Merry #@&%*$! Christmas

I am fascinated this time of year with the number of times I get to hear about "Keeping Christ in Christmas".  I'm sure I am not the only one seeing this sentiment spread around, here and yon, nearly constantly around the holidays. I do understand the thoughts and intentions behind the sentiment. I was raised Catholic and while I'm not the best Catholic (I try. I reeeeeally do try.) I agree that all the focus on "things" and "stuff" tends to overshadow the reason for the holiday (I refuse - refuuuuuuuuse - to do the sing-songy rhymy-rhymy reason for the season schtick).  But in the spirit of the "reason for the holiday", it seems to be sorta hypocritical to get all jizzed up over whether or not someone says "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays". For rizzle.

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't the whole spirit of Christmas to remember Christ and try to think about how we can behave in a more Christ-like way? For those who believe, that is. Even for those who don't believe that he was the son of God, he could still be a pretty decent behavioral role model with the whole forgiveness thing and loving people and accepting everyone for who they are even in they have made mistakes. I mean, whether you believe in what a person is saying or not, you could still learn something from them. You don't have to believe that Buddha is an important religious figure to see that he is a pretty happy guy with a fairly solid self image. These are awesome personality traits that I think would be good for anyone to try to emulate more. Don't worry, be happy, love your body, etc. Hell, if he can be wider than he is tall and still be that jolly and happy, I can certainly try to accept the flaws I see in the mirror every day, and try to keep a smile on my face more often than I do now. Maybe not smile, but at least not be as cynical and bitter. When you are as cynical and bitter as I am, being "less" shouldn't be that hard. Like maybe I'll go to Walmart tomorrow and NOT expect every single person I come across to be a complete idiot. That's a good place to start.

It seems that one of the main ways we can behave more Christ-like is to show respect and love for those who are different from us, like those who celebrate different religions. Because contrary to popular belief, Christmas is NOT the only holiday celebrated this time of year. For the sake of argument (and Lord knows how much I LOVE to argue...) lets just use Hanukkah for the purposes of this blog. I really really REALLY don't think I am taking anything at all away from Christmas by respecting those who are Jewish and wishing them a Happy Holiday instead. In fact, I think Jesus would be happy to see people being nice to each other and respecting each other and accepting each other, differences and all. I kinda think the meaning of the holiday is more about how we BEHAVE toward each other through out the season, and less about saying Happy Holidays or Merry Christmas. The words we use really don't matter as much as the sentiment behind them. I mean, am I really keeping Christ in Christmas MORE by saying "Merry #$%@*&! Christmas asshole!" to the idiot who takes the last Madden 13 PS3 game out of my cart while I am around the corner looking for another item, rather than saying "Happy #$%@*&! Holidays asshole!" I think not. Its my actions, not beating the shit out of said asshole with the snow shovel in my cart, that I believe hold more Christmas spirit than any words I could use in that moment.

While I'm not a specifically religious person, I do try to be a good person and am trying to raise my kids to be good people as well. Sometimes, the morals and values involved in this process overlap quite a bit with my religious upbringing and my personal religious beliefs. Much to my mother's chagrin, I tend to put a bit less emphasis on what I call "checking the boxes" of religious practices and a bit more emphasis on how I live day to day.  As my father used to point out, the most anti-Christian behavior he has ever witnessed in his life was in the parking lot after church. People flipping each other off, honking horns, cutting each other off, all in the mad rush to be first in line at the local donut shop. But its ok, cuz they checked off the box and attended church, right? Riiiiiiiiiiiiiight. Some of the best people I know don't attend church or belong to any specific religion, and some of the meanest and most selfish people I know are devoutly religious. Go figure. So Happy Merry #$@%*&! Holiday Christmas, people.