Most Aggressive "Merry Christmas" Ever.

[Red Lion]

While on campus today they had a thing where they were selling Krispy Kreme donuts and in hopes of procuring myself a free box I offered to help give them out. As is standard protocol for secular winter donut givings we were told to tell everyone "happy holidays" whenever we handed someone a box. This went pretty well until I got to one guy who bought two boxes and as soon as I said "Happy Holidays" he grabbed my hand like he was trying to give me a handshake. He leaned in so close that I could smell the menthol on his breath and as he fixed me with his steely blue eyes he hissed at me the most malicious "Merry Christmassssss...." I've ever heard in my life. I responded with a friendly "Happy Yule" which made him shake his head in disgust and angrily return the donuts before storming off. Nice Christmas spirit bro. You are a true credit to Christendom. It's all good tho, I still got my box of free donuts for helping out. 

For anyone who's not familiar with Yuletide: I'm not a Christian and all of the holiday things I do like/participate in came from  my family's Germanic pagan roots anyway so I'm just throwing out the tacked on Christian elements and going back to Yuletide. *dumps hideous nativity with disturbingly white Jesus and his fugly creeper looking wise men into the garbage* and You'd be surprised (or maybe you wouldn't since it's not really unknown that Christmas borrows a lot from European paganism) at how little difference there is. Yule ham? Check. Decorating your tree stuff with fruit and candles? Check. That one didn't change for me AT ALL (Germans tied fruit and candles to trees in honor of their god Woden). Gift giving? Check. Booze? Check. Krampus? Eeehh semi-check, modern krampus is kind of a hybrid of Christian and pagan mythology.  So to summarize I might not be any kind of actual religious but I still enjoy prominent aspects of my cultural heritage so Happy Yule everybody! 

[U-235]

3 minutes ago, Red Lion said:

While on campus today they had a thing where they were selling Krispy Kreme donuts and in hopes of procuring myself a free box I offered to help give them out. As is standard protocol for secular winter donut givings we were told to tell everyone "happy holidays" whenever we handed someone a box. This went pretty well until I got to one guy who bought two boxes and as soon as I said "Happy Holidays" he grabbed my hand like he was trying to give me a handshake. He leaned in so close that I could smell the menthol on his breath and as he fixed me with his steely blue eyes he hissed at me the most malicious "Merry Christmassssss...." I've ever heard in my life. I responded with a friendly "Happy Yule" which made him shake his head in disgust and angrily return the donuts before storming off. Nice Christmas spirit bro. You are a true credit to Christendom. It's all good tho, I still got my box of free donuts for helping out. 

For anyone who's not familiar with Yuletide: I'm not a Christian and all of the holiday things I do like/participate in came from  my family's Germanic pagan roots anyway so I'm just throwing out the tacked on Christian elements and going back to Yuletide. *dumps hideous nativity with disturbingly white Jesus and his fugly creeper looking wise men into the garbage* and You'd be surprised (or maybe you wouldn't since it's not really unknown that Christmas borrows a lot from European paganism) at how little difference there is. Yule ham? Check. Decorating your tree stuff with fruit and candles? Check. That one didn't change for me AT ALL (Germans tied fruit and candles to trees in honor of their god Woden). Gift giving? Check. Booze? Check. Krampus? Eeehh semi-check, modern krampus is kind of a hybrid of Christian and pagan mythology.  So to summarize I might not be any kind of actual religious but I still enjoy prominent aspects of my cultural heritage so Happy Yule everybody! 

I've not experienced stuff like this personally, but I know of it's existence and how people can be complete assholes like that. I'm a Christian myself and honestly I don't care what the person wishes me, but if it's out of kindness I'll gladly thank them. Be it happy holidays, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, or whatever. I usually try to stick to wishing people happy holidays unless I either A.) know the other person celebrates Christmas or B.) It's in my church. I honestly don't get why people get so pissy about it. Someone is wishing you well. Be thankful for it. 

[AshleyAshes]

Christmas is when people of all faiths come together to celebrate the birth of Santa Claus through consumerism.  Then you have those Christians, with their war on Christmas, being all 'Jesus did not mean this time of year to be a two month shopping spree on iPads and 4K Televisions!' and nagging you about putting a food trough on your front yard with a baby doll in it, because freezing babies is supposed to remind us of 'family' or something.  Pfft.

[Toshabi]

Here in California, if I say "Merry Christmas" I cause a college kid to have a mental break down and post "I am shaking violently right now I can't believe this happened" over all forms of social media.

