The Holiday Spirit: hate, bigotry, and boycotts
American Family Association is really making a stink from stirring their own shit. As in years past, it is the Christians who pretend there is a war on Christmas, and they haven’t even let Thanksgiving be done before they start in on their annual tirade against reason and sanity.
They’ve had their “Naughty or Nice” list for years, encouraging fundagelical right-wing Christians to boycott the stores that don’t highlight Christmas or those that choose to say “Happy Holidays”.
Last year The Gap stores made the “Naughty” list. This year the Gap included Christmas … and Hannukah and Kwanzaa and Solstice … in their TV ads. I liked the ad before I could make out the words. It has a youthful kicky sound. But now that I know the words, I like it even better.
The folks at AFA are truly grasping at straws with their childish whining:
Did you notice it? Gap compares Christmas to the pagan holiday called “Solstice.” Solstice is celebrated by Wiccans who practice witchcraft!
Gap also encourages you to “86″ or “dismiss” traditions and “do what feels just right.”
Uhh… hello??? Christmas began as a Pagan Holiday, all Christified by Christians who just couldn’t stand that other people had their own holidays before the Christians even showed up. And who says their “traditions” are worth keeping?
And Solstice, of course, is not just a Pagan holiday. Solstice is the changing of season from Autumn to Winter. It is a naturally-occurring event EVERY year, and it is observed by virtually all people around the world. Observing or celebrating the Solstice is focused on the lengthening of days, return of the sun. Because it is a natural event, it makes sense that the Earth Religions would observe it and make it a sacred time in their traditions, but not all Solstice revelers are Pagan or Wiccans.
And, in case Christians have forgotten all reason and reality completely, axial tilt is the “reason for the season” – SOLSTICE is the reason for the season, NOT Christmas!
“Solstice is celebrated by Wiccans who practice witchcraft”. OOOOOoohhhh… scarey! But, umm… as Wiccans why would they NOT practice witchcraft? And just because Wiccans observe Solstice does not mean everyone who observes Solstice is a witch. Duhh.. Ooooohhhh… the internet is used by people who are addicted to pornography, so the internet is bad… BAD!
The American Family Association is a bunch of Anti-American, Anti-Family fundagelical bigots who don’t have the right to decide what the rest of the world is supposed to celebrate, or how, during the Winter Holiday Season.
FUCK THE AFA!
Just something I’ve noticed - you seem to support solstice/wicca/pagan/witchcraft in blog entries concerning same. If being an atheist is being non-religious, why the support for these?
November 22nd, 2009 at 7:20 am@Steve:
fair question.
After leaving the church post-divorce, I spent several years in the mid- and late-80s reading widely, including various Wiccan/Pagan pathways. Some of their myths and legends are no more strange than what Christianity offers, but their core teachings about how to treat others and how to treat the earth are FAR BETTER than Christianity. Virtually all the Wiccans and Pagans I’ve met over the years are enormously loving, kind people and much nicer to the people and world around them than most Christians I have dealt with.
They have a few bad apples and some genuine wackos, like any other group, but on the whole they are much nicer people with a superior worldview.
Most Christians don’t have a clue what witchcraft actually is, but they fear what they don’t know instead of taking the time to learn. There is far less danger to society by the Earth religions than there is from the monotheistic traditions.
The funniest part is that so many Christians fear the “spells and incantations” and other rituals without stopping for a moment to realize that Christians do the exact same things! Liturgy, prayers, lighting candles… it’s all the same stuff! It merely highlights the silliness and ignorance of Christians when they rail against Wiccans, Pagans, Druids, and the rest.
November 22nd, 2009 at 7:35 amHere’s one place to start reading: http://www.circlesanctuary.org/aboutpagan/intro.htm
here’s another:
http://paganwiccan.about.com/
and another:
http://paganismwicca.suite101.com/
As a decentralized group, there are many variations within the earth religions, but these links will give an adequate overview.
November 22nd, 2009 at 7:52 amOh jeez…here we go again. I suppose they’ve already identified the ACLU as the official Grinch Who Stole Christmas, too. I’ll heave a huge sigh of relief in January when these people JUST SHUT UP for another year!
I must admit some of the dancing in that Gap ad is pretty good. But I know folks who can knit much better sweaters.
November 22nd, 2009 at 12:29 pm@Kinnexa:
Don’t get me started on the Christians and the ACLU. As you know, it is AMERICAN Civil Liberties Union, and they’ve gone to bat for Christians, Muslims, Jews, and all sorts of other folks — whenever any American’s genuine civil liberties have been violated. Many Christians seem to forget that not all Americans are Christian, and that all Americans should be protected.
They also fail to grasp the irony that it is the most often the Christians yelling “Jesus said you will know the truth and the truth will set you free” yet it is the rest of us having to go to court to get protection from Christian dominance and tyranny. If they understood the meaning of “liberty and justice for ALL” they would appreciate the ACLU and would understand why it exists in the first place.
November 22nd, 2009 at 2:39 pmThey’re such a bunch of ignorant goons.
November 22nd, 2009 at 5:58 pmI would also note that most Wiccans, witches, and Pagans also don’t insist on trying to convert everyone around them. And we certainly don’t threaten those who don’t choose to follow our religion with hellfire or damnation.
Obviously, I’m sure there are some exceptions out there, but it’s not common practice by any stretch of the imagination.
November 22nd, 2009 at 9:32 pmI will add that part of being an atheist is to tolerate other beliefs, because trying to “convert” people to atheism is essentially not different than being a fundagelical. Having said that, I tolerate people who are respectful to others (typically Wiccans are, and almost always, so are Jews, Buddhists and many non-fundamental Christians, such as Lutherans) and do not tolerante those who are intolerant of others (fundagelicals).
November 29th, 2009 at 11:20 pmanother comment … I mostly send “Happy Holidays” cards but I do send “Merry Christmas” cards to my elderly Catholic relatives out of respect for their beliefs, and I have a number of Jewish friends, so I make a special effort each year to find Hannukah cards for them. Just TRY to find Hannukah cards in most stores. Or Kwaanza cards for friends who celebrate that. It makes me nuts that with so many diverse people celebrating their beliefs at the end of the year, that it’s so hard to find cards for the non-Christian religious holidays.
November 29th, 2009 at 11:28 pm