Happy Dissent Day!
Mike Berlingen

Christmas, Easter, Valentine’s Day and Halloween all have one thing in common: they have absolutely no meaning to me. I have strong opinions about some of the holidays we celebrate in America. Some of them are of questionable meaning and origin to me. Do you agree with a Christian holiday being a legal federal holiday in spite of the so-called separation of church and state? Do you know what Easter is really about? This essay gives my point of view of what these holidays mean to me.

Do people really remember what Christmas seeks to commemorate? Christmas has become so overtly commercialized, and its iconic symbol “Santa Claus” has been nearly deified. This was supposed to be the celebration of the birth of Jesus, but not many can agree on when Jesus was born. How can anyone ignore the fact that so much of this is make-believe? Do reindeer and Christmas carols have anything to do with the birth of Jesus? Of course they don’t. Why do Christians and non-Christians alike continue to deceive their children into believing this nonsense? What does “Merry Christmas” mean anyway? Should I act merry during this convoluted corporate celebration that has absolutely no meaning to me spiritually or otherwise?

The most aggravating aspect of Christmas for me is the sanctimonious people that come out of the woodwork and act pious during this “holiday season.” Why not spend time with your family or buy them gifts any other time of the year? It’s simple, people aren’t being told by society and commerce to do these things. What again was the point of gift-giving to begin with? People go so overboard with gift-giving that they put themselves in financial peril. Does anyone stop to think about the credit debt acquired that results in foreclosures and bankruptcies from the high expectations of this holiday? Do the poor only need help during the holidays? Has anyone else noticed that the rest of the year quietly inches along with seldom a word about charity until the Christmas holiday season arrives? Why is it that if you question the validity of this holiday, you become labeled a “Scrooge” or a “Grinch”? Austin Cline, an author on the website About, poignantly points out what skepticism brings when he says the following:

           Many would try, however, and reason is simple: too many people object when cherished

           assumptions and beliefs are challenged, questioned, or refuted. To call “humbug” on  

           something is to say that it is or is based upon deception; that it is more pretense than

           genuine and more superficial than substantive; that people are being taken in by a hoax

           by others who would profit from them. Few like such things pointed out to them,

           especially when it involves a holiday which they have enjoyed since childhood. Skeptics

           encounter this all the time.

Society and commerce have very effective ways of silencing dissent surrounding this holiday, and most times my commentary falls upon deaf ears. I say, “Merry @#%*ing Christmas to all and to all a materialistic orgy of wastefulness and forced happiness!”

And then there’s Easter. What does a rabbit have to do with the second coming of Jesus? Not a thing. A little bit of research reveals that this is a contentious subject even among Christians. Pastor Greg Wilson of the Landmark Independent Baptist Church says, “For Christ and his resurrection. . . I owe everything. But for the pagan festival of Easter, I have nothing but contempt!”

Easter is a carried-over pagan celebration from Babylonian times and its symbolism has nothing to do with the bodily resurrection of Christ. I’m sure the businesses that profit from these holidays have everything to do with how they have become what they are. Probably the most glaring example of this is St. Valentine’s Day. I heard one large corporate retailer (Tom Shane Company) actually asking the radio audience this question, “Men, do you love your woman?” as if to say that to not purchase a piece of jewelry for your significant other would indicate that you don’t love them. The origin of Valentine’s Day is argued, and there are too many possibilities to attempt to explain.

Halloween is an ancient Celtic tradition carried forth into modern times. Most people don’t celebrate it the way the Celts did, that is, as a sort of peace offering to the restless condemned spirits that wander the earth. Still, very few people understand the true implications of the celebration of this holiday. For instance, the Jack O’ Lantern was a tool used to ward of evil spirits, and legend says that its light comes from a burning coal straight from hell ("Exposing").  So is there a point to this holiday as celebrated in America? Yes. Retailers sell tons of candy and costumes to people, and it’s one of the year’s biggest party nights. Do I disagree with this? Not necessarily, but I don’t condone it either. Either way, it has absolutely no meaning to me other than an excuse to gather with friends and have a good time.

These holidays I have spoken of have lost all meaning to me, and only signify an excuse for bank or federal workers to have a day off, or for a retailer to have a sale. Who celebrates President’s Day? The retailers do. Who takes Veteran’s Day off? The bankers and the government employees do, while most veterans dutifully go to their jobs.

A little bit of history on how I got to be so cynical about holidays is in order at this point. I spent quite a few years of my youth in an off-shoot of Christianity called the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Although I have bitter feelings toward the religion and the people that occupy their time with the trappings of it, it taught me to question things. I was always the weird kid that didn’t join in the “Pledge of Allegiance” in school, and to this day I wouldn’t feel right about putting my hand over my heart and pledging allegiance to a flag, as if it were some form of deity in itself. The Jehovah’s Witnesses don’t allow affiliation to government, and there are some interesting stories of the persecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Nazi Germany and the United States for this behavior. In a way, I should thank them for my attitude of non-conformity that has carried-over into my adult years and allowed me to see things as I believe they should be viewed, with a critical eye.

By this time, you may be asking yourself, are there any holidays this guy does approve of? The answer is a resounding “Yes!” Labor Day, Veteran’s Day, and Memorial Day are excellent examples of the commemoration of people that truly deserve it. Oddly, commercial interests haven’t found any significant ways to capitalize on these days (Except for the retail sales that happen on these days.) Maybe next year Hallmark will start selling “Happy Veteran’s Day” cards. I doubt that will take hold very well--that is, until some form of gift-giving or retail benefit can be associated with it.

Works Cited

Cline, Austin. “Bah Humbug, Arguing Against Christmas…” About Website.
     March 11, 2006. http://atheism.about.com/od/christmasholidayseason/p/BahHumbug.htm

“Exposing Satanism.” Exposing Satanism Website. March 11, 2006.
      http://www.exposingsatanism.org/halloween.htm

Wilson, Greg. “The True Meaning of Easter.” Landmark Baptist Church Website. March 11,

     2006. http://www.albatrus.org/english/festivals/easter/true_meaning_of_easter.htm.