 

Its a weird war. Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas. I find that 95% of the population, religious and non-religious alike don't care while that 5% really make it into something fierce. All I can say is whether its a happy holidays or a merry christmas, if it causes you to go into a fit of rage, you better believe I'm going to say the wrong holiday/christmas greeting to set your jimmies ablaze. And it's not to be edgy. It's to legitimately ruin people's days in 2 words. Even Toshabi needs a break from effort trolling.

[Saxon]

To be honest, I think that this whole 'pretend Christmas isn't about Christianity', business is silly, and I understand why there is a backlash against this.

I do not feel sympathy for people who are so delicate that the mention of Christianity offends them.
I am not Christian myself and my family is from Viking roots. It doesn't mean that I have to try to sanitise Christmas for everybody else and restore Christmas to the Heathen Jul; that would make no sense at all.

Christmas is when people of all faiths come together to celebrate the birth of Santa Claus through consumerism.  Then you have those Christians, with their war on Christmas, being all 'Jesus did not mean this time of year to be a two month shopping spree on iPads and 4K Televisions!' and nagging you about putting a food trough on your front yard with a baby doll in it, because freezing babies is supposed to remind us of 'family' or something.  Pfft.

Well, they're definitely right, but if Jesus wanted people to celebrate his Birthday, they would probably not celebrate it in mid-winter at all, because it is unlikely that Jesus was born then; this date was merely contrived by assuming he was conceived on the Spring Equinox. 

This assumption was made in the 3rd century.

 

[Red Lion]

39 minutes ago, U-235 said:

I've not experienced stuff like this personally, but I know of it's existence and how people can be complete assholes like that. I'm a Christian myself and honestly I don't care what the person wishes me, but if it's out of kindness I'll gladly thank them. Be it happy holidays, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, or whatever. I usually try to stick to wishing people happy holidays unless I either A.) know the other person celebrates Christmas or B.) It's in my church. I honestly don't get why people get so pissy about it. Someone is wishing you well. Be thankful for it. 

I don't actually have a beef with most Christians, nor am I bothered by Christmas as it is. I still enjoy the time of year and will wish people "Merry Christmas" even if I prefer Yule and only embrace the most secular, non-religious aspects of Christmas. Frankly, I find ill-will on either side to be unnecessary and I don't go out of my way to be a butthole. You won't hear me yelling "cultural appropriation" every time a Christian refers to mistletoe, wreaths or other non-jesus things they do during the holiday as I find that kind of behavior to be its own flavor of stupid. Weaponizing your own culture as a way to lash out at other people always strikes me as being petty. 

 

24 minutes ago, Toshabi said:

Here in California, if I say "Merry Christmas" I cause a college kid to have a mental break down and post "I am shaking violently right now I can't believe this happened" over all forms of social media.

 

Its a weird war. Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas. I find that 95% of the population, religious and non-religious alike don't care while that 5% really make it into something fierce. All I can say is whether its a happy holidays or a merry christmas, if it causes you to go into a fit of rage, you better believe I'm going to say the wrong holiday/christmas greeting to set your jimmies ablaze. And it's not to be edgy. It's to legitimately ruin people's days in 2 words. Even Toshabi needs a break from effort trolling.

That happens here too. There's also a third faction of CHRISTIANS who hate Christmas. They believe Christmas is a pagan holiday dressed like a Christian holiday purely to deceive poor innocent Christians into participating in Pagan rituals. 

20 minutes ago, Saxon said:

To be honest, I think that this whole 'pretend Christmas isn't about Christianity', business is silly, and I understand why there is a backlash against this.

I do not feel sympathy for people who are so delicate that the mention of Christianity offends them.
I am not Christian myself and my family is from Viking roots. It doesn't mean that I have to try to sanitise Christmas for everybody else and restore Christmas to the Heathen Jul; that would make no sense at all.

 

 

I can't say I disagree, CHRISTMAS, is a Christian holiday. It has pagan roots but it is a holiday that Christians celebrate and it does have uniquely Christian aspects to it. There is also a secular Christmas for non-christians. And then there are other holidays that are not Christmas that take place during the same time. I think "happy holidays" is a perfectly fine thing to say since this time of year is very diverse. 

