subject: And Call Off Christmas! [print this page] "... and call off Christmas" is one of the most memorable lines from 1991's Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. The line was intended to display the sheriff of Nottingham's mean spirited nature, but today the line evokes a very different meaning.
This also is not an attack on the religious nature of Christmas. The vast majority of Americans, including Atheists like myself, are sick and tired of the leftist whiners who want to prevent us from wishing each other "Merry Christmas" because someone somewhere might be offended. There's almost nothing you can do in this life without offending some busybody somewhere.
The drive to call off Christmas comes not from a fear of religion, but from deep concern over the economic hardships which are coming in the next few years.
This holiday season, Americans will spend somewhere around half a trillion dollars celebrating Christmas. Unfortunately, that's half a trillion dollars that American's just don't have. The national debt increased from $1.8 to $2.8 trillion just this year. Canceling Christmas entirely won't make that problem go away, but it would be a damned good start.
This holiday season, why not set aside the rush of travel and gift buying and replace it with some actual religious observance? We Atheists can get into the act too, by pausing to remember how thankful we are for billions of years of evolution.
Replace travel to see the family with a long telephone call. Replace gifts to adult friends and family with Christmas cards or e-Cards. Replace the huge volumes of plastic toys for your kids with one new toy and a savings account at your local bank.
We are in year two of a depression which is likely to last another eight years. The positive economists are now calling this a "double dip recession" - I apparently missed this year's big sale on rose colored glasses.
Don't despair. Your children aren't going to stop loving you if you stop focusing on their immediate gratification and start working towards their long-term welfare. Children are almost always smarter than we give them credit for. If only we could say the same about politicians!
by: Brian Jones
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