Sunday, December 11, 2005

Words Have Meaning

Anyone who has read my previous posts on ‘euphemism’, here and here, may well have surmised that my hatred of politically correct verbiage and the usurping of meaning is one of my biggest beefs against the so called Progressives. It is only surpassed by my disgust for the pea sized, history denying brains of Socialists. OK, another assault on the Left, so what’s my point?
This attack (and it is in fact an attack) on Christmas, just sickens me. As one who would not be deemed conventionally religious, I come from a completely different angle in my disgust with the anti-Christmas crowd. My problem is this...words do have meanings. A cat is a cat, it is not a monkey or a Marxist(sorry Karl, nature don’t play your games). To call something other than what it truly is, is at best a lie and at worst propaganda.
The replacement of the word Christmas with the word ‘holiday’ is a perfect example.
First let us bring light to the lie that this practice is performed in the spirit of inclusiveness. Secularists and atheists couldn’t care less about inclusiveness, lest they would see the hypocrisy in the way their actions would exclude many more than they ever could include. The very existence of Christmas is insulting to them personally and there is little in the world more dangerous than stepping on the wrong side of a Leftie’s ‘feelings’. Besides this, they understand how upset many on the Right get in regards to their synonymic abuse of the word Christmas, and they revel in this knowledge.
But worse, and what should upset Lefties as much as Conservatives, is what we see in the commercial arena. Although for different reasons, I suppose. As we all are aware, many large retail establishments have now banned the word Christmas, not only from their advertising, but from the mouths of their employees. To be inclusive? Sure, to ‘include’ even the anti-Christmas crowd in their bottom line. Yes, Lefties, they want to ‘include’ you in the season in order to up their profits. And as you know, PROFIT=BAD. Heck, when I actually think about it, maybe this is one area where both sides can be in agreement on a down side of commercialism.
As much as replacing the word Christmas with ‘holiday’ or ‘season’ or some other such tripe, the omission of it altogether, is very nearly as bad. In Target’s latest sale flyer, they are not selling ‘Christmas trees’, they are selling ‘artificial trees’. ‘Artificial trees’ with colored lights on them. A lot of call for lighted ‘artificial trees’ in non-Christian homes, I guess.
Is seems to me that if we as men are ever to come together in understanding at all, we must at least agree on the meanings of the words we use. And we must, in honesty, call things what they most actually are, no matter how personally painful. No matter if it fits our agenda to do otherwise. So one needn’t call a thing Christmastime, Christmas tree, or Christmas card because he feels Christ is Lord; but merely because that is exactly what it is.

Crossposted @ The Wide Awakes