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Comments about "Holt's Harangue: What is Ani DiFranco doing to our nativity scene?"
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21 Comments on this article:
I am a pagan, and I laughed my you-know-what off while reading this article! Thanks for pointing out that not all of us celebrate around a nativity scene. You're my new favorite writer!
While not looking to convert anyone to paganism, I'm thrilled to read yet another writer who accurately points out the "reason for the season" is the winter solstice -- the "rebirth" of the sun.
Hoping your solstice is filled with light!
This was highly amusing! I work for a large retail corporation and the Christmas vs Holiday complaints started rolling in in mid-November. I assure you, they only get more amusing as the season goes on. Thanks for the laugh! And a Merry Yule to you!
Great article. I laughed so hard, I almost feel out of my chair! I would love to go around singing pagan carols. The look on people's faces would be priceless. I hope you have a blessed Yule.
Dear Mr Holt.
My bevy of world wide Satanic Conspirators wants to know how you got our top secret plans to turn churches into sex shops and make put man on man hump fests BACK into the Nativity scenes.
Now if you will excuse me I have to make a Ouigi Board out of a special edition spice girls monopoly game. I plan to use my Burle Ives CD as the Planchette. We were going to try and find out what Dick Cheney Actually wears under his kilt.
But dont tell anyone. THe master always disapproves when we spy on him and his ilk. Its just we want to know how he gets his cloven hoof so shiny.
Happy Holidays to you too.
Just remember, Satan Clause is Coming to Town.
This was a wonderful piece! I love that you brought forth the pagan holiday and *gasp* without the usual witchhunt qualities that many people have! I laughed my tush off! Thank you, again! and have a Happy Holidays and a Merry Yule!
Blessed Be!
~Jen
Great article, Chris. As a point of fact, the pagans did have similar (or worse) problems back in the day. Mostly revolving around killing or getting killed by people who believed in different reasons for the frivolities. After all, the Christians celebrated Christmas during the Solstice so as to not draw attention to themselves (for fear of ... being killed). Let's try our best not to plant this killing-others idea into Bill O'Reilly's mind, as he might be insane enough to run with it.
Nice article :) It's about time someone pointed out that all this bickering about the holidays completely misses the point of the very holidays they're fighting over.
Blessed be, and Happy Solstice!
~Kitty (a Pagan)
Another thoughtful, funny, and all-around gorgeous piece. Chris Holt is so talented.
I am a Christian, but I can't agree more with this article. The fact that many Christians have become so intolerant of other religions and beliefs is very non-Christ-like. I love the part at the end about the true meaning of the holiday season being overshadowed by materialistic greed - my sentiments exactly! Oh, and by the way, Happy Holidays everyone!
I didn't actually read this article, but judging from other people's comments, it must be pretty well written. good job chris!
Ridiculous. Christians decided to celebrate the Birth of Christ at this time of year thousands of years ago. The fact that vendors have made it such a secular season is not the fault of Christians. Further, the fact that other religions feel slighted at this time of year is also not their fault. If you don't want to consider Christ then don't take the holiday off of work. (Funny..holiday, Holy-Day)
Why don't we all pick another faith's holy day and build up a marketing plan and secularize it while we are thinking about it.
Do you even know Ani Difranco? Geeze. This has nothing to do with her!
A well written article is one that displays the authors view without sounding bitter or angry. I'm sorry, you didnt succeed. Just throwing Ani Difranco in there means you dont even know what you're talking about. Or Marilyn Manson either. You're basically attaching negative values to the things you dont understand, exactly whats happening to Christmas as we speak. You have perpetuated the ignorance of mankind. Good for you. I hope you save the world with your displaced passion. FYI: NO ONE CARES IF ITS HAPPY HOLIDAYS OR MERRY CHRISTMAS, ITS ALL A FACADE ANYWAY. And if they do care, forget the red and green holiday edition Valium, they should just add to the statistic of suicide rates during the Holiday season. If you're bothered by two words that mean NOTHING, shoot yourself in the face. It is the karma of christianity to have its intent twisted. Odd, I know, karma and christianity in the same word. It takes more than 5 "our fathers" and 10 "holy mary's" to redeem yourself. You have been falling out of grace for millenia, approximately 100 years after the death of christ when you deposed gnostics as mystics and not as a part of you, thats when you lost the true meaning of Christs teachings. Basically, having written this article means that you're just upset that ignorance exists. Perhaps you ought to look in the mirror, no one is THAT ignorant. We know Easter isnt about bunnies and candy any more than december 25th is actually Christs birthday. And for America to even bother being PC is RIDICULOUS. We dont care, why should we pretend we do?
