Christmas: The Pope is right
December 15, 2005 ~ 1:58 p.m.
Being December as it is, the gorging on overstocked food and shameless commericalism of the Christmas season has begun in earnest. Same as with every year.
I agree heartily with Pope Benedict XVI's frustration with what Christmas has become. The Pope suggested putting Nativity scenes in every home as a remedy to the commercial pollution. But in these days of "Winterval," how realistic is that? This suggestion is likely to be thoroughly ignored.
Every Christmas time would appear, in the mostly secular West, to be a great opportunity to party hardy, drink too much, eat to excess and expect the world to be delivered under the "holiday tree" (formerly known, scandalously, as the Christmas tree). This is the reason why, for many years now, Christmas has put a sour taste in my mouth. I am not a bah-humbug with regard to the Christian holiday; I simply part ways with the joke that it has become.
What I don't want is some heavy-handed theocratic Christmas. But what I would like to see is a toning down of the excesses that this time of the season produces. I'm tired of hearing how much weight people fear they'll gain over Christmas. Simple - don't be a glutton. I'm sick of listening to people whine about the fears they have that their family and friends may not like their gifts. It's the thought that counts, and their nearest-and-dearest should have been taught to realize that.
Christmas is supposed to be about goodwill, family get-togethers and going the extra mile for just a few weeks out of every year. Even if you don't believe in Jesus, you can take on some of His spirit for a season that is supposed to be held in the honor of His birth.
Instead, Christmas is always the most stressful season of the year. People seem to be nastier than ever in their mad rush to please inflated expectations: I must throw the best party, and I must buy the best presents! So much for goodwill. The holiday spirit is more about keeping up with the Jones' and shoving people out of the way for the latest must-have product.
Can't we all calm down? Can we not teach children about a simpler Christmas message - one of hope and thankfulness, one from which we adults could learn plenty as well?
It seems to me, Christian or not, this is not a lot to ask. I do not dislike Christmas for what it is supposed to be; I loathe what it has become. Pope Benedict XVI is right. Time to clean up our polluted holiday.
Addendum to "First France, Now Australia: Trouble in paradise?"
As I'd previously mentioned in this piece, the Lebanese have had a bad reputation in Australia for many years before any high-profile anti-Western terrorism: This was building up over time. My understanding is that these Lebanese gangs would mug and intimidate anyone not from their own and act arrogantly, without fear and with little attempt to assimilate into Aussie society.
The whites in the affected areas of Sydney thought, "Right, enough's enough." The beating up of the two popular lifeguards was the last straw. So for the media to turn this into an issue of "racist whites" is off-key.
When riots like this erupt, they tend to be loud, offensive and racist in nature - it's human nature. Many years of frustration with an ethnic criminal class comes out in this fashion. It may be wrong, but for the white Australians, I admit, it's perfectly understandable.
� M.E.M.
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Copyright � 2001-2007 by M.E. Manning. All material is written by me, unless explicitly stated otherwise by use of footnotes or bylines. Do not copy or redistribute without my permission.
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