Merry Christmas

Nope, not Happy Holidays. Not Season's Greetings. Not Happy Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice, or Winter Lights. My mom recently commented that I should rename my blog 'Rants' so maybe I'll try to be slightly less rabid about this particular pet peeve (because being rabid generally doesn't get you many places in life.)

However.

I am of the opinion that, in the recent trend toward quavering political correctness, those who maintain that our Christmas festivities are merely a winter holiday should insist that they not have time off school or work, buy presents for no one, and decline to receive any. After all, we don't give presents at the summer solstice, do we?

I have also noticed a trend in people who hold such opinions. They do not belong to visible minorities (you know, the ones they claim are offended by nativity scenes and Christmas trees.) They do, however, belong to a left-wing, politically correct sphere of influence, and are themselves a minority. I dare to postulate that ordinary people, stopped on the streets or wherever, probably have no more problem with a baby in a manger than I do; but they are assigned a phantom grievance by those who do have a problem.

And like all tiptoing that goes on around visible minorities, this is dumb. Majorities should be more important than minorities, particularly in a democratic country where majority rules. If you don't want to celebrate Christmas, fine. Stay home. Don't drink eggnog, don't have a tree, politely or not-so-politely refuse gifts, and spit on candy canes. Mutter a 'bah humbug' now and then. If you must, tell me you don't celebrate Christmas when I tell you to have a merry one, and then revel in the awkward silence that follows.

By all rights, your personal preferences should not mean that the sight of a baby in a manger is taboo, or that the word 'Christmas' may not be uttered and must instead be replaced with the mundane 'holiday season' or 'winter celebration'. I might detest purple but that doesn't mean I throw a fit and insist that nobody anywhere must ever wear it again.

Okay. Rant over.

Merry Christmas :)