The holidays: I hate 'em! (no spam)

fable · Post by **fable** » Sun Dec 03, 2006 8:16 am

And here we have a thread for all those of you who really loathe the holidays. Commercialism! Plastic cheer! Bah! Reveal your innermost distaste with the current season: tell us why, and tell us what you do instead of celebrating the holidays, even if it only means you look for elves to molest. Really!

(If you don't care one way or the other about the holidays, don't post. Go play King of Dragon Pass. It's really worth it. Trust me.)

Magrus · Post by **Magrus** » Sun Dec 03, 2006 9:04 am

I really don't like them. Aside from my brother and step-brothers, I don't care too much for spending time with most of my family. It leads to my remembering they are closed-minded and unable to grasp reality as is. Most of them are nice and caring, but even so, it's like they live in a box, and anything outside of it is either unreal or evil and they deny it or whine about it.

Aside from that. I just dislike the commercialization of the holidays. Getting stuff is all well and good, but I prefer to give and recieve random gifts that are given because someone randomly decides I, or I decide someone else, deserves something special. Even if it is simply my treating someone to lunch, or a gumball. *shrugs* I'd rather have someone show they care about me in that way on say, July 17th than on Christmas day. Seems cheesy and fake to give out gifts the same day, every year, without fail.

Not only that, but mostl of the recognized "holidays" in this country offend me based on how they have been twisted into either a pro-christian or patriotic thing.

Halloween, Christmas, Easter, etc are all marketing tools for Christian conversion. I'm not Christian, and it bugs me.

Kipi · Post by **Kipi** » Sun Dec 03, 2006 9:31 am

Okay, maybe the saying "I hate" is too harsh, since there are some good things in the holidays. (like lots of free time to play games...

), but I can't say I love them neither.

First of all, every holiday has become the period of time when we are "forced" to buy every useless item, most of them totally rubbish. Holdiays has become too commercial. Ads everywhere begging us to buy this or that. And what if you don't buy that new über-cool robot toy to your cousin? You won't be too liked after that.

And what about all those people demanding you to donate money? There is no day without someone trying to demand you to donate money to their cause. Mostly, the charity where the money goes is good enough, but there are exceptions too... And it's finally very irritating to go to shopping when there is someone in every corner demanding you to donate money....

And as Mag already stated, every holiday is too christianity -centered. It seems that the whole country believes that everybody are Christians, since there is no variant to those who doesn't. You can see pictures representing events from The Bible in every corner. And we dare to claim that we take others' believes into account every moment

Vicsun · Post by **Vicsun** » Sun Dec 03, 2006 9:35 am

fable](If you don't care one way or the other about the holidays wrote: Well, there goes my plan of posting a thread titled "The holidays: I don't really care about them one way or another". I'm really opinionated and feel strongly about apathy, too. *sigh*

Magrus, post: 90836" wrote: Halloween... marketing tools for Christian conversion. I'm not Christian, and it bugs me.
Wait, I thought Christians hated Halloween. With all its satanic imagery and pagan undertones, how can they not?

edit: Jack Chick, the definitive source on what fundamentalist Christians believe, seems to support my hypo thesis

Magrus · Post by **Magrus** » Sun Dec 03, 2006 9:40 am

Vicsun wrote:Wait, I thought Christians hated Halloween. With all its satanic imagery and pagan undertones, how can they not?

Some do. I may be wrong on this, but I am pretty sure it was made to be a Christian alternative to Samhain (sp?), a pagan seasonal holiday. Same with Easter, and Christmas. Rather than have the Christians be drawn into pagan festivals to have fun with the "heathens", the leaders of the religion decided to make up Christian holidays so their worshippers could celebrate too. They drew up plans to create holidays and use them to draw in worshippers, much like commercials are used to draw people to buy things.

BlueSky · Post by **BlueSky** » Sun Dec 03, 2006 9:47 am

For the most part, I like the holiday season, even being somewhat of a pagan.:laugh: time off from work, watching my daughter and son-in-law get in the X-mas frenzy!

The part that really get to me though is: at work we draw names and are expected to buy a present for a co-worker that we usually hardly know, then are expected to show up at our X-mas party, full of cheer and holiday mirth.
Thank goodness this year at least I drew the name of a employee that I know a little, (she's going to an anime convention in Jan.) and I'm getting her some things that I know she'll like and use.

On the home front, being divorced, I'm under no pressure to either go out and buy presents for in-laws I cannot stand or for a wife that never really appreciated the gifts I did get her.

fable · Post by **fable** » Sun Dec 03, 2006 12:04 pm

Careful, Bluesky. Your post seems to lean quite a bit towards liking the holidays. If our secret panel of paleolithic GameBanshee elders decides this is the case, your post will be removed, and you will be locked inside a globe with several plastic elves listening to Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer 1,000 times or until your hair falls out, whichever comes first.

Well, there goes my plan of posting a thread titled "The holidays: I don't really care about them one way or another". I'm really opinionated and feel strongly about apathy, too. *sigh*

We get that a lot. Each year the Apathy Brigade descend upon Buck's 85-story GameBanshee skyscraper in downtown Manhattan. We always find several hundred bricks outside the following morning which they were too unconcerned to throw. We'd be worried, if we cared.

