11.18.2007

Holiday complaints and grievances

I happened to overhear some of my apartmentmates discussing holiday political correctness. While I normally see political correctnes like "he/she" or "(s)he" and things like that, I cringe, I also understand the necessity of using unoffensive terminology during such a season of religious holidays. In particular I was shocked by the desimation of the phrase "holiday tree". Who in the world could be offended by calling a tree with decorations a holiday tree? Alas, it was my supremely Christian apartmentmate who leaned down from her high horse to correct the huddled masses. According to her there is no reason to call a Christmas tree a "holiday tree" as the phrase is silly, and no one calls a Menorah a "holiday candle holder". Here I shall however point out the flaw in her logic: (1) It is not only Christians who decorate trees in winter; it was started by the Pagans, (2) a Menorah is not a "holiday candle holder" because the other cultures who have candles incorporated into their holiday traditions (Kwanza for example) have very different candelabras and candles, as the significance is supremely different. With decorated trees, who knows by looking at the tree whether the person who decorated is is Pagan, or Christian, or simply someone celebrating the holidays just like their friends and neighbors do, but don't have any particular belief system? You can't. Thus the HOLIDAY TREE. Please don't continue to assume that Christianity is supremely right, and invented everything. It just isn't so.