 

I wouldn't say I'm offended by it. However, I just don't feel comfortable celebrating a blatantly Christian holiday, especially down here in the bible belt where everyone is all about putting the "jesus" back into Christmas.  (Starbucks had a plain red cup and people threw a fit because they were being secular). What I do celebrate of Christmas is purely secular (Santa Claus and what-not). I'm not against "merry christmas" either. But even as a kid I was made aware that my family's traditions didn't start out as Christian traditions, they became them when Christianity spread across Europe to and avoid persecution people had to adapt. The ardent hardcore Christian side of my family comes from my American relatives only. My family in Europe has always been a little grudging about Christianity and they told me where the traditions actually started and what they really meant. I don't celebrate either holiday religiously but Yule speaks to me more on a cultural level. 

[DrGravitas]

I prefer "Merry Chrismahanukwanzakaharayadeepa and a Festivus for the rest of us!"

Edited December 9, 2016 by DrGravitas
My keyboard had a stroke o.0

[U-235]

4 minutes ago, Red Lion said:

I don't actually have a beef with most Christians, nor am I bothered by Christmas as it is. I still enjoy the time of year and will wish people "Merry Christmas" even if I prefer Yule and only embrace the most secular, non-religious aspects of Christmas. Frankly, I find ill-will on either side to be unnecessary and I don't go out of my way to be a butthole. You won't hear me yelling "cultural appropriation" every time a Christian refers to mistletoe, wreaths or other non-jesus things they do during the holiday as I find that kind of behavior to be its own flavor of stupid. Weaponizing your own culture as a way to lash out at other people always strikes me as being petty. 

Totally feel you on that one man! It's like, my sister is atheist, my neighbor to my right is Muslim, the one to the left is Jewish (both I'm close to), my dad is catholic, my brother and mom are agnostic, and I'm protestant Christian. Everyone just needs to treat each other with respect and not get angry or offended if we wish each other a well wish, even if it's specific to our own religion. We're all just wishing for a good time / the end of fucking finals week because fuck me and my sleep schedule right? 

[Saxon]

3 minutes ago, Red Lion said:

I can't say I disagree, CHRISTMAS, is a Christian holiday. It has pagan roots but it is a holiday that Christians celebrate and it does have uniquely Christian aspects to it. There is also a secular Christmas for non-christians. And then there are other holidays that are not Christmas that take place during the same time. I think "happy holidays" is a perfectly fine thing to say since this time of year is very diverse. 

 

I wouldn't say I'm offended by it. However, I just don't feel comfortable celebrating a blatantly Christian holiday, especially down here in the bible belt where everyone is all about putting the "jesus" back into Christmas.  (Starbucks had a plain red cup and people threw a fit because they were being secular). What I do celebrate of Christmas is purely secular (Santa Claus and what-not). I'm not against "merry christmas" either. But even as a kid I was made aware that my families traditions didn't start out as Christian traditions, they became them when Christianity spread across Europe to and avoid persecution people had to adapt. The ardent hardcore Christian side of my family comes from my American relatives only. My family in Europe has always been a little grudging about Christianity and they told me where the traditions actually started and what they really meant. I don't celebrate either holiday religiously but Yule speaks to me more on a cultural level. 

I would have assumed a plain red cup would have been more in line with the Christian philosophy of simplicity and piety, and as a representation of the goblet eventually used to catch the blood at his crucifixion. *shrug* It is not as though a cup matters anyway.

I like to attend the communal prayer and songs Christmas time. Few of us in England who do it actually believe in any of it, but I feel like it reconnects me with the culture of my ancestors. I enjoy the ritualistic overtones, which are almost satanic, like drinking the symbolic blood of Christ.

 

[Red Lion]

7 minutes ago, Saxon said:

I would have assumed a plain red cup would have been more in line with the Christian philosophy of simplicity and piety, and as a representation of the goblet eventually used to catch the blood at his crucifixion. *shrug* It is not as though a cup matters anyway.

I like to attend the communal prayer and songs Christmas time. Few of us in England who do it actually believe in any of it, but I feel like it reconnects me with the culture of my ancestors. I enjoy the ritualistic overtones, which are almost satanic, like drinking the symbolic blood of Christ.

 

My own relationship with the religion is interesting.

I remember when my parents made me take communion at the age of 14. Dad made it sound like the bread and wine actually turned into flesh and blood after you swallowed it. I was a little grossed out. My dad waffles between being a hardcore southern christian and being a member of the Cherokee nation who still holds a reverence for his Native heritage. He's another who was raised with Christianity because his family was forcibly converted back in the day. Even so it's the faith he was raised with he only sticks to it out of some kind of warped sense of fear of spiritual retribution. His family's African American cousins are hardcore baptists who are downright scary with how fanatical they can be at times. 

