Monday 25 December 2006

Merry Christmas

Ah, 'tis the season of PC-scare stories. Nevertheless, leafing through the cards I was receiving (and indeed absent mindedly sending), I did notice an abundance of morbidy neutral 'Season's Greetings', rather than some message which actually linked this rampant card-sending with any particular time of year. I for one think it would be a good thing if many more of us DID send correspondance to mark a plethora of seasons, but thats another story...

As a secular humanist, a corner of my soul thinks I should lament the wishing of a 'Merry Christmas'. But I don't, and in case this seems a latent tradition of my Christian upbringing, I'd welcome the wishing of the joys of any religions' festivals. What I am hardly alone in lamenting instead is the continuing collapse of our sense of 'community', an enervation I am perhaps feeling more than ever having just moved out of the familial home. The more collective joy-spreading we can engage in, the more living local communities can be sustained (hence 'merry', rather than 'happy', as much jollier word). Beliefs, moreover, whether secular or nae, are fragile indeed if they cannot call a celebration by its commonly held name, especially since the modern festival of Christmas has for many as much to do with the origin myths of a 1st century Levantine holy man as Thursday does to Thor.

So, on this day of Mona, a Merry Christmas to you all!

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