Who is the us in U.S.?

Way back when, a bunch of Puritans fled England to practice their religious beliefs.  They pushed back the people who were already here.  Later, they persecuted Quakers who publicly preached a different religious view.

Opportunists saw large areas of land to raise cotton and tobacco.  By hook or crook they laid claims to that land, pushing back the people who were already there.  To make matters worse, they bought people who were kidnapped from their homes and put on ships in chains.  They put these people to hard work, whipping them if they slacked off or showed any signs of independence.  They often quoted select passages from the Bible to justify the situation, completely ignoring “Do unto others…"

Later on, Irish escaped the famine brought on partly because the English took away some of the best farmland.  When they came to the U.S., they were often greeted with signs “No Irish need apply!”  Now people who have no Irish ancestry celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.

Swedes came in large numbers for better farmland than was available in Sweden.  Because their English was not perfect they were often called “dumb Swedes”.  This dumb whatever naming continued when immigrants from many other lands came to the U.S.

Russian Jews had their land expropriated by Tsarist thugs.  They fled to the U.S. and made many cultural and business contributions.  At the same time they were ostracized by “Christians” and kept out of many groups.

People of European descent kept pushing west taking land from Indians and Mexicans.  For a variety of reasons, successive governments in Mexico were often corrupt and did not create an economy that benefited all the people.  Many of these people sought jobs in the U.S., often in land that once was Mexico.  They are paid lower wages than those whose ancestors took the land would accept.

The U.S. waged several wars in the Mideast to ensure a supply of oil, often corrupting or overthrowing governments to do so.  Many people from these countries fled to the U.S. for a more stable life.  Also large corporations hired many of the highly educated of these people because they worked for less and the corporations didn’t have to pay the taxes to educate them.

On and on it goes.  “Why don’t you go back to where you came from?”  This is directed at people whose families have been here for generations as well as people who have helped enhance the bottom line of large corporations.  And how does one go back to where they came from if their ancestors came from many different places?

On top of all of this, the descendants of dissenters who left their homelands now want others to believe just as they do.

“When will we ever learn!”

Hah! Funbug!

Whew!  Thanks to all our efforts we have brought the sun back.  The days will be growing longer, warming the earth, and allowing crops to be planted.  Then they will be harvested and stored, ready for the cold season that will follow.  Then when the amount of daylight is at its shortest, we will make our celebrations once again to bring the sun back.  So it has been and so it shall always be.

Oh, but the ways that we observe this annual ritual!  It has almost nothing to do with bringing the sun back and a lot to do with our own beliefs.

For some it is to celebrate the birth of Jesus.  However, many biblical scholars think that he was born in September not December.  Others say that the Roman Church moved the celebration of the birth of Jesus to the winter solstice to compete with the various pagan celebrations.

The church “lost” in three ways.  First, many pagan symbols became attached to it.  Consider the Christmas tree, holly wreaths, and mistletoe, all celebrations of life continuing in the darkest time of the year.  Second, secular celebrations of feasting, drinking, dancing, and singing have proliferated.  Many forget that the Puritans banned the celebration of Christmas because of these celebrations.  Third, commercial interests have taken over much of the attention of the season: buy, sale, the perfect gift...

Ah, gifts!  How greedy I was as a kid.  The department store catalogs arrived and I immediately went to the toy sections.  I would want that and that and that.  What I would give to others was a minor distraction.  Now, it seems that I only consider what I might give to others.  What others might give me is a minor distraction.

We have had a major distraction for the last few decades.   It seems to me that “political correctness” came first and then a reaction to it.  “Merry Christmas” was not considered inclusive because not everybody celebrated Christmas.  We should say “Season Greetings” and “Happy Holidays”; these are supposedly more neutral and less offensive.  Now we have the counter-reaction about the “War on Christmas”.

I should back up a bit.  The objections were not just to the words used; many objected to the manger scenes erected on government property.  If you think about it, this is an indirect “religious Test” that is forbidden in the Constitution for “legislators” and “all executive and judicial officers”.  In order to meet “public approval” city councils had to erect mangers.  Conversely, if they did not erect the mangers, they would receive “public disapproval”.  The Constitution saves them from responsibility for either choice.

Taken together, the vapid greetings and the prohibition of governmental endorsement of Christmas have been seen by some as a “War on Christmas”.  But are they really?  Are those who consider themselves as celebrating Christmas as a religious observance being prohibited from making their own private observances in home or church?  That’s almost like saying that government wages a war on Hanukkah because cities don’t erect Menorahs and greet each other with “Mazel tof!”

One could consider the phrase “Merry Christmas” as a “War on Christmas”.  If you take the Puritan view that Christmas was a time of contemplation of the birth of Jesus and all it meant to Christians, then any suggestion of merriment was counter to that contemplation.  The Puritans saved their merriment for other times; they did like their beer and feasts.

The celebration of Christmas and other winter solstice celebrations have widened to over a month of holidays around the world.  The vagaries of various calendars and the adaptability of many cultures have spread festivals of light from late November until early January.  This year Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of light, was celebrated on the same day as Thanksgiving.  Christmas was once celebrated on the winter solstice.  Then with the Gregorian calendar reform the winter solstice was moved from the 25th of December to the 21st or 22nd.  But somebody neglected to change Christmas from the 25th.  The Orthodox Church didn’t move to the Gregorian calendar and celebrates Christmas on January 6th.

We could say that Christmas has gotten out of control of any one group.  There are those who celebrate Christmas quietly and simply in church or at home.  There are those who enjoy Christmas religious music but don’t believe any of the words.  There are those who attend parties and parties.  There are those who give lavishly to others.  There are those who use Christmas as a time to give to the less fortunate.  There are those who promote the sale of merchandise for giving to others.  There are those who are not Christian but create a whole Christmas culture, for instance, the Japanese.

Whatever, I hope you had a Merry Christmas, and I wish you a Happy New Year!

Also published in the Reader Weekly, 2013-12-26, at http://duluthreader.com/articles/2013/12/26/2665_party_of_one-10.