Christmas: the tyranny of the majority

[Jayhawker Soule]

I can't help but think how many of the hearing impaired would love to have this kind of problem (sorry)

That was pathetically thoughtless ...

 

[!Fluffy!]

That was pathetically thoughtless ...

Someone who can't stand to listen to Christmas carols for a while and whines about it publicly has no problem with calling my post pathetically thoughtless - who is surprised?

Not me.

 

[nutshell]

I concur with Jay.

After all, the thread's subtite is "the tyranny of the majority."
!Fluffy!, it's easy to criticize the minority when your group is in power. You might want to look at another's POV. What if you had to listen to Buddhist chanting of some other non-Christian expression while at work all day, every day, for a month???

 

[BUDDY]

Going to a retail stor eand having to hear it is one thing, you can always leave. Hearing it in the work environment, where you have no choice but to stay, is something else entirely. I remember when I worked at a retail store in High School, and they played "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" over and over and over again...coupled with a crowded store, screaming kids, angry shoppers, etc., it about drove me nuts. I hated it, and it wouldn't havbe mattered which christmas song they played, it was still annoying and that song, acting kind of like a ironic background music theme, was just ridiculous.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

Parenthetically, I spent much of the day walking around Macy's with my granddaughter. Great windows, beautifully decorated trees, and the only musical theme of which I'm aware was from the Nutcracker. It was a lot of fun.

Merry Christmas, everyone ...

 

[1nharmony]

*snip*There is a lot of great Christmas music by magnificent composers throughout history that we have enjoyed for centuries and will continue to do so until the Lord returns. The only pollution is atheists who come along and want to forbid what we have done traditionally for many hundreds of years, be it by radio or caroling or what have you.*snip*

Perhaps Mr. Peanut might be edified by doing a Google search on the "History of Christmas" and, in so doing, learn that Christmas (as a legal holiday) is just a little over 130 years old. In addition, Christmas is more traditionally a very ancient Pagan holiday, as opposed to Christian, which the young christian religion merely adopted and retrofitted to suit its purposes. We the People of the good ol' USA get most of the credit for transforming it into the glitzy, commercialized, max-out-your-debt-limit national holiday we have all come to love and enjoy today!

Jay, your protest is valid on more than a religious basis. Non-stop verbal feedback is a form of brainwashing used by many religious cults, governments, terrorist groups and others. Our own President is no exception. (“See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda." G.W. Bush) Truly, whenever we voluntarily join a religion, we subject ourselves to exactly the same type of immersion - the difference being that it is with our consent. You have a right to complain both publicly and privately to your management. :yes:

 

[DeepShadow]

poor thing.

I can't help but think how many of the hearing impaired would love to have this kind of problem (sorry)

You might as well talk about all the blind people who are denied the privilege of seeing KKK parades. Forced beliefs are corrupted by the force, even when they are true.

Personally, I don't like to hear Christmas songs on the radio, but then I much prefer NPR to any other music or talk radio out there.

 

[DeepShadow]

No Christmas music anywhere public to appease black-hearted atheists like Jay!

That's an either-or fallacy if I ever heard one.

There is a lot of great Christmas music by magnificent composers throughout history that we have enjoyed for centuries and will continue to do so until the Lord returns.

That's irrelevant.

The only pollution is atheists who come along and want to forbid what we have done traditionally for many hundreds of years, be it by radio or caroling or what have you.

Jay isn't saying that....

In this country, at least so far up to now, we have freedom OF religion, not from it. If you hate it so much, get another job.

And we wrap it up with yet another either-or fallacy.

As a Christian, I find Jay's complaint perfectly valid! How hard is it to understand that it's uncomfortable to have to work with someone else's religious music in the background?

I've said for a long time that I wish there was more variety in the Christmas music on the radio. I wish there was at least one station that refrained from playing it at all, and others that played only secular Christmas music.

 

[DeepShadow]

They are welcome to express their faith with their music as well. Again, its called freedom OF religion.

