This topic just does not want to die and I need to blog about it to get the anger out of my system.
Every year, the same group of idiotic wanna-be Christian enthusiasts whine and complain that more and more people are not saying “Merry Christmas”, but instead are saying “Happy Holidays” or “Seasons Greetings”. As far as I can tell, their argument has always been “It’s Christmas time, stop taking Christ out of Christmas. This is the time of year that we celebrate the baby Jesus…”, and so on and so forth.
I guess that my major problem with this is the same problem I have with most organised religions; they tend to think that they’re right and everyone else is wrong.
Dear all Christian enthusiasts,
How does it make you feel when I say the following:
Jesus isn’t real. The virgin Mary, yeah, she wasn’t a virgin if you know what I mean. Your whole bible is a farce and everything you believe is wrong. You’re an idiot.Sincerely,
Prophet David
Ruler of Religion X
Now luckily I don’t think that, and even if I did I wouldn’t seriously say that to you. Why? I have respect for your religion. Why? Because I believe that’s what you believe, and I believe that’s what makes you happy and fulfilled.
When you say state “it’s Christmas time dammit, stop taking Christ out of Christmas”, you’re saying to all of the other religions out there who do not celebrate Christmas, that their other religion is wrong, this is what really happened… you believe what we believe and do what we do or dammit, we’ll complain and bitch about it.
Who are you to judge? You have no proof. No one has proof. How on Earth do you think that your religion is the “right” religion. I don’t want to knock you down a peg or anything, but the fact is that the whole idea of “Christianity” is a fairly new idea in relation to the earth and the fact is that there were and are thousands of other religious beliefs out there that are much older than Christianity.
I’m still not saying you’re wrong… because I wouldn’t do that. I believe that you can believe whatever you want to believe, but I also demand the same respect from you. If you don’t give me that respect and give others that respect, then I will group you with the same bunch of “people” as I do Islamic fundamentalists. You don’t want that do you? Maybe you don’t care… I don’t know.
That being said…
Dear all Islamic fundamentalists,
How does it make you feel when I say the following:
Mohammed isn’t real. He didn’t fly over the sun on a chariot of fire and the only thing that praying five times a day does is wear a hole in your clothing. Your whole faith is a farce and everything you believe is wrong. You’re an idiot.Sincerely,
Prophet David
Ruler of Religion X
Again, luckily I don’t think or believe that, and even if I did I wouldn’t seriously say that to you. Why? Of course, because I have respect for your religion. Why? Again, because I believe that’s what you believe, and I believe that’s what makes you happy and fulfilled and complete.
When you say that “dammit, don’t wish me a Merry Christmas. I don’t believe in your religion, I celebrate Ashurah this time of year”, you’re saying to all of the other religions out there who do not celebrate Ashurah, that their other religion is wrong, this is what really happened… you believe what we believe and do what we do or dammit, we’ll complain and bitch about it.
And again, who are you to judge? No one in my opinion…
And for a very special Conclusion, I am going to (free of charge) tell you how to be a polite, civil, human being (in English only, unfortunately):
- If someone says “Have a Nice Day”, you say “Thank-you”.
- If someone says “Thank-you”, you say “You’re Welcome”.
- If someone says “Merry Christmas”, you say “Thank-you, you to”.
- If someone says “Happy Hanukkah”, you say “Thank-you, and wow, you get a lot of presents”.
- If someone says something positive to you, say something positive back.
- If someone says something negative to you, feel sorry for the them, but say something positive back.
We are all part of a global village people… the fact is, not everyone is going to think or believe the same thing. Just because you believe in something, doesn’t mean your neighbor can’t believe something different and be respectful of what you believe. If you give respect, you’ll get respect.
If your religion does dictate that someone else is wrong for what they believe… well, maybe you should re-evaluate the passage that states this in your book of faith, because in my opinion no god would require their believers to punish or criticize their fellow human beings for what they believe.
Seasons Greetings,
Matt Simpson