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December 21, 2005

Notes from Ferdy - Happy Holidays to All

by Ferdinand T Cat

Well, this is depressing. An inferior life form has managed to hit the nail on the head about what's gone wrong with Christmas this year. I must be getting old.

Some time ago, I wrote about the recent discovery by Democrats that America has lost its sense of common purpose. The amazing thing is that Howard Dean is not proud of this achievement, but sees it as a problem his party can fix. It's like a group of rats deciding they would be more popular if they could do something about this awful black plague thing that has people so upset.

Trust me when I say that the solution to both problems is exactly the same: hire more cats!

The problem with Christmas is that it is too big a part of America's heritage to ignore, even though it has religious overtones. This means that a holiday originally designed to celebrate peace, unity, and giving has turned into a cultural battleground. Elevating alternative seasonal holidays like Solstice and Hannukah merely accentuates the fact we've become a collection of armed camps. It's not a solution.

So, here's what I want for Christmas. I want all the people I care about, regardless of race, creed, or level of sanity, to not be offended by the following sentiment:

Merry Christmas! Happy New Year!
May the Holiday Season Bring You Joy.
May the New Year Bring You Prosperity.

And given that, as fans of this blog, you are by definition persons of superior wit and intelligence, I ask you to all bend your minds toward a single, wonderful goal: that next year, celebrating the holiday will be less terrifying than a trip to the vet's office.

Respectfully submitted,

Ferdinand T. Cat

Trackposted to Third World County, Diane's Stuff, Stuck on Stupid, NIF, Right Wing Nation, Jo's Cafe, Basil's Blog, bRight and Early, and kids from one to ninety-two.

# At Wed 10:02 AM | Permalink | Trackback URI | Comments (5) | More Notes from Ferdy

Trackback Pings

» Celebration of the Heart from Mensa Barbie Welcomes You
May the spirit of kindness flow to you all... [Read More]

Tracked on December 21, 2005 5:04 PM

» The Carnival of Christmas from Adam's Blog
Welcome to the First Carnival of Christmas. Below you will find a variety of postings. Many sacred, others secular, but they all reflect a Spirit of good cheer and happiness that has come in our world through Christmas. As this is a season of Givin... [Read More]

Tracked on December 23, 2005 2:02 AM

» Tolerance and Understanding in the Shadow of Christmas from Conservative Cat
One thing that bothers me about modern political discourse is an unwillingness to understand other people's viewpoints. I think this is a result of the fact that humans are at the top of the food chain. To a cat, this... [Read More]

Tracked on December 23, 2005 10:07 PM

Comments

Well, I _am_ terribly offended that you could not find a way to offend me with this post.

Hmph. I guess I'll have to just take offense at that.

;-)

Oh! Oh! Here's something to be offended by! The "anti-spammer code" word I have to enter in order to post this comment is "eirosam"!!! Do you KNOW what that means?!?!?! How terribly offensive to my tender sensibilities!

heh

indeed

:-)

Merry Christmas


Posted by: David at December 21, 2005 11:08 AM

There is no war on Xmas. It is just the rantings and ravings of foolish people who haven't enough sense to fight about something meaningful.


Posted by: Jack at December 21, 2005 5:23 PM

Jack, that is a very intolerant attitude. The fact is, Christmas means a great deal to these people, and they are tired of being pushed around. It doesn't seem too difficult to show a little sympathy.


Posted by: Ferdy [TypeKey Profile Page] at December 21, 2005 8:55 PM

The point is, marginalizing Christian symbols is apparently a trivial matter to Jack and those who he appears to embrace as his fellow-travelers. Jerry pournelle says it much better than I can summarize in a comment. Please refer to:

http://www.jerrypournelle.com/view/view393.html#Tuesday


Posted by: d at December 22, 2005 11:50 AM

Jack, that is a very intolerant attitude. The fact is, Christmas means a great deal to these people, and they are tired of being pushed around. It doesn't seem too difficult to show a little sympathy.

Ferdy,

If I believed that they were really being harmed or pushed around then I would be the first to stand and fight with them.

But I don't believe that. Xmas is a federal holiday. The overwhelming majority of businesses close down for it.

Virtually everywhere you go there are signs of it.

I don't believe that saying happy holidays does anything to marginalize or impugn the Xmas holiday.

There are huge numbers of homeless people. There are families who have lost sons/daughters/fathers/mothers to war/natural disaster.

They have real problems and real issues.

Complaining because the clerk at Target who you don't know from Adam said Happy Holidays instead of merry Xmas is not remotely serious.

Being told that you cannot go hogwild with religious displays in Gov't buildings is not serious.

And you know going back to the store clerk example, no one is saying that you the consumer cannot wish them and everyone around you merry Xmas.

This whole thing is a sham built for ratings and votes.


Posted by: Jack at December 22, 2005 12:15 PM

HTML is not allowed in comments; however, if you put in a raw URL (http://www.somewhere.com/page.html) it will automatically be converted to a link.. Also, it is likely your comment will not appear unless you refresh the page manually after posting it.

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