I went to my favorite store today, St. George's Christian Store in Blaine, MN, and one of the co-owner's brought up this very important issue. She was talking about Wal-Mart's website, in which a shopper could type in "Chaunikkah" (sorry, completely butchered the spelling), or "Kwaanza", or anything, and be taken directly to that page. But there was nothing for the keyword "Christmas".
And this is only one symptom, only one incident. Only one company. (A large one. With many influential Christian shoppers who are sick of being dissed.- HINT< HINT )
Amazing, that our culture works so hard to get Christian shoppers to big stores to buy millions of dollars worth of merchandise so that we can properly celebrate the arrival of our King, and yet they do this by trying to blindfold the very reason for the purchases!
Apparently the very name "Christ" must be suppressed at ALL COSTS for fear someone is reminded of the joy of his coming. Apparently the only acceptable usage of the name of "Christ" is in profane speech.
I remember having a conversation with a co-worker last year, claiming to be Christian yet she would not say "Merry Christmas" to someone for fear of offending them! RIDICULOUS! If someone is offended by "Merry Christmas" then they had better go underground for the next couple months. It is this fabled "offended" person who has the problem, not those of us who celebrate the dominant holiday.
Which one of you would be offended if a Jewish person wished you a happy festival of lights? Who would be offended if a Muslim offered you a sincere holiday greeting referencing one of the holy days they celebrate? Wouldn't you simply rejoice that they have the courage to share their faith and LIVE it lovingly? Who started all this "I'm offended" trash?
These secular idiots, though, really don't have a clue in reality. If they realized that the word "holiday" as in "Happy Holidays" comes from "Holy Day" they may turn inside out and spontaneously combust. I'd like to say "good riddance", but since even they are children of God, I suppose it's more charitable to simply spend this season in offering prayers and penance for their self-damned souls.
When I consider this, then I have no problem saying "Happy Holidays", but this year I think I may, just to be counter-cultural, start "mispronouncing" the phrase and wish everyone I meet a "Happy Holy-Days!".
If I get fired, so be it. If it is a crime to wish someone a happy holy season, then I guess I deserve punishment to the full extent of the law. I should be so blessed.
It's time for those of us who claim to be Christian to talk the talk and walk the walk. It's time to stand up for what is rightfully OUR culture, call Jesus the Christ Child our King, proclaim this at the top of our lungs, put the HOLY back into the Holy Days and remind the culture of death that only the light of Christ will lead us all home.
We live in a culture which touts "religious freedom", and sure, in comparison to China, we have "religious freedom". But I argue that any culture which suppresses the majority in their Christmas greetings suppresses God himself, and suppresses the very freedom they pretend to uphold. I would agree that we have MORE freedom than the martyrs in China and in other places aroudn the world, but slowly, slowly, our religious freedoms are being stripped away. It is taboo to wish someone "MERRY CHRISTMAS!" and subjects us to written discipline if a customer calls to complain to a manager that we did so. But I argue that this is my right to express my religious beliefe and proclaim the TRUTH of the season in sincerely wishing each and every person I meet a MERRY celebration of the birthday of the one who SAVED us. I argue that we are protected by the First Amendment just as much as the ultra-right-wing press, and we moreover have a GOD-GIVEN DUTY to spread the TRUTH AND LIGHT OF CHRIST!
This is a battle, my friends, and we are the chosen warriors. What we do individually may be small, but in the great battleground for God, the war is won through the perseverence of all.
It's a bit early for this, but just to make my final point, as we enter this blessed season, I wish you all, from the bottom of my heart and the center of my soul a HAPPY HOLY-DAYS SEASON AND A MERRY CHRIST-MAS!
May God Bless you and yours and may your Thanksgiving turkey and time with your loved ones ignite in you an awareness of every blessing you have ever and will ever receive.
In closing, let us remember the most holy name of our Savior:
Blessed be God
Blessed be his Holy Name
Blessed be Jesus Christ, true God and true man;
Blessed be the name of Jesus
Blessed be his most Sacred Heart
Blessed be his most Precious Blood
Blessed be Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar
Blessed be the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete
Blessed be the great Mother of God, Mary Most Holy
Blessed be her holy and Immaculate Conception
Blessed be God foreverBlessed be her glorious Assumption
Blessed be the name of Mary, Virgin and Mother
Blessed be Saint Joseph, her most chaste spouse
Blessed be God in his angels and in his saints
BLESSED BE GOD, NOW AND FOREVER!
3 comments:
Walmart backed down after a small boycott, and fired the employee that was rude to the Christian who called to complain. It was a mistake they claim, and have rectified it.
Yours in Christ,
Thursday
Thursday,
Thanks for the comment. I am aware of the outcome, but the pont of the post is this: that the culture at large seeks to diminish Christ on the very celebration of his birthday. If you read through the rest of the post you would see that point. This is not about Wal-Mart or a mistake made, but about the problem we have faced for years and fight each and every Christmas season. Advent is a time to recognize the coming of Christ...not the coming of stuff from big stores.
Of course, big stores would commonly have us think differently...
Maybe when us as Catholics stop teaching that all faiths should be "Held in High esteem" even the Moslems.....People will take us serious again
Ecumenism and defending your own religion are contradictory. I wonder if in the Mosques and Temples there are official documents teaching their youth that it is OK to worship in other houses of worship, as even our Popes have done, which is so uncatholic it is frightening
Let us pray, and I think with B16 there is much hope, that the church restores herself as the ONE TRUE FAITH and only through Christ can one be saved, and a "Good Moslem" , "Good Hindu", etc while we respect them as people, we do not hold their faith "In high esteem" as V2 states, and we pray for them to find Christ as we have
Then maybe CHRIST will be allowed back into wallmart instead of this One World Religion concept that JPII floated
God bless
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