Don't Care Who They Offend

Today I’m reminded of how some people want everyone to do things their way and when others resist they start this bullshit about how they Don’t Care Who They Offend by doing things their way. News flash. No one cares how you do it. People only care that you’re trying control how they do it. Few people care what you believe, how you live, how you worship, how you celebrate, or anything else. Anyone who is that concerned about what *you* do is an asshole and you should ignore them. Kind of like we ignore you. Which is difficult considering how it’s always in our faces.

You are the only one who is making a fuss. The vast majority of everyone else is just trying to live and it bugs us that you spend so much time spouting off about how you don’t care who you offend. Great. We get it. Do it your way. We don’t care. I suppose you can even keep spouting if it makes you happy but keep in mind that while you’re busy not caring who you offend you are likely hurting the feelings of a loved one who believes differently from you and now thinks you don’t understand or care. And maybe you don’t.

For example: Christmas. The dreaded Holiday Season. You know. The one where you get all worked up because someone else acknowledges that other people celebrate other holidays during the winter and wishes them happiness. Holidays, I might add, that were celebrated long before Christmas was ever thought up.

You do realize that there hasn’t been a long line of annual celebrations since Christ was born, right? It’s not like you’re carrying on a long tradition that was started by Mary and Joseph way back over 2000 years ago. “Okay, Baby Jesus, blow out the candle on your cake now.” Heck, Jesus wasn’t even born in December! [Some would say he wasn’t even born at all. But that’s another blog post for another time.] No, in the 4^th Century the Catholic Church, evidently jealous of all those other religions celebrating the birth of the sun at the winter solstice, announced that Jesus just happened to be born at that time. Several Christian sects denounced this because it was based on a pagan holiday. The Puritans in Massachusetts banned Christmas. There are some sects of Christianity who, even now, don’t acknowledge Christmas for this same reason: they know it’s pagan so they’re not going to celebrate it.

Be that as it may, what I want to know is: why does it bother you so much for a someone to wish another person happiness? Are only people who believe as you do allowed to be happy? I mean, think about what you’re saying: You don’t want people to wish people a happy holiday. You don’t even want them to wish *you* a happy holiday. They are telling you that they hope you’ll be happy and have a wonderful time during the holiday season. How is that a bad thing? Why does their choice of words bother you so much? People have been saying “Happy Holidays” and “Season’s Greetings” for decades and it only became an issue in recent years. Plenty of people still say Merry Christmas. Can you not share? Do you need the entire time between Thanksgiving and New Years to yourself? Why can’t you just enjoy your holiday and leave everyone else alone? Not only do you ruin the season for everyone else, I don’t see how you could even enjoy it yourself with all the anger and resentment you seem to have towards people who differ from you.

So, yes, keep Christ in Christmas. Please. Then the rest of us can celebrate our holidays in peace.

Oh, and... Have a happy holiday. May your days be merry and bright.

Earthchild has spoken. Now it’s your turn.