as the holidays approach, I've had a few thoughts about them...namely, how commercialistic (is that a word) Christmas is.  y'know, some Christians down here in the Bible Belt will condemn Halloween for being an "evil" or "Satanist" or (closer to the truth) "pagan" holiday - even though, as far as the Christian children are concerned, the spirit of the holiday is to go out and have fun (though, there's always a few mischevious minds out there, but they're individuals and are therefore a moot point, as there are a few bad apples in every bunch.)
so Halloween is outright condemned by many within the Christian faith...but then, they'll turn around and indulge in consumerism for Christmas, THE Christian holiday.
now wait a minute.  is this really...better?
first, if you're going to look at the pagan aspect of Halloween...yes, Halloween has ties to the pagan holiday of Samhain.  Christmas has pagan ties too, though - the Yule tree was a pagan tradition long before it was incorporated into the Christian holiday.  some Beltane traditions were integrated into Easter.  so on and so forth - I know most of you are aware of these things, and those that aren't are capable of looking them up; I digress.  the point is, if it's a problem with Halloween due to its roots as a pagan holiday, you've got a problem with pretty much all the heavily-celebrated Christian holidays.
now, there's also Christians that outright think this holiday is "evil."  well, let's examine this a bit.  what makes this holiday "evil"?  well, there's the obvious mischief and scariness associated with Halloween.  of course, how an individual celebrates Halloween is pretty much up to the individual, and it seems that most people out there are in general respectful.  there's a few bad apples in every bunch; I mentioned this above.  ...and then, there's the root of some Christian beliefs that, if it's not in the Bible, it's likely Satan pulling you away from the Bible in some form or another and is therefore Satanic.  No, I'm not going to argue this one; it has a basis solely on faith, and therefore I cannot counter any point with logic.  If you want to believe that, more power to you.
But regardless, when you look at Halloween, then Christmas...what logic there is isn't consistent.  ...let's give Christmas the same eye of scrutiny as Halloween, shall we?
y'know, for a holiday about Christ, Jesus's name is sadly...a footnote of the holiday season.  everyone's so concerned about buy buy buy I want I want ohhhh I gotta get the house cleaned up and I gotta go to this party and we gotta get the family together and decorations and planning Christmas dinner and you're working when and get my son his new toy and run run RUN RUN RUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN ~collapse~
so...yeah sure, Christmas has Christ's name in it.  that's...about all that makes it a Christian holiday (especially seeing that, no, Christ was not born on Dec 25th.)  ...and, as I've deduced it, with Christian having Christ's name in it (and nothing more than that to make it a Christian holiday), and with so many vendors using Christmas to sell (I've heard retail makes 80% of their yearly income during the last two months of the year) ...would that not mean the businesses are using Christianity/the Christian holiday/Christ's name to turn a profit?
if that isn't taking God's name in vain, nothing is.  ...and then, while Halloween isn't directly going against something written in the Bible, Christmas is.

I've been mad at people's attitudes about these two holidays for quite some time.

...and then, I skimmed over something just now that gave me hope, and brought some faith back into Christianity for me.
A friend of the family wrote a letter (one of those generic letters sent out en masse) about what she's been up.  She's on the board of directors for Alternatives for Simple Living, and gave out a pamphlet.  Normally I'd throw these things away as more unwanted propaganda, but my mom asked me to read it, as we had recently had a conversation similar to what I outlined above.  So I skimmed...loosely.  Basically...it's unwanted propoganda and advertisement wrapped in having some noble/divine cause.  the packaging sure is nice...but when you get down to it, what you have is still just another useless pamphlet and people begging you for money.
well...maybe not entirely useless.
the messages within DO have redeeming qualities to them.
while I disagree with the way this group is going about doing things (muchly for the same reasons I outlined above), their practices are intriguing.  The stories filled within the pamphlet are generally about a simpler Christmas.  The one story that really caught my eye was titled, "The Best Gift I Didn't Get."  This woman asked everyone to take the money they would've spent on her and spend it on someone that truly has a need for it - and let her know what it was spent on.
...And so, her gift was "$50 donated to Habitat for Humanity, $20 given to a homeless woman looking in a dumpster for food, towing service paid for a stranger whose car had left them stranded, Christmas gifts provided for a Salvation Army Angel Tree, and a yearly gift made in the form of a monthly pledge made to the ASPCA."  some people still gave her real gifts, of course...but...damn, that's awesome.
so...I think I'll re-use that pretty packaging that the propoganda came in.  I'm asking all my friends to take their time and/or money that they would've spent getting me something, and use it for someone in need.  They could give to charity (though, I prefer gifts more personal) ...or they could help a random stranger that needs help...give food to someone hungry...buy something (dry cleaning, food, whatever) for the person in line behind them...volunteer at some shelter...etc.

~chuckles~ if you guys want an excuse to do this, do something for me!   ^_^

Tags: Christmas Halloween Christianity Religion Pagan Holiday

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