I’ll be continuing my series on Christmas, consumerism, and social justice in a few days – I’m still a Ph.D student and it’s finals week, so I’ve dropped the ball on this a bit – but I wanted to highlight this excellent blog entry from a WordPress user named dritta called “Stand Up for ‘Christmas’?”. (Just a warning: For those who are averse to strong language, the original post has a bit of it):
The last time I checked, spending lots of money at christmas wasn’t a big priority of Christ. Neither was all of the hoohaw about saying/doing/looking holy from the “religious” people in his day. Christ cared a lot about the oppressed, poor, neglected, and rejected. He didn’t give a %^&* what the most religious people of the day said was important; in fact, he called them a bunch of hypocrites (and got killed for it). [ . . . ]
You know what offends me? It’s not whether someone says “Happy Holidays” or “Merry Christmas”. It’s when I read that L.L. Bean, Pier 1, and Walmart are known to be actively and intentionally using slave labor in their products. I don’t give a $%^& how many “Merry Christmas” signs they have in their store, as if that makes one flying $%^&’s worth of difference when they are participating in the enslavement of women, men, and children who are created in the image of God. Focus on the Family gives them 12-14% offensive ratings, and 52-71% friendly ratings. No mention of child slavery. No mention of beating or firing workers trying to unionize to protect themselves. No mention of the workers who have died at the factory making the cheap furniture you bought at Ikea. How does “Standing for Christmas” have ANYTHING to do with Christ?
The entire entry’s worth a read.
I’ll be posting another entry in my series on Christmas in the next few days or so.
Thanks for the press!