Friday, December 25, 2009

Why Xmas Sux

I hate Christmas. This isn't an atheist bashing a religious holiday post because unlike a lot of atheists I actively participate in Thanksgiving and Christmas in much the same way I keep calling it "Thursday" even though I don't believe in Thor. This is a bashing on the materialism of the holiday post.

I like Thanksgiving and all the other holidays. This is because those days don't require a huge outlay of cash to prove to people that you love them. I'm OK with birthdays because I only have to buy one gift. I'm also OK with kids getting goodies on Christmas day because that is fun. Otherwise, I despise the season between Black Friday and December 25th. This is because I am inundated with messages requiring me to spend a bunch of money. But I will spend that money because I love the people in my life.

What makes me hate Christmas is asking someone if they had finished all their shopping, and they look away sad and ashamed. It is because they don't have any money. Thanks to this recession, I have seen a great deal of that sad look. I feel acutely for those people. Christmas is not a happy day for them.

There is something perverse when we measure the love of someone by how much money they spend. This is why Christmas sucks a fat one. Some won't buy gifts. Others will buy gifts with money they don't have and spend 3 to 6 months trying to pay for it. I find the whole thing sickening. Love and money should never mingle, but it does exactly that on Christmas.

There are parents who are heartbroken today because they couldn't get their kid exactly what they wanted for Christmas. Kids will compare gifts with other kids with the implied message that the kids with the better gifts are loved more. Adults will grimace as they receive a gift from someone they did not buy a gift in return. All of it weighed like the balance in an accountant's ledger.

The implied message in Christmas from Scrooge to today is that to love you must be liberal and lavish in your spending. But the real Scrooges are counting the dough and receipts from this foolish tradition.

If you are hating this day, I feel you. I hate it, too. I am fortunate this year and bought some nice things for people, but I know bad fortune comes, too. Try to hang in there.

Bah humbug.

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