24 December 2005

I can't help it. I have to rant.

Peace dove/peace symbol
It occurs to me that one could take this year's convergence of Chanukah and Christmas as a divine irony, if one believed in the divine. This holiday season, more than any other in my memory, has been the most contentious, with certain religious bullies trying to force everyone else to ... well, "celebrate" is the wrong word ... to believe that their holiday should overlay everything else in this country.

It may be Christmas to some of you, but it's not Christmas to all of us. In fact, it's not your version of Christmas for anyone except those of you who seem to want to politicize and commercialize the birth of your savior. For example, the idea of forcing retail establishments to advertise and to say "Merry Christmas" to everyone is so opposite to the loving, peaceful, unifying concepts that you claim as the core of your beliefs! It would be laughable if it weren't so hurtful.

In my neighborhood, the scenario would have been this: a Jewish, moon-loving woman going into a store and being wished "Merry Christmas" by a Muslim cashier wearing a hijab. Please, someone -- can you tell me how that would not be utterly alienating to the cashier and the customer? (Not to mention confusing...)

Anyhow.

I finished my father-in-law's "Something Red for Tess" scarf.
The body of the scarf is charcoal grey. The edges are red. The fringes are red (one strand) and grey (two strands), and the pattern is a lovely mistake rib.

To all of my friends, my family, my readers, and my non-readers, I wish you all peace, health, and the spirit of the holiday that shines in your heart.



1 comment:

Carrie K said...

Definitely rant on. It's Christmas to me as a religious holiday but it sure isn't the way it's portrayed out there. Some of these people are just flat out crazy.