To be a serious Christian in modern Western culture is to be the favoured easy target of every progressive thinker and every half-witted comedian. It is to have your sensibilities and your deepest beliefs on perpetual call for taunts, mockery and desecration. At a time when all progressives preach full volume for inclusivity and sensitivity, for the utmost care in speech when speaking of others with differing views or hues, Christians, as Christians, are under a constant hail of abuse and disregard. There is nothing too low or too vulgar.
Something as inconsequential as a Christmas special, for example, will have ”” almost as an essential element, it being “Christ’s” birthday after all ”” something determinedly offensive to Christians. Russell Peters, the Canadian joker, for his special this year has invited Pamela Anderson, pinup queen and soft porn actress, to play the Virgin Mary.
Pamela Anderson as Mary the Immaculate: I know ”” the wit, the daring, the originality ”” hell, the bravery of it all….
I think it’s become increasingly clear that the weird, dysfunctional festival society calls Christmas has nothing to do with Christ but, as a Christian, I don’t get offended.
I realized several years ago that there is very little, if any, tangible overlap between social “Christmas/Xmas/Holidays” and our Christmas. Theirs completely ends when the last store door is locked on Christmas Eve. A few hours later, our Christmas begins and lasts for a few weeks completely unmolested. When the secular post-holiday depression begins, we’re still joyous. Theirs seems to get more ridiculous and over-the-top every year while ours maintains age-old beauty and dignity.
There’s definitely a place for theirs, though. It saves me a lot of money! If something breaks down or is on its last leg, I nurse it through until Thanksgiving, after which I can replace it for a fraction of the cost! It’s also a great time to buy needed coats, jeans, jammies, etc. plus to make sure that the less-fortunate are set with the necessities, too! And, of course, it isn’t “holiday” shopping so much as it is taking advantage of the situation, so Christians aren’t even pressed to come up with an intelligent, rational connection between shopping a lot and Jesus’ birth! I’m probably in the minority of believers who actually wishes the retailers wouldn’t invoke Christ’s name in their November and December activities.