|
There isn't a Biggest Story for Today, yet.
|
|
There isn't content right now for this block.
|
|  |
by Stephen Lendman
December 20, 2007
sjlendman.blogspot.com
Christmas is observed December 25 by Christians and others celebrating the spirit of the season while for those of the Eastern Orthodox faith the holiday falls on January 7. It's to honor the birth of Jesus Christ even though it's widely acknowledged not to be his birthday. Along with its religious significance, the season is also for other celebratory events like winter festivals, parties, family get-togethers and Kwanzaa from December 26 - January 1 for Africans Americans to reconnect to their cultural and historical heritage. Jews as well celebrate the season with the Hanukkah Festival of Lights. It's to commemorate their struggle for survival, but for Jewish children it's their Christmas with gifts from parents like their Christian friends get.
Christmas is also the time when the national obsession to shop and consume reaches its zenith. It traditionally begins the day after Thanksgiving, runs through Christmas eve, and after the holiday continues into January with plenty of extra buying power from holiday gift cards, year-end bonuses and other resources gotten or borrowed. It's for everything people never knew they wanted until creative advertising wizardry made their lives incomplete without them.
|
|
Racism Watch: Christmas and Santa Clause: A Historical Review
|
|
By Adib Rashad
November 19, 2000
History (American and European) informs us that the celebration of Christmas was once banned in Britain and the North American colonies. This occurred in the early 17th century. The so-called Puritans in England considered the entire Christmas celebration as repulsively non-Christian. The Puritan Party under Oliver Cromwell in 1642 rendered all Christmas celebrations, religious and secular an anathema, and forbidden by Parliament.
In 1660 at the decline of Puritan rule and the restoration of King Charles II, Christmas observance began to resurface in Britain. The General Court of Massachusetts, however, passed a law in 1659 outlawing Christmas observance. The law was repealed in 1681, but local Christians continued to manifest antagonism toward Christmas festivities. Interestingly, the so-called Puritans were just one small segment of Christians that opposed Christmas. There were other segments that vigorously promoted it.
|
Santa, Jesus, and the Symbolism of Racial Supremacy
By Tim Wise
December 20, 2000
Well it's that time of year again. Time for all good
Americans to focus on what really matters. Not family,
community, or world peace, but that national sacrament of
late-stage capitalism known as Holiday shopping. Whether you
do it online, or drag yourself to the mall amidst the sea of
humanity scrapping and fighting for the latest must-have
gizmo, rest assured that your actions are vital to the
national interest. In fact, the annual consumer bonanza
unleashed in the last fiscal quarter is so central to
defining life in the U.S. that the economy's strength in the
beginning of the following year is literally tied to how
much stuff we buy. So get out there and do your duty: Buy
American. Be American. Shop till you drop, and remember,
this is what it means to be a patriot!
|
| |
|
There is a problem right now with this block.
|
|