Amazing. Finally, someone else uses the term "personal holiday", as in, you don't have to go parading your religion around to the neighbors. Thanks for the laugh - perhaps you should send it to congress...
are you bashing ani?? you should do your research! Nice sarcasm though
Wow. Y'all need to chill out. It's a sarcastic wake-up-America peice, he wasn't trying to offend anyone (or rather, he was trying to offend everyone equally but as little as possible). It's not like Chris Holt is personally out to kill Jesus or anything--he jsut wants you to get your heads out of your asses!
I think this article is appalling and ignorant. I believe the writer should be banned from the Stanford Daily and his privledges as a student should be severely limited. He obviously shows no respect towards world religions, so no respect should be given to him...
Well done Mr. Holt, you've managed to ruin Christmas or so the dinner 3 days prior.
Great article, it really hit the spot. There are so many holidays that mark the darkest night of the year. It makes sense, before modern conveniences, the disappearance of the light was a whole lot scarier than we realize. Who wouldn't feel like celebrating its return?
In the face of all these rich traditions we could draw on, the most powerful and represented religion in America is stomping its foot and insisting that we respect only its way of celebrating, at least in public. As a result, we are eating hamburger when we could be having steak. Or whatever flavor you favor. I don't care how the store clerk greets me, I hope I'm socially skilled enough to respond with ordinary politeness and move on. But I do get tired of the Holiday Drama. As a Unitarian, I delight in the myriad ways we all have found to give meaning to the same event. I hope that as a culture, the US manages to get past the bad habit of using religion as a means of dividing us from each other in my lifetime. But I'm not holding my breath...
Oh, and Nita? Easter is no more exclusively Christian than Christmas. I suggest you look up Ostara and Eostre. I mean, who ever heard of a rabbit laying eggs, right? And Easter is not a solar holiday, but a lunar one. That's why the date changes. If it were simply about the crucifixion, why would the date be tied to the cycles of the moon, and be held right around the equinox? But if you want to convert members of a different religion to your faith, overlaying your holy days on top of the ones they already celebrate is a very effective way of replacing their faith with yours. You are of course entitled to believe whatever has meaning for you, but you are not entitled to abuse others simply because they hold different things sacred.
I thought this was a great article that made fun of everyone equally. Its just as important to know where one is coming from and the roots of what one celebrates, even if it is not the truth held by the largest religions. It is estimated that by the year 2010 Wicca will be the 3rd largest religion in the country. The truth of this holiday is believed to be simply this: Most early Christian groups celebrated the birth of Christ after January 1st and sometimes as late as April/May. The Roman festival of the Winter Solstice was celebrated on the 21 of December, and who wouldn't want to celebrate the rebirth of the Sun? Aztecs loved to do it with a good blood letting. It was the Catholic faith that incorporated the Roman holiday into their beliefs, to counter the extremely popular festival with one of their own. And what better reason to celebrate than the birth of the Savior?
As to no one caring about this being a multi-religious, multi-cultural holiday/festival time thus the need to be 'PC'simply isn't true. It wouldn't even be an issue if people didn't care. The truth is that we as a country are a large group of mutts that span the world over religiously and culturally. There is no one generic American arch-type in reality. We care. We care to much sometimes. I'd say alot of us need to lighten up. So on that note, good job Chris. I laughed my rear end off. Happy Holidays! Merry Christmas! Happy Yule! :)