"C" for censored?

There won't be any posting from me until possibly tonight, as I recently discovered that Christmas is a week away, and I need to send out cards and take care of much-neglected holiday-related stuff.

As a logical person and as someone who barely manages to call himself a Christian (despite the fact that many would deny me that label too) I respect Christmas, and see it as a holiday clearly related to the guy it's named for. I hasten to add that the guy's name wasn't Jesus Season's Holiday Greetings, and wanted to echo James Lileks's sentiments (via Glenn Reynolds) with a personal anecdote.

I stood in line for much too long just to buy stamps at the local post office, only to make what I thought was a robotically routine request for "CHRISTMAS STAMPS." The woman stared silently, and said "What do you want?" I thought she hadn't heard me so once again I asked for "Christmas stamps." Without answering, she showed me the selection, and if I didn't know any better I'd swear she'd been ordered not to utter the word.

But the bright side in all of this is that if you're a last minute procrastinator like me, you'll find that there are plenty of boxed cards for sale which use the "C" word! I think they're the last to sell, because people are afraid to use it.

Excuse me for saying so, but Christmas is Christmas. When people go too far out of their way to avoid being offensive, it gets a little, well offensive!

posted by Eric on 12.18.04 at 02:54 PM





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I have had it with Political Correctness. Merry Christ's Mass!

I don't know. I think if I saw this Jesus guy on the street today, I'd probably slap him. Between stealing from the poor to give to the rich, hating gay people, enslaving women and hiring spokespeople like James Bakker and Oral (ha) Roberts, he has a lot to answer for.

Give me a real religion whose hero is the King of Peace and spoke a message of love and brotherhood among men.

bink   ·  December 18, 2004 06:47 PM

I think it would be a real drag to have that many people speaking in your name for 2000 years.

Eric Scheie   ·  December 18, 2004 08:06 PM

You may find it offensive or silly that some people are trying to speak of Christmas in more "generic" tones in order to include non-Christians in the celebration (and gift-buying). But you might want to know that some less-scrupulous people, such as Bill O'Reilly, are trying to hype this non-issue up into an all-out pogrom against EVERYONE who doesn't celebrate their holidays their way. See the latest entry in my blog for more details. These Jew-bashing bigots are trying to misrepresent such anecdotes as yours as a campaign to "cancel Christmas" and suppress the teachings of Christ.

PS: Don't take the dull-witted response of one post-office clerk as proof of a trend or policy. They're people, not automatons, and they don't all act the same. The ones I bought stamps from gave a different (and more satisfactory) response.

Raging Bee   ·  December 20, 2004 10:13 AM

Oops, I almost forgot: Merry Christmasaturnakwanzaakkanahyulestice!

Raging Bee   ·  December 20, 2004 10:14 AM


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