It is that time of year again folks! That time of year when everyone gathers together with beloved friends and family members to share in a great bounty of loving kindness and generosity. It is that time of year when we strive to think the best of people and treat everyone with fairness and compassion. It is that time of year where nigh everyone is celebrating some Holiday or another, and people are full to bursting with excitement and anticipation. There is so much love, thoughtfulness, and goodwill toward men floating around the air it is almost overwhelming!
Isn't it wonderful how you can go out shopping and jovially wish someone a Merry Christmas just to have them glare at you and return a bitter sounding "Happy Holidays"? I can't tell you how much I love seeing my Facebook news feed exploding with debates over a Louisiana Duck Hunting hillbilly's personal opinions. The best part of those debates though is that they consist of a lot of mud slinging and insulting of the opposition. I mean, I was afraid I was going to start missing all the political warfare and vicious slander from last year's presidential debates, but thankfully Phil's statement seems to have sparked enough controversy to keep that kind of heated "debate" going during this generous and gift giving season.
Ah, can you smell that *deep breath* that's the smell of peace on earth and goodwill toward men; the smell of yet another special season being turned into a battleground for personal grudges and a ravenous desire for controversy.
Now, don't get me wrong, I have some pretty strong feelings about politics and religion (as you've probably seen in my other posts), and I'm not suggesting anyone lay aside their beliefs and look away for the sake of us all just getting along. I am the other of "The Opinion Section" after all, and I hold to the principle that if you believe in something you should fight for it. If you honestly feel like the Duck Dynasty vs. A&E issue is something worth beating to death over the internet through inconsiderate comments about your opponent and whining over the bigotry/hostility of the world then go for it.
Far be it from me to rain on your parade.
What frustrates me is something that everyone in every party of every current debate seems to be guilty of (including myself). People establish a personal opinion on a topic like wishing Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays or on freedom of a TV Celebrity to make a racial slur, and that's all fine and good. It really is a good thing to have an opinion on the issues of the day, but what I find to be utterly ridiculous is how passionately and yet simultaneously irrationally people drive their opinions forward while beating senseless the opposing opinion.
I'm a Christian, I'm a confessional conservative Lutheran who believes that Christmas should be a celebration of the Nativity of our Lord and Savior, and so as we approach the twelve days of Christmas I'm going to happily wish people "Merry Christmas!" because I think that something like the Son of God coming down to earth as an infant human for the sake of growing, living, and dying for the forgiveness of our sins is something worth celebrating and sharing. Maybe you aren't Christian, maybe you don't believe any of that stuff I just said. If you don't we clearly have a pretty major disagreement, but I can respect that. Despite what some people might think, I am not trying to shove my religious beliefs down the throats of every atheist, Jewish, and Islamic person in the world. However, neither am I on a crusade to keep the Christ in CHRISTmas and ensure that the whole world know that the only think worth celebrating and thinking about in the month of December is the birth of our Lord.
See, while I celebrate Christmas the way I do because I am Christian, I am not ignorant of the fact that other people celebrate the month of December for other reasons and I am not not going hold that against them. The Fourth of July isn't a religious holiday and has absolutely nothing to do with my religious beliefs, but I have no problem celebrating that occasion and wishing others a Happy Independence day. If someone from another country (Britain for example) comes to the States and I happen to see them on the 4th of July, and I wish them a Happy Fourth, I am not trying to shove my political stance and beliefs of my nation down their throats and force them to start a revolution in their country for the sake of founding a Democratic Republic. Likewise, if someone wishes me a Happy Holidays or a Happy Hanukkah, I am not going to take offense and rage at them about destroying the meaning of the Christmas season. They are celebrate their own holiday, they are celebrating their own thing and even though that thing isn't my thing, I have no reason to oppose them celebrating. If anything, I should be happy that they have a reason to celebrate! The fact that other people don't celebrate the birth of Christ in no way endangers Christmas or the fate of Christianity itself.
Instead, I will smile and be happy when someone returns my "Merry Christmas" with another "Merry Christmas" because they are someone who is sharing my own joy, but if someone wishes my a "Happy Holidays" or "Happy Hanukkah," I will return the same greeting, because I truly hope that they will enjoy their celebration as much as I will enjoy mine. These greetings are not about taking a side, or forwarding the cause of your particular religion/holiday, but about sharing each others' joy, appreciation, and celebration of the season and everything that is happening. If you are a Christian, there is no reason for you to think that people referring to Christmas as "The Holidays" is going to somehow undo Jesus's birth, and if you are an atheist you shouldn't feel like someone wishing you a "Merry Christmas" is going to result in a god appearing who will inevitably mess up your science.
Just share the spirit of community and happiness that surrounds a holiday, any holiday, and try not to make something that should be a happy occasion into a source of contention and rivalry.
