Just Call It What It Is: Christmas
Commentary by Lenny Roberts
It amazes me the way people have to watch what they say for fear of offending someone else. Don’t even get me started on the African-American thing. Caucasians are white, Negroes are black, and if you were born here or have become a citizen, you are an American. Barack Obama is half white, half black. He is not an African-American. He was born in Hawaii and raised in Kansas. Or vice-versa. I’m not sure and I really don’t care. End of story.
But this is not about what color the president is. This is about “the holidays.”
My intent here is not to sound like Bill O’Reilly or to upset Christians — especially the ones who go to church on more than just Christmas and Easter. But to me, Christmas is not about the day we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. You really think he was born on December 25? Christmas is about toys, family, and the look in a child’s eye on Christmas morning. It’s about decorating a tree and going through all the headaches of shopping, online or in a crowded store. It’s about remembering the sound your Lionel train made as it circled the Christmas tree. It’s about standing outside while it’s snowing and not being cold. It’s about the aroma that fills the house ahead of the Christmas dinner your mom has been working on for days. It’s about worrying how to pay for all the stuff you bought. It’s about hoping your choice of gifts was right, and it’s about hoping you got what you wanted. Sorry, but that’s what Christmas means to me, and probably a whole lot of other folks regardless of their religion or ethnicity.
Now we get holiday cards that provide us with holiday wishes, usually sent from people who greet you with “happy holidays” as if they are afraid to offend just in case. My response has always been and will always be “merry Christmas.”
I will not attend a holiday party, sale or event, send holiday cards, have a holiday dinner, or, yikes, put up our holiday tree. I will not celebrate the holiday season. So let’s just call it what it is. It’s Christmas.
Thank you Lenny and so much for the liberals and their ” happy holiday crap. Christmas is all about the presents and the kids.
Merry Christmas to all of my homies here on
Ventura Avenue in Ojai and the wonderful, honest,
diligent staff at the OVN. Merry Christmas Mr.
Lawrence.
OVN STAFF: Thank you and Merry Christmas to you.
Just read both Diana and Nancy’s post then the response from Admin. I have faith in you Larry!
Even though I graduated from Nordhoff High School, me no understand what Compassionate Larry means about “Diana is the same as Nancy.” Please explain, sorry if I’m dim.
I was driving down Main Street Ventura a couple weeks ago and noticed a matress store with a huge Merry CHRISTMAS sign on their window. It states “Yes, There is Christ in Christmas”. It also stated that they gave out free bibles to anyone that buys a mattress…We finally bought a new mattress!! I’m a Christian that grew up in a Catholic household and proud of it! Merry CHRISTmas everybody!
To whomever did the “Response”, you just outed Diana as being the same blogger as Nancy. You know what? I would welcome this sort of thing in every blog. Let people know “response” (must be Lenny) the actual number of different people posting in a blog, so we don’t waste time carrying on a conversation with multiple people who are actually just one person changing identities.
why the controversy folks. Just be merry, appreciate others and pass along good will. does the politics of things really matter. be good peeps and just take a moment to recognize and respect others. good grief.
Personally I like it that Lenny, representing the OVN (ostensibly) is standing up for something even if it’s controversial. And that folks, is one thing a “commentary” does. Even if I don’t agree with everything the man is saying, I like it that he’s getting us thinking and expressing ourselves.
Be happy at this time of year, and call it the right thing, and adopt the appropriate attitude of reverence, or else.
“Negroes?” Lenny…really? REALLY?
Response: “Caucasians?” Diana…really? REALLY?
And while I celebrate Christmas, I sometimes say “Happy Holidays’” with the meaning being Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, just in case I don’t see them again between each special day.q
“World Citizen”, I beg to differ with you on the classification of President Obama being an “African American”. As the caucasion mother of a child whose father is an African American, I am wondering just where the heck my caucasion genes went upon the birth of my child, the same one I carried in my womb for 9 long months. As you probably know, each child gains 50% of their genes from both parents. So I would like to know where you think my caucasion genes disappeared to. Maybe to the same place my Irish, German, welsh and English genes went when my ancesters came to America. Presdent Obama is an American and as soon as people quit classifying him and many others based on the homelands of their ancestors, and the color of their skin, the sooner people will quit being classified by their ancesters’ home countries. Barack Oama is a human being and probably has DNA from àround the world like most human beings. There are many caucasion immigrants here from parts of Africa, and no one would call then ‘African American’. M y child is brown which covers the ancestry ofboth her parents.
Mr. Roberts is right about Christmas, but sorely uninformed of the fact that black people are no longer called “Negroes”.
