There's a lot in the news today about large stores opening even before midnight this Thanksgiving for Black Friday. Walmart is opening at 10pm, Toys R Us is opening at 9pm. Many of the stores' workers are upset, as this means they will have to sleep through family celebrations if they want to keep their jobs.
To be Linus for a moment: With all this silliness of stores opening way early for Black Friday, could we maybe reflect upon what the season is all about? Making workers leave their families Thanksgiving for the sole purpose of greed is kinda evil. Like, old time definition of the word, evil. It's like the devil took out his pencil and started erasing all the nice things about Christmas and underlining all the awful things about the holiday instead.
People being lured away from spending quality time with loved ones for the sole purpose of material gain. This is textbook temptation. If ever there was an example of being tested, this is it.
I myself am Christian, but I don't mean to push religion on anyone. I speak of this in Christian terms because I assume the majority of folks celebrating the Christian holiday can be reached with these words. For my friends of other faiths, or even non faith, the hypocrisy of celebrating a humble man born in a manger who died for our sins by reveling in covetousness and greed must still shine through.
It's gross. It cheapens the holiday. Where's the magic if baby Jesus died so you could get the latest Blu-Ray player half off? Gross! That's not beautiful! That's not awe inspiring! No one is going to write Silent Night about that.
Please don't be a maniac this Thursday. Please don't charge out into the dark and the cold to embrace people shoving, honking, and snapping at each other to collect the most things. If you go along with this insanity it will only get worse.
Spend an evening with loved ones. (Or if it's just you, take a night to relax).
Commercialism has played a heavy role in Christmas for a long time now, but this year it's just DARK. If forcing workers to choose between their families or their jobs, enticing customers to choose between their families and wild materialistic indulgence, while blurring the line between right and wrong isn't fire and brimstone stuff...well, what the heck is?
It's at least a real disappointment. I haven't seen the Christmas special where the greedy, profit obsessed villain who doesn't get the point of Christmas wins yet, have you? Usually the goodness of man makes their heart three times bigger. At least, that's what the best Christmas specials focused on.
To be Linus for a moment: With all this silliness of stores opening way early for Black Friday, could we maybe reflect upon what the season is all about? Making workers leave their families Thanksgiving for the sole purpose of greed is kinda evil. Like, old time definition of the word, evil. It's like the devil took out his pencil and started erasing all the nice things about Christmas and underlining all the awful things about the holiday instead.
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| "No, I will NOT share another piece of pie with you, I HAVE TO GET TO TARGET!" |
People being lured away from spending quality time with loved ones for the sole purpose of material gain. This is textbook temptation. If ever there was an example of being tested, this is it.
I myself am Christian, but I don't mean to push religion on anyone. I speak of this in Christian terms because I assume the majority of folks celebrating the Christian holiday can be reached with these words. For my friends of other faiths, or even non faith, the hypocrisy of celebrating a humble man born in a manger who died for our sins by reveling in covetousness and greed must still shine through.
It's gross. It cheapens the holiday. Where's the magic if baby Jesus died so you could get the latest Blu-Ray player half off? Gross! That's not beautiful! That's not awe inspiring! No one is going to write Silent Night about that.
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| JESUS, WE GOT YOU THIS KILLER FLATSCREEN TV AT WALMART! |
Please don't be a maniac this Thursday. Please don't charge out into the dark and the cold to embrace people shoving, honking, and snapping at each other to collect the most things. If you go along with this insanity it will only get worse.
Spend an evening with loved ones. (Or if it's just you, take a night to relax).
Commercialism has played a heavy role in Christmas for a long time now, but this year it's just DARK. If forcing workers to choose between their families or their jobs, enticing customers to choose between their families and wild materialistic indulgence, while blurring the line between right and wrong isn't fire and brimstone stuff...well, what the heck is?
It's at least a real disappointment. I haven't seen the Christmas special where the greedy, profit obsessed villain who doesn't get the point of Christmas wins yet, have you? Usually the goodness of man makes their heart three times bigger. At least, that's what the best Christmas specials focused on.
I agree totally! I see that freakshow on Black Friday every year on the news, and I have not and will not ever participate. The fact that they were playing Christmas carols in the stores on Halloween is making the employees crazy, I know because they're all too willing to tell me. So instead of them spreading Christmas cheer, they're already complaining about how much it sucks that they have Christmas shoved down their throats even earlier than usual this year. Doesn't that really negate the whole point of playing Christmas music to begin with? I refuse to play the music until after Thanksgiving.
ReplyDeleteNot too long ago people would have been up in arms. This rabid consumerism would have been greedy, evil, and probably un-American.
ReplyDeleteNow it's the American way. Everybody identifies with the absurdly wealthy, even when they're getting screwed over by them. Keep dreaming guys, one day you too will be a billionaire asshole! =(
I wrote this to my friend Amy after she read this, and it works here too:
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you see this too, Lori and Ryan. I was moved to write this because I actually had people in my social feeds writing about the Best Buy worker petitions and saying, "They should just quit if they don't like their jobs". Like, that's what people found to get riled up about. Meanwhile this sort of thing is actual greed at work--and our society has no defenses left! :(
I don't mean to be an 85 year old lady, but we already opened stores on Sundays and holidays, we already leave stores open until ridiculous hours. We do not need to encourage shopping on what should be a family holiday to celebrate what should be a Christian holiday! TAKE A DAY OFF, PEOPLE!
You are all so right - so where are ALL your friends who think like you? Boycott the greedy firms: don't go to their superstores en masse and when they start to squeal, do it a bit more! Then... and only then... something might begin to start the pendulum swinging the other way. (And, by the way, I've not got to 85 yet - as a 71 year old I feel as strongly!!!)
ReplyDeleteHere, here!
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately this is where Christianity leads, waiting for a magic savior to return, that never does, believing in a magic pregnancy that never occurred, adopting a Jewish old testament God who was a real inhumane deity, adopting a Roman pagan feast of the Saturnalia for its Christ child mythos, weaving tales of Santa Claus to children right alongside a belief in a devil with horns and supernatural belief system both of which are scientifically untenable. Where is all that supposed to lead over the centuries other than to this? Look back to the Middle Ages - and before that to the Dark Ages. Hasn't Christianity always lead to darkness like this? But you are right in essence this is not what true Christianity is supposed to be about, is it?
ReplyDeleteMan, Anonymous, way to be a bummer.
ReplyDeleteI never get into discussions with anyone who refuses to leave a name. If someone has confidence in their words and message, they will always stand behind them with a signature.