My German family is mostly neutral, preferring to go the route of "live and let live" though they also like to keep to the old ancestral elements of their culture. They're mostly from Germany but a lot of their ancestors came directly from Norway, Denmark and Hungary. I enjoyed hearing their folk stories growing up. 

[FenrirDarkWolf]

all the thread title did was make me think of this

 

[Feelwell]

Merrrrrrry CHRISTMASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

*Slithers away*

[Gator]

what's really funny is that christmas isn't even the only holiday being celebrated this time of year.  so you either name a single specific holiday that you celebrate, or you include them all in order to cover whatever the person you're talking to may be celebrating, or you use some non-holiday-related phrase like "season" to just wish them a good winter in general.  no matter how you spin it or what phrase you use, there's no reason for christians to be offended.  none of the "other" options exist purely to exclude them or to cover up their holiday's meaning, yet they feel entitled to be the only ones getting any acknowledgement and make a point of it.

i'll take my santa claus to go, thx

[Saxon]

People who actually delight in the idea that they can ruin somebody's day whether it's because you want to take a stand for 'true christmas', for 'diverse winter holiday' or because you're actually just a happiness vampire, you do realise you are the antithesis of all things Christmas cheer?

what's really funny is that christmas isn't even the only holiday being celebrated this time of year.  so you either name a single specific holiday that you celebrate, or you include them all in order to cover whatever the person you're talking to may be celebrating, or you use some non-holiday-related phrase like "season" to just wish them a good winter in general.  no matter how you spin it or what phrase you use, there's no reason for christians to be offended.  none of the "other" options exist purely to exclude them or to cover up their holiday's meaning, yet they feel entitled to be the only ones getting any acknowledgement and make a point of it.

i'll take my santa claus to go, thx

Ehhhh, to be honest some people deliberately avoid mentioning anything to do with Christ because they want to annoy people who they think are Christians, and they find ways of making a point out of it, rather than it just being a sincere 'season's greetings and good will to all men,'.
I have read posts before by people eagerly wringing the hands at the thought of how many people they would have the pleasure of irritating.

(equally I have read posts by people on the 'other side' doing the same thing).

Because you know, that's the kind of dumb shit we should all be looking forward to at this time of year, right?

[AshleyAshes]

The real reason why major corporations prefer saying 'Happy Holidays: "We think Jews, Muslims, and really every religion should be buying chocolate and new TVs before the end of the end of the fiscal year and we feel the whole 'JESUS!' thing might turn them away from that temptation.'

I've honest to god seen Muslim families in line to see Santa Claus at the mall, I'm willing to bet you that they were not concerned about celebrating the birth of Christ for the holiday.  They were just onboard for the Canadian dream; Demanding new Lego sets and soccer balls for December 25th!'

[Saxon]

9 minutes ago, AshleyAshes said:

The real reason why major corporations prefer saying 'Happy Holidays: "We think Jews, Muslims, and really every religion should be buying chocolate and new TVs before the end of the end of the fiscal year and we feel the whole 'JESUS!' thing might turn them away from that temptation.'

I've honest to god seen Muslim families in line to see Santa Claus at the mall, I'm willing to bet you that they were not concerned about celebrating the birth of Christ for the holiday.  They were just onboard for the Canadian dream; Demanding new Lego sets and soccer balls for December 25th!'

Ha, I didn't think of that idea, actually!

[AshleyAshes]

2 hours ago, Saxon said:

Ha, I didn't think of that idea, actually!

It's because that's what the real war on Christmas is.  People, particularly on the social right think that it's about 'Taking the Christ out of Christmas by namby pamby inclusive liberals' but the Christ was taken out of Christmas by large corporations looking to sell Christmas to a larger pool of potential customers.  ...And the social right leaning individuals have largely not even noticed this happening.  They get worked up when they think that large corporations are 'Removing Jesus' when the problem, if anything, is that they sold Christmas to corporations in the first place.  They have fully embraced the rather unchristian commercialism of Christmas but I'm pretty sure there's nothing in the bible about rushing the Wal-Mart at 6am the day after Thanksgiving to get $1 USB keys for stocking stuffers and an NES Classic.  In fact, I think there's all kinds of stuff in the bible that denounces materialism...  I dunno, I never read that book, I'd have to Google it.