Back to subject: I find the creeping forward of holiday commercialization every year, as it consumes more days into (now) October, a real annoyance. It's bad enough to watch all the little of blowup garbage on people's front lawns each year, and hear the same, blank-faced tunes echoed everywhere you go. But to have to see it steal yet more of the calendar, and all just to feed the consumer monster, just really gets me. If people wanted to truly celebrate "the season," they would do nothing but give heavily to charities, in my opinion.

Kipi · Post by **Kipi** » Sun Dec 03, 2006 12:57 pm

fable wrote: and hear the same, blank-faced tunes echoed everywhere you go.

But that's why we have those alternative songs...

I especially liked when 2 years ago (I think it was then) few Finnish metal artist made heavy versions of well known christmast songs...

:devil: :devil:

Vicsun · Post by **Vicsun** » Sun Dec 03, 2006 1:10 pm

fable wrote: We get that a lot. Each year the Apathy Brigade descend upon Buck's 85-story GameBanshee skyscraper in downtown Manhattan. We always find several hundred bricks outside the following morning which they were too unconcerned to throw. We'd be worried, if we cared.

Well while you're enjoying the grumpiness and unhappiness the season has brought you, I'm left outside pondering whether that is ironic or not. Which is why I never got around to throwing bricks.

Back to subject: I find the creeping forward of holiday commercialization every year, as it consumes more days into (now) October, a real annoyance. It's bad enough to watch all the little of blowup garbage on people's front lawns each year, and hear the same, blank-faced tunes echoed everywhere you go. But to have to see it steal yet more of the calendar, and all just to feed the consumer monster, just really gets me. If people wanted to truly celebrate "the season," they would do nothing but give heavily to charities, in my opinion.

Why does that bother you, though? The fact that people aren't giving to charities is only disheartening until you realize they don't give to charities the rest of the year either and being disheartened all year 'round because selfishness is human nature would be silly. The same goes for consumerism with the added bonus of there not really being anything inherently evil about it (the somewhat sour taste it leaves in your mouth is only passing, I promise). I say smile and enjoy the carnival. Snuggle with a glass of red wine near the fireplace and listen to your favorite piece of classical music next time it snows, if you need to

edit: yes, yes, wrong thread. Discussion needs two points of view though, or it would be boring.

BlueSky · Post by **BlueSky** » Sun Dec 03, 2006 1:21 pm

fable wrote:Careful, Bluesky. Your post seems to lean quite a bit towards liking the holidays. If our secret panel of paleolithic GameBanshee elders decides this is the case, your post will be removed, and you will be locked inside a globe with several plastic elves listening to Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer 1,000 times or until your hair falls out, whichever comes first.

Don't worry Fable, If I did list all my dislikes about the season, the mods would delete me because of the length of the list.

fable · Post by **fable** » Sun Dec 03, 2006 3:48 pm

Vicsun wrote:Well while you're enjoying the grumpiness and unhappiness the season has brought you, I'm left outside pondering whether that is ironic or not. Which is why I never got around to throwing bricks.

You really didn't know that I was being ironic? That's ironic, because I thought it was pretty clear. Especially since Buck only has a 45-story skyscraper. And it's in Dubuque, not New York City.

And they weren't bricks that were dumped in front of the place. They were brick-colored styrofoam that cats licked, turning it into that awful mess that makes you hate living for a little while after you touch it.

Why does that bother you, though? The fact that people aren't giving to charities is only disheartening until you realize they don't give to charities the rest of the year either and being disheartened all year 'round because selfishness is human nature would be silly.

One of the very few survivals of a shard of early Christianity, as I see it, is the desire to be charitable. It began when Christianity (or Christian Judaism) was just a fledging cult whose views were considered anti-establishment in some circles, though that was never the point. As Christianity became more powerful, many good things were lost, but charity remained. And at least in some parts of what we like to humorously term our world, charity was supposedly to be at its height during the holiday season. But it seems, to me, at least, that instead of giving to worthwhile causes, many people prefer to stay in line from 6 AM to fight others to buy $200 dolls for their kids. And computer platforms. And the list can be extended indefinitely. Fight AIDS, world hunger, the plight of the homeless, or those tortured in prisons? Why bother, when we can spend ten times as much on the latest fad for a family member who will forget about it two weeks from now?

Did you ever hear Stan Freeberg's 1960s takeoff entitled "Green Christmas"?

edit: yes, yes, wrong thread. Discussion needs two points of view though, or it would be boring.

I answered it, because my answer would certainly fit into a "why I don't like the holidays" theme. But if you want to continue this discussion, I think maybe a new thread might be more useful. That way, others can join the general gentile grousing on both sides.

