away in horror, afraid to even read the word "Jesus", let alone utter it.  Too bad, I'm wearing it.

Every year, we used to get a real Christmas card, with Christ in it, from a Jewish friend in Ottawa.  The late Harold Fireman was a prince of a fellow and told me, "Well, I know you're Christian and it's Christmas," explaining his perfectly logical reasons for the card.

When I was at school, the Jewish kids all took Jewish holidays, as well as the Christian ones.  No one batted an eye and no one was offended.  Looking back, I suppose it was hypocritical to take both, but back then everything was closed, so they had no choice.  I take some hope in the fact that the only day everything is closed is Christmas Day.  Hang in there Jesus!

Another year I was pleasantly astonished when a Muslim woman wearing a hijab wished me "Merry Christmas" as she checked me out at a Walmart cash.  Shocked, I thanked her profusely, as if she were uttering some verboten, fireable-offence greeting.

Last year I had to go to the Calgary YMCA to pick up a grandchild.  Would they have succumbed to the "Season's" eradication?  I mean, afterall, the "C" stands for "Christian", so I hoped there would be some nod to that fact.  Happily, they had a Christmas tree in the lobby!  Whew, I breathed a sigh of relief.

Sadly, this is what it's come to, the commandeering of Christmas.  As I said, I'm sick of it.