Me, I'm an atheist, and I am 100% onboard for a box of festive Belgian chocolates and an NES classic while we tack up colored LED lights everywhere.

[Fossa]

This season reminds mf many things, one is this:

This reminds me that the Romans were clever. They had to get rid of the Christians somehow, as they just didn't mesh with their decadent ways, and they had lions that needed feeding, so it was really a win-win. I think I would have made a good ancient Roman, so long as I had money, and was not a slave. Though I would have been a nice one, and just ate good food, drank good wine, and went to fun orgies, and didn't directly feed the lions, and not being a violent sort, I wouldn't have enjoyed seeing that at the coliseum. But being Italian, I'm reminded that this season stirs my pagan roots, more than my Christian ones; what a dowdy, anti-sex, anti-fun religion.

If the Christians who complain about there being a so called 'war' on Christmas really want a 'war', I say we bring it: we get a million people dressed as the Grinch, spike their eggnog with LSD, and let the games begin! 

[Hux]

You nerds can celebrate your retarded, inferior holidays. I, personally, will be celebrating Saturnalia.

Do you guys have a festive blowjob pit? No? I do.  I'll chill in my blowjob pit while you guys work and spend money on shit because your inferior culture doesn't really appreciate TRUE AND HONEST hedonism.

The only gifts we exchange on my version of Saturanlia are sex, food, and STDs. Not necessarily in that order.

Have an orgasmic Saturnalia and a ecstatic New Year!

[Fossa]

13 minutes ago, Hux said:

You nerds can celebrate your retarded, inferior holidays. I, personally, will be celebrating Saturnalia.

Do you guys have a festive blowjob pit? No? I do.  I'll chill in my blowjob pit while you guys work and spend money on shit because your inferior culture doesn't really appreciate TRUE AND HONEST hedonism.

The only gifts we exchange on my version of Saturanlia are sex, food, and STDs. Not necessarily in that order.

Have an orgasmic Saturnalia and a ecstatic New Year!

Exactly!

Keep Saturn In Saturnalia!

[Hux]

7 minutes ago, Fossa-Boy said:

Exactly!

Keep Saturn In Saturnalia!

Right on, fellow Roman. I'm sick of these damn atheists and monotheists telling us their deities don't like my sexy orgy gods. Jews, Zoroastrians, those Germanic Odinists, and now these weird guys who worship a zombie Jew on a stick that call themselves Christians. Pfft.

I also noticed these weird, fat, and greasy young men who have some religion called "atheism". They pray at holy places called "conventions". They grow strange beards from their necks and wear strange curved hats that they call "fedoras". I think they worship a god called either "Logic" or "Reason" so that they may be "enlightened". Their prophet would appear to be be an effeminate, elderly British man known as "Richard Dawkins". They would seem to be an awfully contemptible lot.

What's next? A group of genocidal Arabs who worship a patriarchal moon god?

[LadyRadarEars]

3 minutes ago, Hux said:

Right on, fellow Roman. I'm sick of these damn atheists and monotheists telling us their deities don't like my sexy orgy gods. Jews, Zoroastrians, those Germanic Odinists, and now these weird guys who worship a zombie Jew on a stick that call themselves Christians. Pfft.

I also noticed these weird, fat, and greasy young men who have some religion called "atheism". They pray at holy places called "conventions". They grow strange beards from their necks and wear strange curved hats that they call "fedoras". I think they worship a god called either "Logic" or "Reason" so that they may be "enlightened". Their prophet would appear to be be an effeminate, elderly British man known as "Richard Dawkins". They would seem to be an awfully contemptible lot.

What's next? A group of genocidal Arabs who worship a patriarchal moon god?

Well with all of those, at least you'll never be without holiday lighting when you make the bonfires!

[Fossa]

5 minutes ago, Hux said:

...a zombie Jew on a stick...

Though this could make a tasty frozen ice-cream treat, sold in your grocer's freezer, for Halloween, and other occasions, when you feel like consuming one.

[Hux]

8 minutes ago, Fossa-Boy said:

Though this could make a tasty frozen ice-cream treat, sold in your grocer's freezer, for Halloween, and other occasions, when you feel like consuming one.

I believe the Christians practice something eerily similar to this. A sort of symbolic cannibalism at which they ritualistically consume the flesh and blood of their zombified Savior.