Magrus · Post by **Magrus** » Sun Dec 03, 2006 4:06 pm

fable wrote:One of the very few survivals of a shard of early Christianity, as I see it, is the desire to be charitable. It began when Christianity (or Christian Judaism) was just a fledging cult whose views were considered anti-establishment in some circles, though that was never the point. As Christianity became more powerful, many good things were lost, but charity remained. And at least in some parts of what we like to humorously term our world, charity was supposedly to be at its height during the holiday season. But it seems, to me, at least, that instead of giving to worthwhile causes, many people prefer to stay in line from 6 AM to fight others to buy $200 dolls for their kids. And computer platforms. And the list can be extended indefinitely. Fight AIDS, world hunger, the plight of the homeless, or those tortured in prisons? Why bother, when we can spend ten times as much on the latest fad for a family member who will forget about it two weeks from now?

I just had a talk about this with my family during thanksgiving dinner. My mother nearly got trampled a few years ago trying to get my brother and I gifts on a deal at a store near here. In fact, several people DID get trampled after she decided to leave and shop elsewhere that year. They were hospitalized. You have to admire the way people react to the "christmas spirit".

That being said, I attempted to get my family to stop buying me things. They refused, and bought me pretty crap I never used. They didn't want to donate things, as they wanted to give things to me. So, now I give them a list of things I use in daily life, like pots and pans, and blankets and the like. They're happy I use them, and I give the old stuff I can't use anymore to the poor. Well, people poorer than I am.

dragon wench · Post by **dragon wench** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 12:24 am

I wasn't entirely sure which of these two holiday threads to post in

I suppose I tend to view the season very much as a winter celebration, a break from the damp and cold, and I enjoy this. In short, I suppose I have a somewhat pagan approach.

BUT, as others here have mentioned, I hate the commercialization. I noticed this year that they didn't even wait until Halloween has passed before putting up lights and decorations.

If stuff like this didn't go on display until the first week of December I could live with it... The more tasteful decorations can even be attractive sometimes.
But, instead, we see schlock and glitz from mid-October onwards, all geared with the same message of "buy, buy, buy."
Ugh...
And to make matters even worse, the day after Boxing Day sales have turned into 'Boxing Month.'

Even more sad, there are all too many people out there who happily dive off to fit the stereotype of "mindless consumer," gleefully purchasing complete junk for bargain basement prices, on which stores are *still* making a large profit...

Silur · Post by **Silur** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 3:41 pm

I'm all against the brutal slaughter of millions of pine trees for the sake of an old ritual. That, and the horrific music created for the sole purpose of torturing innocent bystanders. I think there are subliminal messages in it as well to make you shop more.

Magrus · Post by **Magrus** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 3:44 pm

I'm all against the brutal slaughter of millions of pine trees for the sake of an old ritual.

Indeed. It would be far more logical to do a yearly "thinning of the herd" celebration.

Maharlika · Post by **Maharlika** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 5:49 pm

As a Catholic...

...I don't like the way a number of my fellow Catholics celebrate the holidays with the concept of Materialism in the forefront instead of reflecting and practicing the true essence of Christmas for us RC's.

Yeah, too much commercialized I say.

fable · Post by **fable** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 6:59 am

Just came upon this: Opening Salvo for the War on Christmas. Eskow's early Christianity is a lot warmer and fuzzier than I recall it being, according to a variety of contemporary texts, but everything else looks right on the mark.

Magrus · Post by **Magrus** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 7:37 am

I'm declaring one. This is the opening salvo of my official war on Christmas. Oh, not the real Christmas, mind you. Depending on what you believe, Christmas can be either a) the time to remember when God came to Earth in human form and sacrificed himself for us, or b) a holiday that combined a number of ancient solstice festivals and resurrection stories that each reflected elemental aspects of the human spirit.

He actually included the historic basis for Christmas from the non-Christian roots of the holiday. I am impressed. *claps* I think if more people were taught where Christmas came from truly, they would be less apt to rush to Wal-Mart and Radioshack and the like when preparing for the holiday. I got into an argument with my mother about Christmas and she flat out refused to hear that Christmas was anything but a tribute to Jesus. She hasn't been a practising Christian since the church refused to marry her and my father on account of my being concieved out of wedlock, but she still has the brain-washing intact.

If people were taught where the holidays came from, and why, I think it would affect how they celebrated. In fact, if people were taught the origins of the religion they focus on it might help quite a bit with all of the things they have wrong, such as what is mentioned above. Maybe it's just wishful thinking on my part though. I'm non-materialistic and hate shopping, so it's easy for me to say that. :laugh:

Moonbiter · Post by **Moonbiter** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 8:06 am

Cut from the article:

I have no problem with Christmas in either form. Either way, it's a beautiful synthesis of what it means to be alive, of the way that human beings can learn to love both the creation and the Creator. It's a candle lit in the darkness of winter to preserve the light of soul. Actually, I love Christmas - that Christmas, the Christmas that lives in the heart.

I was going to say "amen" to that, but then I figured it would insult someone, so I'll stick with "well said." And that goes for the rest of the article too. But do you really need to start a war over it right now?

fable · Post by **fable** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 8:28 am

Moonbiter wrote:I was going to say "amen" to that, but then I figured it would insult someone, so I'll stick with "well said." And that goes for the rest of the article too. But do you really need to start a war over it right now?

I think Eskow's point was that he's expecting the same war that's waged every year by the wingnuts, so he was going to jump in before they got going.