The Plague of the Christmas Crusaders

[Runa216]

I hate Christmas. Well, I hate the holiday season. From American Thanksgiving right to the end of the year, I am, without exception, miserable.

I never used to be like this. Like pretty much every kid and teen in the first world, I used to love Christmas. I used to stay up all night reading Animorphs books or playing videogames because I wanted to wake up and open presents, followed by a day of family companionship and the one day a year where we all got along. Christmas used to be special for me. Now, it's just a burden and an emotionally draining experience. Why? Christmas crusaders.

Believe it or not, there are people out there who honestly believe that insisting people say “happy holidays” in lieu of “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Chanukkah” in an effort to be politically correct and socially inclusive is some sort of deep and affecting attack on one's free speech. These people are the worst, and these people are why I hate the holidays now.

Look, people, You are not being oppressed. If you work in a public service job and your boss demands you say happy holidays, then that's the rules. It's not oppression any more than demanding someone in food service with piercings take them out or a long beard cover it. It's a workplace safety policy, not some political campaign to limit your free speech. It doesn't matter if it's 'your country' and 'you've done it this way forever', change is good, change is necessary, and change is what's going to propel us into the future. If you are against change for the collective greater good due to some misplaced adherence to tradition, then you completely miss the point, and you're no better than the rednecks who still honestly think that gay marriage should be outlawed.

So I repeat, you are not being oppressed, nobody is telling you that you can't wish your family and friends a merry christmas; nobody is demanding you take your santa and reindeer decorations down; and nobody is limiting your free speech. Being so aggressively in favor of 'put the christ in christmas' is not you fighting for your rights or raging against the machine, it's more like a teenaged rebellion; little more than a juvenile outcry for attention.

 

Just say Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays or whatever you want to say and stop pretending you're such a hero, and we'll all get along so much better.