Don't even get me started on the Jews and those Germanics. Jews cutting the tips of their dicks off for their god. Germans raping, killing, and eating female horses in order to be blessed before battle so they can fell the Gauls over the next hill.

They will meet their gods at the tip of my gladius! Our spears shall be drunk with their blood! Hail Rome!

[Gator]

9 hours ago, Saxon said:

People who actually delight in the idea that they can ruin somebody's day whether it's because you want to take a stand for 'true christmas', for 'diverse winter holiday' or because you're actually just a happiness vampire, you do realise you are the antithesis of all things Christmas cheer?

Ehhhh, to be honest some people deliberately avoid mentioning anything to do with Christ because they want to annoy people who they think are Christians, and they find ways of making a point out of it, rather than it just being a sincere 'season's greetings and good will to all men,'.
I have read posts before by people eagerly wringing the hands at the thought of how many people they would have the pleasure of irritating.

(equally I have read posts by people on the 'other side' doing the same thing).

Because you know, that's the kind of dumb shit we should all be looking forward to at this time of year, right?

that's hilarious, in a jerky "you're a bag of dickbutts" kinda way. 

 

but i like my christmaholiyuleseason to be warm and fuzzy, so happiness vampires can get rekt imho

[Mikazuki Marazhu]

 

[Gator]

...and then the guy started punching the santa claus.

[ArielMT]

On 12/9/2016 at 4:40 PM, Rhíulchabán said:

This is the reason I don't give any indication to folks I'm a Pagan until I've known them for a while, there are some folks who would have a similar reaction (or worse). I generally just say I celebrate Christmas anyway since I celebrate it with my family who do, even if the religious significance means nothing to me (as long as I get to eat people's food, I don't really care).

Mostly the same for me.  I just celebrate my yuletide holiday 3-4 days late with my family who celebrates theirs.

 

7 minutes ago, Mikazuki Marazhu said:

 

Prager University is Dennis Prager's personal conservative opinion blog disguised as a learning institution.

About this video, I couldn't watch another second after Dennis said, "the left believes in secularism as fervently as religious Jews and Christians believe in the Bible."  This ignores, first, that the Bible is not a sacred text in Judaism, despite a partial overlap between Jewish and Christian canons within its pages, and second, the basic numerical fact that the American left must include a non-trivial number of devout Christians.

[Joel]

Just wish everyone a happy christmahanakwanzika 

[Mikazuki Marazhu]

23 minutes ago, ArielMT said:

Prager University is Dennis Prager's personal conservative opinion blog disguised as a learning institution.

Prager University is just one of few conservative media source in contrast to countless liberal media like "The Young Turks" 

And we can't be biased.. right...

[Saxon]

39 minutes ago, ArielMT said:

Prager University is Dennis Prager's personal conservative opinion blog disguised as a learning institution.

About this video, I couldn't watch another second after Dennis said, "the left believes in secularism as fervently as religious Jews and Christians believe in the Bible."  This ignores, first, that the Bible is not a sacred text in Judaism, despite a partial overlap between Jewish and Christian canons within its pages, and second, the basic numerical fact that the American left must include a non-trivial number of devout Christians.

To be fair, he later explains that he is a Jew himself, but your points are still correct.

I agree, that the pretend university of Prager induces cringe; why should they need to capitalise on the authority lent to them by deceiving the uninitiated into believing they are a University-run channel? It makes them look like con men.

I think that acting as though phrases like 'Merry Christmas' force religion on people is silly too, but as you pointed out, the presenter has made a poor argument for his case, because it included a litany of broad-brush mistakes that didn't have much to do with the point of the argument, but do have a lot to do with having a good-old-moan about those pesky liberals.

[ArielMT]

5 minutes ago, Saxon said:

To be fair, he later explains that he is a Jew himself, but your points are still correct.

I agree, that the pretend university of Prager induces cringe; why should they need to capitalise on the authority lent to them by deceiving the uninitiated into believing they are a University-run channel? It makes them look like con men.

Exactly.  Universities are for presenting and exploring facts and deriving opinions from them, not for presenting opinions as fact, and despite my own opinions conflicting with theirs (his?), the faux-collegiate atmosphere is literally the only complaint I have against it.

5 minutes ago, Saxon said:

I think that acting as though phrases like 'Merry Christmas' force religion on people is silly too, but as you pointed out, the presenter has made a poor argument for his case, because it included a litany of broad-brush mistakes that didn't have much to do with the point of the argument, but do have a lot to do with having a good-old-moan about those pesky liberals.