Barack Obama is, indeed, an African-American; his father was African! Just because he isn’t descended from American slaves doesn’t make him any less “African-American”, either.
While I truly appreciate your sentiment, Mr. Roberts, I feel compelled to point out that one can only be offended if they choose to be. While I do celebrate Christmas in a Christian context, it does not offend me if I am wished Happy Holidays, nor would I be offended if I were wished Happy Kwanzaa! My reply is, and will continue to be, “Thank you and I wish you the same.” For me, this is the Christmas season, and quite literally the celebration of the birth of my saviour (and, yes, I realize that the actual date of Christ’s birth is unknown). Why in the world should I be offended if someone else celebrates Hanukkah or Kwanzaa or anything else. Internalizing that kind of negativity would only depleat my own joy, not someone else’s. My only hope is that when I wish others a Merry Christmas (which I do) that it is received with the kindness in which it is intended.
I tend to agree with the views of Evan, just say whatever makes you feel comfortable during the holiday season which is November though December and don’t make a big deal out of it when people say Happy Holidays or Merry Christmas, just accept it as a greeting and move on. I have Jewish friends and I don’t wish them a Merry Christmas, especially when its weeks away from Christmas. Its not that they are easily offended and I don’t worry about offending them and v v but its not even Christmas yet anyway. Even as a kid when this time was filled with mostly hope about what I was going to get, it was also a time to make sure other people got to have things too like hot food and things to play with. For people on a tight budget it might be tough to see so much materialistic glee, so usually I was advised as a kid to be calm and kind to others. I might be a liberal non believer but I was raised in a conservative Christian home and I still honor the traditions and morals I was brought up with, everything is the same , just without the gay bashing political religious agenda.
Merry Christmas !!! Happy New Year !!! Happy Hanukkah !!! Happy 4th Of July !!! Call it what it is…
www.wikipedia.org/
Type in the word Christmas and read…
Concerned Citizen, you must not have been a “Seinfeld” fan! “Festivus” was short for a holiday called A Festival For The Rest Of Us, all of those who do not celebrate Christmas!
Thanks, Lenny.
It’s simple, flexible, and all inclusive.
Christmas = Xmas, the marketing wizards have given it to everyone, all of us. Just pay up and enjoy -or don’t pay up and take a deep breath and enjoy.
It’s not the beginning or end of anything.
Bigotes
Concerned, do you mean to tell me that you interview everyone you pass on the street or do business with, to find out what holiday(s) they’re observing, so you can wish them something accordingly? i’m almost certain you don’t, which is why “Happy Holidays” is a fine option.
Funny, i actually have never met any non-Christmas-celebrant who’s expressed offense at being wished a “Merry Christmas”…but some people who celebrate Christmas sure do get ruffled if they’re wished anything but.
Actually, what i think is potentially cowardly and borderline offensive is holding a “holiday” event (party, dinner, fundraiser, etc) and then clearly decorating for Christmas. In that regard i have no qualm: if it IS Christmas, just call it that.
just the facts,
What is a festivus pole? I sort of like that.
I think I will begin greeting people during this season by simply by stating the date and time.
I don’t want to say “happy” or “festivus” because that is too celebratory and I’d hate to offend the miserable. Also, it may impliedly suggest an undertone of religous affilitation.
Evan,
You shouldn’t greet people at all if it is so troubling and time consuming.
Concerned Citizen
But it’s NOT Christmas….not UNTIL Christmas. i don’t think saying “Happy Holidays” is a cowardly attempt to avoid offending people. i think it’s a way to greet others during the season when you don’t have the time/space/care to find out the specifics of how they’re marking the winter season, and the return of the light. There are LOTS of differently flavored observances and celebrations happening in this season. Christmas doesn’t own December just like Christians don’t own Christmas.
Concerned Citizen,
You may consider getting yourself a Festivus pole. Completely devoid of any religious affiliation.
Mr. Roberts, you are the best.
Merry Christmas.
I just set up my holiday tree. But I don’t even feel comfortable calling it a holiday tree because “holiday” comes from “holy day” and this suggests some religous affiliation. I think I will just call it winter furniture.
Thank you Lenny for this dose of common sense.
I agree. You don’t have to be a Christian to celebrate Christmas. The day is a part of western culture irrespective of your religious beliefs. It is true that Christians (myself included) commemorate the day to celebrate the birth of Christ, but many Americans just enjoy the rich traditions. We don’t need to sanitize everything in our culture to avoid offending people. Who’s offended?
Without apology, I wish you a Merry Christmas!
Roberts: Thanks, and Merry Christmas to you, too.