The December 1st issue of the Metro Spirit published a letter in their regularly featured “Whine Line” which sadly resurrects the War on Christmas, in all its ingloriousness.
“I think anyone that buys a Christmas present from a store that does not display the phrase ‘Merry Christmas’ is a hypocrite,” wrote the anonymous whiner. “Happy holidays doesn’t get it. Why would you support a business that is more concerned with sales than the meaning of Christmas. I won’t shop at these stores. How many of you will join me? Merry Christmas!”
The whiner stops short of explaining what she believes is the true meaning of Christmas. Judging by her suggestion, the answer is sales. Why else would she advocate rewarding stores for displaying the phrase by giving them an edge over the competition?
The whiner even goes so far as to encourage others to participate in her boycott of “holidays”, reveling instead in the mass consumerism and materialism of her preferred holiday. This is an opinion she no doubt shares with the shopper who pepper-sprayed another shopper on this year’s Black Friday, or the mob who stampeded over a grandfather on their way toward a sale of $2 toaster ovens. But I suppose that in the eyes of this whiner, individuals displaying exactly the opposite of Christmas cheer are at least vindicated by the fact that they are still celebrating Christmas, unless there is a Jewish or Islamic holiday I’m not aware of that promotes this kind of surrender to greed and covetousness.
I also find it interesting that this whiner does not suggest boycotting stores that fail to donate to charity, or support their community, or display a manger scene. If she were truly interested in “the meaning of Christmas”, as she glibly writes, she might have mentioned putting the “Christ” back into it, or at least not disrespecting His words so badly that they’ll gladly kill and maim to get their hands on the latest material possession.
After the holidays, because some people give gifts for New Year too, some of these businesses will make a profit. Then they’ll keep the money for themselves and start thinking about next year’s masochism. Our own country’s debt crisis will worsen; unemployment lines will grow. Wall Street executives will buy politicians, who will buy media outlets, who will dream up new ways to make people think that they’re making the world a better place simply by

saying the word “Christmas”. And you, anonymous whiner, will not have learned a thing.