Also, my daily commute takes me between a mostly conservative village and moderately liberal city.  I don't sense any tensions when clerks and store hands in the city say "Merry Christmas," and I likewise don't sense any tensions when clerks and store hands in the village say "Happy Holidays," despite both being somewhat rare enough to go against their respective stereotypes.

[Jtrekkie]

53 minutes ago, ArielMT said:

Mostly the same for me.  I just celebrate my yuletide holiday 3-4 days late with my family who celebrates theirs.

 

Prager University is Dennis Prager's personal conservative opinion blog disguised as a learning institution.

About this video, I couldn't watch another second after Dennis said, "the left believes in secularism as fervently as religious Jews and Christians believe in the Bible."  This ignores, first, that the Bible is not a sacred text in Judaism, despite a partial overlap between Jewish and Christian canons within its pages, and second, the basic numerical fact that the American left must include a non-trivial number of devout Christians.

 

The Bible consists of what we call the New Testament, (which is some history of Jesus, Apostles, and the first century church, as well as a collection of letters to various churches or individuals.) in addition to the Tanakh or Hebrew Bible, which consists of the Torah, the prophets, and a collection of history, poetry, proverbs and philosophy known simply as "writings" or the Hagiographa (The commentaries are not included.) Using simply the title "Bible" is not entirely correct, but neither is it incorrect, and either way it is not important. On your other point, the constitution of the left isn't the subject, it is the philosophy of the left. The past two centuries have shown a non-trivial number of anti-industrialists, but the spirit of the times have nonetheless been defined by industry.

[Red Lion]

like Toshabi pointed out, in most cases, there's a hardcore 5% who are total dicks about being either religious or secular.

Around here in rural NC tho, that 5% goes up to about 25% with people saying things like "Christmas needs to have Christ back in it", "If your Christmas isn't Christian then don't call it 'Christmas'," and the favorite passive aggressive "people can celebrate whatever they want in the privacy of their own homes but they should let us have our Christmas." I've seen people harass cashiers for saying "happy holidays" and they treat any attempt at being secular like it's an attack. The hissy fits I've seen some people throw over the mere mention of a non-christian Christmas have done nothing to help. This of course has had the opposite effect of what they want, since it's just made the other side push back even harder. Dickishness breeds more dickishness. That's just how it goes.

[Mikazuki Marazhu]

1 hour ago, ArielMT said:

Exactly.  Universities are for presenting and exploring facts and deriving opinions from them, not for presenting opinions as fact, and despite my own opinions conflicting with theirs (his?), the faux-collegiate atmosphere is literally the only complaint I have against it.

I can totally agree with you, my college professor tells me all white men are racists, mysogenist and biggots.

Yup I agree these are "facts"

[Toshabi]

1 hour ago, Mikazuki Marazhu said:

I can totally agree with you, my college professor tells me all white men are racists, mysogenist and biggots.

Yup I agree these are "facts"

Well they are don't you know?

[Mikazuki Marazhu]

5 minutes ago, Toshabi said:

Well they are don't you know?

 

[Toshabi]

44 minutes ago, Mikazuki Marazhu said:

 

Racism: They are white and are therefore a representation and embodiment of oppression of other races and minority figures. Repent all ye white people!

mysogenist: I know some white guys and they are gay. By doing so, they are actively stating that they are clearly too good for the opposite gender. They are, therefore, denying women from entering their life and are literally kicking them out of the family equation. 

Biggots: When I tell them point 1 and 2, they say that isn't the fact. When it actually is. Fucking closed minded bitch biggots. 

 

 

Toshabi just proved all white people are Racist, Mysogenist and Biggots. 

 

 

Source: Toshabi took classes at a California State University and learned this in his Computer Science class instead of Computer Science. 

[WileyWarWeasel]

On 10/12/2016 at 4:13 PM, AshleyAshes said:

It's because that's what the real war on Christmas is.  People, particularly on the social right think that it's about 'Taking the Christ out of Christmas by namby pamby inclusive liberals' but the Christ was taken out of Christmas by large corporations looking to sell Christmas to a larger pool of potential customers.  ...And the social right leaning individuals have largely not even noticed this happening.  They get worked up when they think that large corporations are 'Removing Jesus' when the problem, if anything, is that they sold Christmas to corporations in the first place.  They have fully embraced the rather unchristian commercialism of Christmas but I'm pretty sure there's nothing in the bible about rushing the Wal-Mart at 6am the day after Thanksgiving to get $1 USB keys for stocking stuffers and an NES Classic.  In fact, I think there's all kinds of stuff in the bible that denounces materialism...  I dunno, I never read that book, I'd have to Google it.

