Graffitti on the Great Wall of China

Graffitti on the Great Wall of China

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Keeping the 'X' in Xmas

Every year, around...oh, I don't know....September, you start hearing ads for what the best new xmas gift will be, where the big sales will be, an endless barrage of holiday music and bells ringing everytime you try and walk into a store to buy some toothpaste or a frozen pizza...and honestly? I fricken love it.

I love decorating the tree and watching snow storms and drinking cocoa and eating popcorn from my stepgrandparents while we open gifts...the whole thing.  Ok, well I am not too into the consumerism, but even I like to see a tree with a bunch of nicely wrapped boxes underneath.

But there is one thing I hate about about xmas, I hear it over and over and it annoys me more each time.  I'm referring to the "keeping the christ in christmas" crowd.  You know who I mean, those (uninformed) individuals who think that saying 'xmas' instead of 'christmas' is right up there with burning bibles or punching the pope.

People seem to get all upset that saying x-mas is somehow sacrilegious, that it is deleting Christ from the holiday. Actually though the root of the X in Xmas is a Greek letter meaning “chi” that looks like an X. X has been used as an abbreviation for Christ used by the Christians since about 100 ad. Christians during that time frequently referred to themselves as Xians or Xistians and referred to the “mass of Christ” (Christmas) as Xmas. It is not a recent thing, it is not a way for non-religious people to take the religion out of Christmas, it is an abbreviation that was started by the earliest Christians and was used by the church.

But if you really want to get worked up about how Christmas has lost its Christians roots look at St. Nicholas (The Saint that Santa Claus is based on). St. Nicholas was a man who anonymously donated his money to helping the poor. On that note, helping the poor was also a pretty big part of Christ’s message. Whether you call it Xmas or Christmas, I think everyone can admit that rampant consumerism has become one of the main focuses of the holiday season.

So maybe instead of worrying about what arbitrary abbreviations other people should or should not use, spend this holiday season worrying about homeless people, people losing their homes to foreclosure, the growing number of the unemployed in the US, people who have to risk their lives at war in order to afford college (I know that isn’t the only reason people join the military but it is one of them) people without health insurance, people who can’t afford enough food, or the millions of people in developing nations who are living in abject poverty because of how the US economy is run.

There is my rant.

Have a Safe and Happy (Christmas / Xmas / Hanukkah / Kwanzaa / December / Whatever)


p.s.
does this post seem a little familiar to any of you? It was originally on facebook and it was after writing this that I decided I wanted a blog.

2 comments:

  1. I remember that post! I don't think any of my fb statuses could become a blog... Since they're mostly about centipedes and I definitely don't want a centipede blog. Or a centipede anything.

    I just learned from my sister that xmas trees are a pagan symbol (via a fb status, wouldn't you know) so those people who complain about keeping the x in xmas should really stop it with that as well as the rampant consumerism.

    Also people with ugly xmas lights make me want to burn their house down.

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  2. actually the bible says

    "one cutteth a tree out of the forest the work of the hands of the workman with the ax. The deck it in silver and gold, they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.

    that are upright as the palm tree: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. be not afriad of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good. " (jeremiah 10-30)

    so first of all, i bet you are shocked i threw a bible quote out there but the reason I did was because this seems to really be about Xmas trees and I wanted you to hear it from JC that you don't need to be afraid of them anymore

    and to actually address your comment, it makes it pretty clear in the bible that you are idolizing false gods by adorning a tree in silver and gold. thats why I adorn MY tree in copper and aluminum. Not that pretty, but also not risking my soul. jk, but seriously, I love how religious people get to pick and choose which rules are silly and which are super duper important.

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Further thoughts on the subject? Let me know what you think.