• EmperorHenry@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
    0·
    5 days ago

    I haven’t heard any of the boomers around me complain about that in a long time.

    If anyone says “happy holidays” they just say “Merry Christmas” and leave it at that.

    • TriflingToad@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      0·
      5 days ago

      Some people prefer saying “happy holidays” as “Christmas” has religious meanings and people somehow got it in their minds that the woke left is trying to censor their Christmas.
      Or atleast that’s the idea. I’ve never met anyone who’s offended by “merry Christmas” and I’ve never met anyone who’s offended by “happy holidays”. But that’s just my experience. Maybe it’s different where other religions are more common, where I live is really Christian.

      • MutilationWave@lemmy.world
        0·
        5 days ago

        People really do get offended by happy holidays. They’re brainwashed to think their religion is under attack, even though Christmas has fuck all to do with Christianity. If Jesus existed he certainly wasn’t born in late December. We know this because the passages from their book mention people bringing in the harvest at the time.

        I’m an atheist and I say Merry Christmas because it makes people happy.

  • yeahiknow3@lemmings.world
    0·
    5 days ago

    After decades in the US, I’m yet to meet a real Christian. Folks pretending to be Christian all conveniently forget that the rich can’t enter the kingdom of heaven, that they should sell their possessions, feed the poor, heal the sick, and meekly turn the other cheek.

    America has no Christians. Just cultists and charlatans.

    • MonkeMischief@lemmy.today
      0·
      5 days ago

      After decades in the US, I’m yet to meet a real Christian.

      Nice to meet you! Haha. U.S Christian anarchist here. I’m absolutely not perfect obviously, but I understand exactly where you’re coming from. It hurts my heart every day.

      I am trying to figure out how to speak out against this “Amerikristian” cult in some kind of effective way. I think a lot of people simply don’t know any better because the propaganda has been so thorough. The churches preaching " Supply-Side Jesus " get funding from wealthy benefactors, guilt people into tax-free volunteer labor, and lure desperate followers.

      My church that, also wasn’t perfect, but was tiny and doing its best to spread the Gospel, closed up and got swallowed by the megachurch next door when the landlord raised their rent exponentially. Many others are the same.

      There’s no profit in actually helping your neighbor. (After all, many would argue that the ideal of profit maximizing, is in fact, theft.)

      Churches used to be incredibly pro-human. They were considered annoyingly leftist by the moneyed interests of the gilded age, hence why they were warped into the monsters we know now.

      (Highly recommend Behind the Bastards: “How the Rich Ate Christianity”)

      Christians are still here. Gently rebuking misinformation and trying to free hearts and souls from this wretched machine. It’s hard to tell whom to trust. Like in the days of the “Early Christians” of old.

      A leftist Christian is often a target of persecution, both from American cultists, and others with kneejerk hatred for Christians perpetuated by those cultusts.

      We aren’t as loud. We’re drowned out. We’re not wearing stupid red caps or hating on people, we’re trying so hard to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. We’re trying to save God’s planet and people from greed and destruction.

      We’re trying to explain why swearing oaths to an idol of stars and stripes is at odds with Jesus. Why the State is inherently an instrument of evil, especially when it wields and prints bibles it’s too wicked to understand.

      Why a God of incomprehensible love weeps when we call for blood and justify killing, displaying the ludicrous arrogance of pretending we have no sins ourselves and “they deserve it.”

      “Narrow is the path.” (Matthew 7:14) But we’re still here. Don’t lose heart. Love is the greatest act of defiance against “The principalities, and powers, and rulers of this dark world.” (Ephesians 6:12)

      We believe in a God that is greater than oppressive states, borders, violence, markets, or politics, or greed.

      That said, I sincerely wish you and anyone reading this a Merry Christmas with all the love in my heart.

      • yeahiknow3@lemmings.world
        0·
        5 days ago

        Let me just say: respect. People like you restore my faith in humanity. Although I’m an atheist, I have an affinity for the teachings of Jesus. He wanted us to be the best versions of ourselves, and it upsets me to see his memory dragged through the muck of these for-profit cults.

      • dethedrus@lemmy.dbzer0.com
        0·
        5 days ago

        Great call on the BtB episodes on ‘Muscular Christianity’.

        Also the welding of bits of evangelicism, Catholic anti-abortion tenets and the republican party in the 60s in their episodes on Phylis Schlafly is both eye opening and horrifying. She’s one of the greatest political operatives of the modern era, and we’re paying the price for it.

  • gnomesaiyan@lemmy.world
    0·
    5 days ago

    The closest I get is the Winter Solstice, because I’d rather celebrate the planet’s cycle around the Sun, you know, a fact of nature.

    I don’t subscribe to blatant consumerism in the guise of “holiday spirit”. You know, when the retailers go from the red into the black (loss to profit), and the consumers from the black into the red. Then you hope your tax returns fill the gap so you can survive. Positive feedback loop. I’m calling shenanigans.

    And the depressive-nostalgic music. The decorations. The hypocritical “cheer” people spread that they can’t be bothered with the rest of the year, like they needed a reason to be nice. What in the Disney Channel fuck. It’s like saying you can only tell someone you love them on Valentine’s Day. Y’all motherfuckers are crazy.

    Okay, rant over. Feel free to downvote, I’ll gladly eat it. Happy Fucking Holidays!

    • MonkeMischief@lemmy.today
      0·
      5 days ago

      I think all those things used to be legitimate before the marketing departments seized it and took it over. Seriously! I mentioned elsewhere the Christmas Truce of 1914. SOMEWHERE that spirit of good will was there. (Before “goodwill” was yet another retailer brand.)

      You’re right to call shenanigans. If we weren’t so lured by shiny baubles, everyone besides food and ERs would be closing up shop for like a week every year because nobody bought anything.

      There are marked occasions where we are encouraged to hit the brakes, hug our people, remember what’s important. It’s all drowned out by “SALE SALE SALE SALE”.

      I think those songs and everything are so depressive because we KNOW it’s fake. It’s all plastic. It’s all illusion. It’s a forced song and dance trying to weaponize our nostalgia and our hearts and sentiment for profit (What in the Disney Channel indeed). And we see the disgusting, vapid gestures for what they are.

      I sincerely hope you do have a happy holiday. Buying nothing, hugging your cat, fixing something for a neighbor, helping the unhoused, calling your folks, whatever.

      Rebellion begins with us.

  • Thorry84@feddit.nl
    0·
    5 days ago

    Meanwhile modern day xmas has very little to nothing to do with anything Christian. I’m sure there were a lot of Nordmann fir trees in Jerusalem.

  • OpenStars@piefed.socialEnglish
    0·
    5 days ago

    Isn’t that only when a Democrat is in the WH? I didn’t pay attention to the last time Trump was in charge though, and conservatives do like to whine… I just finished they’d try to declare “victory” like “we can finally say it now that our guy is in charge!”, ignoring how they also could say it just as loudly before.