Me, I'm an atheist, and I am 100% onboard for a box of festive Belgian chocolates and an NES classic while we tack up colored LED lights everywhere.

Who are you to stand in the way of business?

;V

[kazooie]

when did the rhetoric that universities were left-wing propaganda machines start becoming popular, anyway? it feels like a more recent trend in the media

[Mikazuki Marazhu]

9 minutes ago, kazooie said:

when did the rhetoric that universities were left-wing propaganda machines start becoming popular, anyway? it feels like a more recent trend in the media

I'd say it has always been. It just became worst that left wing media cant turn a blind eye on

[kazooie]

2 hours ago, Mikazuki Marazhu said:

I'd say it has always been. It just became worst that left wing media cant turn a blind eye on

as someone who works data analysis with the core team of a left-wing federal party, I can safely assure you that very few mainstream media outlets are sympathetic to us. at best, at least in Canada, we have sympathizers in garbage like NOW magazine. socialist-types in general aren't great at making friends with the few corporate tycoons who own most media coporations

[Saxon]

11 hours ago, Mikazuki Marazhu said:

I can totally agree with you, my college professor tells me all white men are racists, mysogenist and biggots.

Yup I agree these are "facts"

...So you are at college level education and they haven't taught you how to spell misogynist or bigot? ._. Okay then.
Although I am sure there are some nutters out there who hold professorships, I suspect that the more likely option is that you have interpreted your Professor's claims to be more extreme than they really are.
For example you might find a college professor who is convinced that all people hold at least some implicit racial biases. This is probably true, due to observed phenomena such as the 'cross race effect', but is very different from the claim that all white men are racists.

Anyway, I have never personally experienced any professor telling me anything like this at University (Perhaps because I only take science courses).
I did find one lecturer who privately confided to me that he believed in a right-wing conspiracy theory that Jo Cox's assassination was a leftist plot.

 

(For those of you who do not know, Jo Cox was a member of Parliament who campaigned to for the UK to stay in Europe, and she was shot and stabbed to death by a member of the public who claimed she was a traitor.)

That lecturer though is...pretty friggin' weird as a person, and he is employed because he is an excellent mathematician.

Mostly though, when I find any authority at my University which is trying to proliferate their politically extreme positions, they are student-run bodies populated by champagne socialists who do not know the price of milk.

when did the rhetoric that universities were left-wing propaganda machines start becoming popular, anyway? it feels like a more recent trend in the media

There is definitely some truth in it. For example it is difficult to deny that universities like Harvard are not pandering when they remove words like 'Master' from their academic lexicon, even though the etymology of this word in its academic context has no relation to slavery what so ever.

But I think that the significance of left wing contingents in Universities is grossly blown out of context by the media; I suspect it is because if you publish an article that has a good-old-moan about the sorry state of education, that you will be able to sell more papers to the sorts of customers who want to be angry about literally everything.

 

 

[Frig]

It's Merry Christmas cause Christmas is about presents and buying me everything >: c! I better get everything I want this year!!!

[Saxon]

4 minutes ago, Frig said:

It's Merry Christmas cause Christmas is about presents and buying me everything >: c! I better get everything I want this year!!!

Merry Frigmas.

[Zeke]

On December 9, 2016 at 1:09 PM, Toshabi said:

Here in California, if I say "Merry Christmas" I cause a college kid to have a mental break down and post "I am shaking violently right now I can't believe this happened" over all forms of social media.

 

If I say Happy Holidays, I get butt fucked by Jesus and the bible from some angry Christian people. Mentioning Krampus is the equivalent of saying Satan.

Come to the EC and you do not have to worry about the far left-Dems getting bent out of shape.

[Saxon]

Why does mentioning Krampus get you grief?

 

[Zeke]

1 hour ago, Saxon said:

Why does mentioning Krampus get you grief?

 

Apparently my Schnapps drinking SM husband is satan. 

[Saxon]

3 minutes ago, Zeke said:

/snip/

That lady sounds like she enjoys kramping people's styles.

 

[Zeke]

Just now, Saxon said:

That lady sounds like she enjoys kramping people's styles.

 

In the Corner. Now.