Usually, it's the right-wing nutjobs that fire the first shots in the annual Christmas holiday wars, generally by working themselves up into high dudgeon over the fact that some people have the temerity to believe that there are other winter holidays celebrated by people. (Why do they hate New Year's?)
This time, though, it's the atheists who are firing the first shot, launching an apparently Christmas-themed ad that says, "Why believe in a god? Just be good for goodness' sake."
Two thoughts. One, I need a picture. Two, I think the fact that even the atheists are making Christmas references proves that the right wing "war on Christmas" blowhards are full of it.
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Well, just to play (an ironically titled) devil's advocate, the Humanist Association (or whatever they're called) is making a Christmas reference to the secular, Santa Claus form of Christmas. What the right wingers (including my very sweet, conservative-ish sister) usually decry is not an attempt to get rid of Christmas, but an attempt to rob it of its religious significance. To some degree, I sympathize. For Christians trying to celebrate the birth of Jesus, it's so easy to get caught up in the materialism of it all. "Buy, buy, buy....sale!....I want THIS!" And, to a Christian, that's idolatry, pure and simple.
Of course, there are those who go beyond and want everybody, even non-Christians, to celebrate a particularly Christian Christmas.
But still, the fact that atheists are quoting a song about Santa Clause is not itself an argument against the right wing position.
I'm just tickled that the ad pulls the line "be good for goodness' sake" which comes right after "he sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake, he knows if you've been bad or good."
Granted, they aren't making an argument - but that a dedicated atheist organization would use a line predicated by an omniscient benefactor who rewards good behavior is, to me, really amusing.
Ben, if that was what the "war on Christmas" was really about, a very large chunk of mainstream Christians would be the guilty party, but that doesn't seem like who the right-wingers are targeting. That having been said, you make a very good point about the secularization of Christmas, but you have no one to blame but the proselytes of old who saw fit to tie the celebration of the birth of their savior to pagan winter festivals to ease the conversion of non-believers.
As for Dave's point (which is hilarious, by the way), I pose the following question: "Santa Claus: kindly old elf or CIA spook?"
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