It looks like, in keeping with the holiday spirit, and to foster ecumenical good will, Christians and Jews are about to join together to murder Persians.

I am always reminded of an Emily Litella commentary by all of the war on "the war on Christmas" stuff.

Look, we can solve this by wishing O'Reilly and all and sundry

A Merry Yule!

Those of us trained in Christian practice know all devout Christians know the truth about all of this, that Easter is their real big important holyday of joy, and December 25 is just a very nice joyous ancient celebration shared by a lot of religions and cultures, most of them not Christian.

Furthermore, except for a few really fundie Christians, Christians don't begrudge people who celebrate December 25 with merriment but instead, like that pope in the 4th century who decided it was the right thing to do, good Christians join in that celebration with good will, using it to adorate a joyous concept of the portents of the newborn baby Jesus, instead of contemplating slaughtering December 25 celebrants because they are mostly pagans.

Same goes for the Christian cranks who whine about all the gift giving and partying frenzy making it too commercial and not about baby Jesus.

To them and the war on war on Christmas folks, the rest of us should all wish the blessings of the Yule (including most notably getting and giving stuff,) saying "we are not daily beggars that beg from door to door but we are friendly neighbours whom you have seen before," and sing

"Love and joy come to you,

And to you your wassail too;

And God bless you and send you

a Happy New Year"

Genghis, extremely well written, concise, and a credit to Dagblog.

Genghis, I have no idea why the first image that came to mind was the old SNL skit where Dan Akroyd's Nixon tells John Belushi's Kissinger to pray with him: "On you knees, Jewboy!" or something like that. O'Reilly et al's annual Christmas air raid sirens are part and parcel of the fear mongering that fuels extremist social issues within the conservative movement. "Paranoia runs deep, into your heart it will creep."

Christmas of course benefits from centuries of contributions in song, poetry, iconography and other arts.  It is a highly evolved ritual.  It is a tradition that is ignorant of most ethnic and national boundaries.  I experienced it as a Roman Catholic and it would never have occurred to me to exclude anyone from the sentiment or the sentimentality of the season.  To me the most amazing quality of this tradition is the way it elevates the lowest to the highest.  The story of Bethlehem, the stable – the whole formula reverses for a moment the hierarchy of life and its obsessions.  The poorest Christmas display is as poignant and beautiful as the most ostentatious, gold-encrusted crèche presented in some monumental cathedral. 

There are endless variations on the way in which this tradition is celebrated, but if you want to get an almost lethal dose of Christmas I recommend you find a local Russian Orthodox church and attend the Christmas Eve service.  I found it unforgettable.  Here is just a small example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzK5YEVMHn4&feature=related

Merry Christmas  

In Abu Dhabi, they're still practicing up on this, haven't got the whole concept quite right yet, but like the saying goes, it's the thought that counts ?