And now I can pack away the notional decorations for another year. I still don't know why we don't all get the day off work for such an important festival. The Jewish people I work with don't get Hannukah off, either, so I suppose I can't complain.
[pardon, what's that you say? Whaaaa? You mean there's more?]
but, but, I did my holiday celebration/libation. Quite enough for me!
Oh well, if everyone gets the day off I don't like to complain...what are they celebrating* exactly?
* The Puritans were sticklers for taking the Bible, and nothing else, as their guide for how to live a good, Christian life. And since the Bible never indicates exactly when the anniversary of the Nativity should be observed, they reasoned that God must not have intended for it to be observed at all. Otherwise a date would have been provided. So they banned its celebration. Between 1659 and 1681 it was actually a criminal offense, punishable by a fine of five shillings, to celebrate Christmas in Massachusetts.*****************
Christmas only became a legal holiday in England and America late in the nineteenth century. Before then people were expected to go to work on Christmas Day.
*****************
Actually, rather than trudge through my traditional rant, you could just scan December Archives for 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004. Nothing much changes, although I find great links and quotes I had quite forgotten:
"After my Christmas Lectures I received letters from the pious saying that they would have no objection if only I had qualified my remarks by saying: 'But I should warn you that many well-informed people think differently . . .'
When did you last hear a priest-in the pulpit, on radio, on television, in infants' Sunday School-qualify his statement with 'But I should warn you that many well-informed people don't think God exists at all . . . ?' " - Richard Dawkins
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