Posted on 12/06/2016 9:47:49 AM PST by EinNYC
The talk show host Mike Gallagher is currently discussing how outraged he was when a woman corrected his "Merry Christmas" greeting to her, telling him she "would prefer a 'Happy Holidays' greeting". I also prefer a "Happy Holidays" greeting because his original greeting would not be appropriate to me. I called the show to tell the call screener this (I NEVER call in to radio shows!). I was very respectful and told the call screener that I didn't even need to go on the air, but just wanted to get my opinion across. She took my name. As soon as I said I didn't even need to go on the air, I just wanted him to be aware of my opinion, I heard the phone on her end hung up without a single word. I couldn't believe it.
Meanwhile, Gallagher and a lot of his callers are saying that they feel they should say "Merry Christmas" to everyone and the heck with what the other party thinks. I think that is outrageously ethnocentric, sorry. This is a nation of nations and other peoples' peaceful beliefs should be respected. If you KNOW that the other person is a Jew, you should not wish them a happy [holiday that is not part of their religion]. Might as well tell a Buddhist or a Sikh "Merry Christmas". It would have as much meaning. I also feel that it is a subtle call to conform to the majority.
I'm sure that many years of blatant antisemitism toward me somewhat colors my attitude. In the public schools I attended as a child in the Midwest, I was publicly singled out by the teacher for not singing carols along with the other students in December music classes, and given a negative behavioral notation. I had other students scream at me in December and April that "you killed J.C.!" That was as predictable as the swallows returning to Capistrano. There was a huge push to conform and observe the rituals of Christianity. Judaism or simply being different was not given any consideration.
I do not want to be lumped into one big group. I do not want to have to duck under "The Great Leveler" rather than stick out. Never have, never will.
I have even less respect for Mike Gallagher and his staff now than I even did before.
Happy Festivus, A Festivus for the Rest of Us!
Oh, well - Merry Christmas!
Thank you so much! I learned a lot. It made me look up Mattathias in the KJV of the Bible, and he appears in Luke (part of the New Testament) in two places, just in son of the son of type references, but appears in a book called Maccabees and Esdras, part of the Apocrypha. I’ve never heard of the Apocrypha.
This is a description of the Apocrypha:
The apocrypha is a selection of books which were published in the original 1611 King James Bible. These apocryphal books were positioned between the Old and New Testament (it also contained maps and geneologies). The apocrypha was a part of the KJV for 274 years until being removed in 1885 A.D. A portion of these books were called deuterocanonical books by some entities, such as the Catholic church.
Very interesting..... Thanks again!
And....Wow! NYC has blue laws. I am surprised to learn of this. I had no idea.
Finally, I am sorry that I gave the impression that Republics alone were responsible for blue laws. Obviously, they weren't but prior to the mid 1960s the city was dominated by Republicans and the state legislature, as well.
Merry Christmas. If that is offensive to some snowflakes, they should put a helmet on.
Then share this. The applicable part starts around 4:30..
This thread needs a graphic saying “show us on the doll where the bad holiday touched you.”
I say Merry Christmas to everyone. If they object I say, “Merry love on you.” Most of us are Christians so I rarely run into an objector.
I'm still laughing.......
Lookie here!!
A NOOB who has problematic reading-with-comprehension skills..
I wasn't aware that Darks celebrated Hanukkah. Maybe Mr. Flaming can inform me of when that practice was started in the Darksheare household since he has stated it as fact..
(BTW NOOB, name them, ping them. Or you'll be forced to critique a Hopalong Ginsberg song...)
“Merry Christmas! Out upon merry Christmas! What’s Christmas time to you but a time for paying bills without money; a time for finding yourself a year older, but not an hour richer; a time for balancing your books and having every item in ’em through a round dozen of months presented dead against you? If I could work my will,” said Scrooge indignantly, “every idiot who goes about with ‘Merry Christmas’ on his lips, should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart. He should!”
Blue laws were probably enacted before there was even a Republican Party. They go back to our religious founding.
Please, I’ve had close Jewish friends, had Jewish boyfriends and they never expressed this “constant irritant” thing. Christmas was finally about getting into a hit movie without waiting on line.
Merry Christmas to you & to all!
Please understand that this wasn't a **big** issue. It was a **mild** irritant and very far down on the list of issues that any of them cared about.
We had a handful of very observant Jews in the class. I was very very honored that each year before one of the important Jewish holidays they would “sell” all their property to me.
Once I was in practice I started looking for a church. I was very impressed by those Jewish friends who were orthodox in their belief. I considered investigating the Jewish religion but ultimately my husband and I were baptized into a Christian denomination. We have been faithful members for more than 30 years.
To be honest, I don’t understand your post. Preparing for Christmas in August? Final exams on Christmas Eve? I’m in culinary school, as I said, and I take exams once a week up until last week. Sure, it’s a hassle but that’s what adults do!
I worked for an Hasidic law firm as a youth, my husband was a Shabbas Goy and neither of us had these negative Christmas experiences. I do remember with a smile the head of the law firm bemusedly shaking his head whenever he saw this little goyishe Debbie Reynolds type walk into his office.
I think you’re one of those odd denominations of “Christianity” that doesn’t celebrate Christmas. We’ve had a few of them on FR over the last couple of years. Do you wear a wedding ring, lol?!
It would be like someone wishing you a "Good Day" when you just found out you had cancer an hour before...they didn;t know......NO ONE KNOWS or CARES that you are JEWISH............the person wishing you a Merry Christmas hopes and dare I say it, PRAYS that you do have a NICE DAY on Christmas
!Hopefully you won't do what my Jewish M-I-L did at Macys last year at Christmas time.....walk in and SCREAM "I HATE CHRISTIANS"!!!
Do you WORK on Christmas?
Sure. Why would I not? In fact, the Jewish officers in the NYPD, for example, volunteer to stand in for non-Jewish officers so that they can take the day off. If I was in the same situation, I certainly would come in to work so that a non-Jew could take the day off.
I have emailed, instead of called in, when I have wanted to express an opinion but not go on air.
Joh 10:22 And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter.
Joh 10:23 And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch.
I am one who has studied inside shuls, Hebrew, Torah and studied the Bible. Seems Gallagher was talking about this very thread on his show today. People can find offense in everything. It's up to the individual to understand, or try, educate and love. No one will follow anyone by forcing them to do so.
And...Yes, as a science major as and undergraduate and in professional school there absolutely wasn't time to fuss with Christmas during the fall semester. If anything relating to Christmas was to be done it really had to be during the summer. Somehow, that seemed a little nuts to me.
And...I think you may have missed that I said my husband and I don't celebrate Christmas but both of our families do and so our denomination and its members. We don't like the holiday.
About the wedding ring thing:
My husband hasn't worn his for years. He is a windsurfer and was concerned about it getting caught on something. I stopped wearing mine a few months ago. I came across a YouTube that showed people with amputated ring fingers due to getting the wedding rings caught on various things. That did it for me. Off came the ring. We have considered getting tattooed rings.
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