I can only imagine the ridicule such people might endure if they tried to pipe Ramadan or Kwanzaa or Chanukah music into their workplace.

Freedom of religion must include the option not to have it, else it becomes just another kind of tyranny. Therefore, it must protect atheists as well.

 

[MysticSang'ha]

What if you had to listen to Buddhist chanting of some other non-Christian expression while at work all day, every day, for a month???

Awww, come on......who wouldn't want to hear the Hundred Syllable Vajrasattva Mantra 8 hours a day for the entire month?

Just kidding.




Peace,
Mystic

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

In this country, at least so far up to now, we have freedom OF religion, not from it. If you hate it so much, get another job.

Remember your words should you end up working for a predominantly Muslim company that shuts the cafeteria down through Ramadan, especially when you really, really want a coffee on your afternoon break.

 

[Mr. Peanut]

Whatever, I LOVE Christmas, the Lord Jesus Christ, and I love the story of my Saviour's Birth and the music of the season.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Hearing Christmas music and being upset not only shows intolerance, it is borderline bigotry.

Some of us just have no love for Christmas. I'm grown up, so Christmas really isn't magical anymore, don't have my own family, and the family I have I am not very close to. Too me, Christmas is rather a stressful pain in the *** to be as straightforward as I can. Actually, I'm looking forward to New Year's Eve much more.
I'm also not Christian, so all things taken into consideration, Christmas isn't a day I enjoy.

 

[Don Penguinoini]

I am with you Jay.

I HATE my fat stupid R.E. teacher.

 

[Don Penguinoini]

Whatever, I LOVE Christmas, the Lord Jesus Christ, and I love the story of my Saviour's Birth and the music of the season.

Well, that makes sense, you are christian.

 

[DeepShadow]

Whatever, I LOVE Christmas, the Lord Jesus Christ, and I love the story of my Saviour's Birth and the music of the season.

Me, too! My wife played the piano for three Chistmas events at church these past two weeks, and the two of us are singing, "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" this coming Sunday in church. I've sung in cantatas five out of the past seven years, we have Chistmas music playing all the time at home, and Christmas Eve we gathered around the tree and harmonized a cappella to the old devotional carols. My UU landlady said we sounded angelic, and that it was the sweetest thing she'd ever heard.

The point of this thread, however, is about forcing someone who doesn't enjoy this music to listen to it. That is something I will not ever abide. My love for Christ is too great.

 

[DeepShadow]

I love celebrations Christian or otherwise. If I saw Pagans celebrating that would make me smile. If they were playing music, that would be joyous!

A Jewish wedding and music would make me smile.

Hearing Christmas music and being upset not only shows intolerance, it is borderline bigotry.

I can't speak for Jay, but for many of the others I talk to, the problem is not the Christmas music per se, but the exclusivity of the Christian religiosity. If there were Chanukah and Kwaanza and Ramadan and other kinds of music mixed in, it wouldn't be so bad. Maybe.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

I can't speak for Jay, but for many of the others I talk to, the problem is not the Christmas music per se, but the exclusivity of the Christian religiosity. If there were Chanukah and Kwaanza and Ramadan and other kinds of music mixed in, it wouldn't be so bad. Maybe.

Though it's struck me that it seems like certain non-Christian holidays are singled out for popular acknowledgement because of their proximity to Christmas, not because of the religious significance to the people actually celebrating them.

If our popular culture were to actually set out to celebrate Jewish religious belief, wouldn't we hear much more about Rosh Hashanah/Yom Kippur and Passover than we would about Hanukkah?

 

[DeepShadow]

Though it's struck me that it seems like certain non-Christian holidays are singled out for popular acknowledgement because of their proximity to Christmas, not because of the religious significance to the people actually celebrating them.

Absolutely. I only chose those examples because I was thinking about what other kinds of religious music might be played at this time of year.

 

[Don Penguinoini]

My hope is Christmas gets outshadowed by Hannukah, then we will see how fun-loving christians really are.