Each year I look forward to Christmas. A time of harmony and togetherness. The time has come around again this year. ‘Tis the season, right?
Not for radicals like Jerry Falwell. Instead of celebrating and enjoying the holiday, he is politicizing Christmas. He has started the “Friend or Foe Christmas Campaign.” Its aim is to ensure that Christmas is endorsed by our government and corporations. If it isn’t given the attention it deserves, they’ll sue. I’m pressed to think of a more ridiculous way to spend one’s holiday.
Why do does it all matter so much? Can’t they just let people enjoy the holidays in whatever fashion they please? They accomplish no great deed by polarizing Christmas. When Tim Wildmon, president of The American Family Association, was asked about people who don’t believe in Christmas, he “They should know that they are living in a predominantly Christian nation.” Did he actually say that? I don’t understand how one can just dismiss the diverse beliefs of our nation in one sweeping generalization like that.
I’d rather not talk politics though. The holidays are a rudimentary part of the year. They let people celebrate life and the coming of a new year. Most importantly, they let families share special time together. This time is sacred. Should it really matter what banner this time is spent beneath? It doesn’t matter what holiday is celebrated, only the quality of the time it sanctions.
People like Falwell make me not want to observe Christmas. They make it sound like I have some duty to celebrate Christmas. I am not a Christian, nor will I ever be. But I have always loved the Christian holiday. I love the smell of Christmas trees, the family togetherness, and the loving memories it creates. And really, that’s all I care about. The fact that its root is Christianity is of little importance to me.
The holiday of Christmas can be appreciated in three spirits. The first, religion. It is a time to appreciate God’s gifts and renew your devotions for the coming year. That’s okay, but it doesn’t work for me. The second, commercialism. Egged on by aggressive marketing from corporations, Christmas has become as much of a giant marketing bonanza as anything else. Material desires don’t work for me. The last, as a time for family. This time is rich and nurturing, like the blood of an umbilical cord. It gives families the time needed to share their love and develop the wonderful bonds needed to drudge through another year of life. This is the spirit I covet most.
Andrew has advised me to futher my education on this topic before presenting my argument, but I’ve decided that all of your responses might be the best education I can get. Plus I like to spite Andrew.
Okay, here goes. For all my life, I’ve held the Buddhist religion in the highest esteem. In fact, I always felt it would be the first place I would go to if I ever decided to seek out my spirituality. I mean, Buddhists have never once in the entire course of history started a single war, so they have to have something going for them. But in this Religion unit in my World History class, I have come to the realization that the teachings of Buddhism directly contradict many if not most of the philosophies I currently employ to govern my life. Here’s why:
Siddhartha Gautama, while sitting under the famous bodhi tree, came up with four truths of life. They are as follows:
The First Noble Truth quite clearly states: Suffering and sorrow are part of life. Everyone everywhere is constantly subject to pain and suffering.
The Second through Fourth Noble Truths go on to say that all this pain and suffering come from people’s self-centered desires, and the only possible way to escape from all this pain and suffering is to rid oneself of all these desires and spend the remainder of one’s life following the Eightfold path and seeking enlightenment. Then, finally, if you succeed, when you die, you get to escape the pain and suffering and reach a state of nirvana. However, if you fail in your quest for enlightenment, you get reincarnated and have to endure at least another entire lifetime of pain and suffering.
First of all, I find much of this counterintuitive. I mean, as soon as you figure out how to enjoy life, that’s when you get taken away from it? It seems like if you’re enjoying life, you would want to stay in it for a while longer.
Second, I don’t think pain and suffering is a problem. I think you will lead a far better life if you can just accept it, rather than wandering around with a shaved head trying to get rid of it. That’s seriously what you’re supposed to do if you’re really trying to reach enlightenment. In the last part of your life, you’re supposed to get rid of all your possesions, shave your head, and go out wandering, and eat only a grain of rice a day. That sounds like a terrible way to deal with pain if you ask me.
Personally, I don’t lead a painful enough life to have developed my own concrete priciples about dealing with pain. I know the way to get the most out the life I have been given, and those are where my philosophies are based. But the fact that I don’t lead a painful life contradicts the first noble truth. Either that or I’ve reached enlightenment, which I doubt, because I still have the occasional material desire. I don’t think that these desires can take all the blame for causing people pain, it’s natural for humans to want things, and they may or may not be the cause of their sadness.
But what about people who are oppressed? It sounds like Buddhism just tells them to not want to have equal rights as everyone else, and then they can be happy. That, whether or not it is actually what Buddhism teaches, is bullshit. People need to fight for what they believe in, that’s way more important than finding a blissfully ignorant happiness. If Buddhism tells them to just accept that they’re worse than everyone else and not want to be anything better, then I have just lost all respect I ever had for it ever. Someone, please, tell me I’m wrong!!!