Granted, I am greatly to blame for picking fights where fights aren't necessary and for overreacting to silly things, but I acknowledge that I am acting wrongly, foolishly, and pointlessly when I do that. I achieve nothing, and potentially inure quite a lot.
I think, at the heart of the problem, humanity seems to feel an urge to drift towards conflict and controversy. We aren't really content with the idea of peace on earth and goodwill toward men. I mean, we can't even get along at family holiday gatherings, how are we supposed to get along with the entire rest of the world?!?! If something of a controversial nature springs up you only have to sit back and wait for the masses to spring upon it like ravenous wolves starving for a good bit of juicy controversy. Those people on Facebook who spam their own walls with memes about the same issue over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over again almost have to be passing out with giddy excitement when something like the Duck Dynasty issue emerges. "At last!" they say "I can once again lock myself into mortal combat with the great enemy (insert political or religious affiliation here) and demonstrate my superior intelligence, wisdom, and righteousness by insulting and belittling them till the cows come home!"
Since starting college, I have a much wider variety of political and religious beliefs scattered amongst my Facebook friends. Now, when some "news worthy" event occurs, I get to see both sides of the argument begin to swell within my news feed, and the thing that really saddens me is that I see a very similar approach being taken on both of the sides. Whether or not I agree with them, it seems like everyone is intent to contribute the most shocking and antagonistic posts to their cause for the sake of seeing how people will react and baiting them into an argument. I see blog posts, I see memes, and I see comments that come out of the blue with no rational evidence supporting them that ultimately boil down to "I disagree with you and you are a complete and utter moron for having that opinion of yours."
After the Duck Dynasty controversy started spilling out all over Facebook and I hear multiple variations of the story, I went ahead and looked up what Phil actually said to cause such an uproar. I realized several things as I read the quotes from his interview. 1) Phil is not a very tactful or eloquent person, 2) some of the things he said actually did seem rather offensive 3) I agreed with his overall opinion and 4) the obsession over what he said is entirely unwarranted.
Now, I'm not gay, I'm not black, and I am not supportive of homosexuality by any stretch of the imagination, but homosexual people are still people and I can totally see how the gay community would be offended and irritated by his comments. I can also see how the black community would be fairly miffed, and it seems like his comments about slavery were pretty ignorant (although they certainly didn't seem malicious). What doesn't make sense is how violently people responded to his comments, and how violently people responded to the violent response! I get that if you're gay or you great-grandfather was an abused slave you'd have a bone to pick with Phil, but there is absolutely no reason to get the dude fired and call for his public humiliation and downfall. At the same time, if the liberals are going to go nuts and lose their heads over something as inconsequential as one man's personal opinions (one man who realistically has no power or political influence), then what do you really hope to gain by entering the battlefield guns blazing?
Sure, Phil is entirely entitled to his own personal opinion. Sure, what he said was said in a private interview in response to a question. Sure, his opposition is being hypocritical and unfair because they say just as bad things about red necks and hillbillies, but fighting fire with fire accomplishes nothing and just puts you on the same level as the people you are fighting with (same goes for you liberals).
I feel like our society, as a whole, has no concept of agreeing to disagree. I feel like everyone is under the impression that not fighting to the death for the truth will resulting that truth no longer being true, when in fact the truth is not dependent on anyone's personal opinion, regardless of how many anyones there are. If you believe that Phil's comments were those of a bigot, and that he sorely misunderstands both slavery and homosexuals, than ignore him as an ignorant and insensitive southern duck hunter and move on with your life assured by the fact that his comments can never change the truth. If you believe that Jesus Christ was both God and Man, born of the Virgin Mary for our sakes, then don't get your knickers in a knot over people celebrating other things because they can't change what Christ has done for you!
There are things worth fighting for. There are things worth dying for.
A person's holiday greeting and the personal opinions of a celebrity don't fall into either of those categories.
We all make mistakes. We all get carried away, and I do so on a daily basis. There is always the temptation to overreact and take up arms, especially for a sensitive issue, but ultimately that isn't excuse. When you are struck, turn the other cheek and rest assured that no earthly prince can ever actually harm you.
I grew up being homeschooled (and I'll never regret that), and in the homeschool community we tend to kind of look down on the publicly educated. I grew up conservative (and I remain that way), and in the conservative community we tend to look down on the liberal. I grew up Christian (and I remain that way), and in the Christian community we tend to look down on every other denomination on top of every non-Christian. I continue to hold onto the values and beliefs I grew up with, but since entering the secular university setting I have realized more that your education, your political stance, and your religious beliefs don't change the fact that you are a human being for whom Christ suffered and died upon the cross, and in a world where we are all sinful human beings wrought with the disease of death, none of us has the right to look down on anyone. All men were created equal under God, and whether or not we disagree with each other doesn't change that.
Next time someone says or does something you don't like, remember that a person's a person no matter how small and everyone deserves your respect regardless of whether or not that deserves you support and consent.
Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and God Bless.
Pax
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