Waiting For Christmas...

Waiting for Christmas
Grandma Moses
1960

If Grandma Moses were to paint this wonderful little folk art painting today, she would have to name it something else, as it would no longer be politically correct to call it "Waiting for Christmas". It would have to be named something like "Waiting for Santa", or even worse "Waiting for the Holidays". Bah humbug. Every year Christmas slips farther and farther away from us, until it has become something we don't recognize anymore.

As a teenager, I read George Orwell's "1984" and it disturbed me so much, it stayed with me. I remember thinking, "Thank goodness we live in a civilized world where such things could never happen". But they have happened, and are happening now. There is a dictionary of "1984" Newspeak, and it is chillingly similar to much of the politically correct language we use today.

Newspeak - The official language of Oceania. Newspeak is "politically correct" speech taken to its maximum extent. Newspeak is based on standard English, but all words describing "unorthodox" political ideas have been removed.

Oldthink - Holding on to old ideas and patterns of thought not consistent with current government policy. Maintaining a belief that is no longer acceptable, but was normal just a few years prior.

Crimethink - To even consider any thought not in line with the principles of Newspeak. All crimes begin with a thought. So, if you control thought, you can control crime.

Sound familiar?  We have allowed this to happen. I know people ~~ real, live actual people ~~ who are afraid to say the word Christmas. "Shhh, you can't say that word."

It's still only November, but the stores are filled with Christmas Holiday decorations and music, the television is filled with Christmas Holiday advertisements and slogans ~~ "Give like Santa, save like Scrooge".

Bah humbug!

I want Christmas back.  My Christmas.  The one that feels magical just saying the word Christmas.  It has an aura about it that evokes the smell of cinnamon and pine trees and a crackling fire.  Oh, I know, I know, it was originally a Pagan celebration of light, and we ursurped it and turned it into something else.  I get that.  But most cultural holidays have evolved in one way or another.  I just don't want my Christmas evolving into something crass and sterile, like Pottersville in "It's a Wonderful Life".

In our culturally sensitive world, we celebrate the holidays of all folks ~~ Ramadan, Rosh Hashanah, Diwali, Yom Kippur, Tet Nguyen Dan, Chinese New Year, Hanukkah ~~ and so many more.  We would never dream of asking them to change the name of their cultural festivals, just to accommodate us.  Why on earth are we doing it to accommodate other folks?  Whether we are Christian, non-Christian or atheist, it is not *Holiday*, it is Christmas, and it is celebrated by over one-third of the world's population.

I love everything about Christmas.  It's a really lovely time of the year.  Next Thursday is December 1st, and I can hardly wait for Christmas.  Let the fun begin.