[BadKosh]

With all the revisionist 'History' its a wonder anyone knows what the 4th of July signifies.

[Snow-i]

Originally Posted by besson3c 

Snow: I agree with everything you said, and I went too far in making implicit (or explicit, whichever it was) claims that people cannot recognize the holiday as originally designed in the midst of all of the partying. However, there is also the issue of people's comfort levels and the most appropriate sort of "default" backdrop. For instance, when you are hosting a social gathering or something you try to make the majority of the people have been invited feel comfortable, right? Is this much different than a public invitation to observe or celebrate something in a public sort of setting?

If not, does one have to factor in what is the most appropriate to the largest number of people? If you served in the military or had some other reason to be really emotional about paying respects, would you possibly be offended at Memorial Day being "taken over" by Bud Lite and 80s rock or something?

How do we decide on what these defaults should be? Are they as we believe the holiday was originally designed, or whatever is the most palatable? You could ask the same about Christmas...

These aren't leading questions, I promise you. I was a little taken aback by what I concerned the tastelessness of this year's 4th of July thing I went to, but I don't have any claim to righteousness here.

I don't think we as a society get to decide what the universal defaults will be. Each individual must decide that for when they host their friends and loved ones...the rest will work itself out over time.

And to answer your question, i wouldn't be offended if the holiday was "taken over" by something for certain people. As i outlined before, its their ignorance, not mine....and not my place on how to correct them.

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by Snow-i 

I don't think we as a society get to decide what the universal defaults will be. Each individual must decide that for when they host their friends and loved ones...the rest will work itself out over time.

And to answer your question, i wouldn't be offended if the holiday was "taken over" by something for certain people. As i outlined before, its their ignorance, not mine....and not my place on how to correct them.

As a Christian would you be comfortable with Christmas being taken over completely by Santa Claus and presents by society as a whole, hypothetically speaking?

[Snow-i]

Comfortable? Perhaps not.

Is it my place to judge you, or make you celebrate christmas the way I want you to? Absolutely not. Its not my place, your place, or the government's place to tell you how to celebrate the holiday.

Live and let live, as Uncle put it.

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by Snow-i 

Comfortable? Perhaps not.

Is it my place to judge you, or make you celebrate christmas the way I want you to? Absolutely not. Its not my place, your place, or the government's place to tell you how to celebrate the holiday.

Live and let live, as Uncle put it.

If you are uncomfortable with the choices being made about public activities, should you speak up or just choose to abstain from them and let apathy rule?

Just playing devil's advocate. I think there is probably a balance to strike in here somehow, someway.

[ghporter]

I'm uncomfortable with people taking advantage of the benefits that were won by the people whose acts we celebrate with Independence Day, Veterans Day and the like. And I'm uncomfortable with the fact that many people just don't see a problem with ignoring history (and geography) so much that they can't comprehend the importance and value of certain events. How can you actually "celebrate" anything if you are completely clueless about it? Kids get days off from school and stores have sales, but most people just don't think about what these holidays are about-whether they just ignore them or are actually unaware of the reason behind the celebrations.

That it is difficult to miss the religious significance behind Christmas is only slightly helpful, as many who push "Keep Christ in Christmas" miss important subtleties. For example, "Xmas" is not any sort of slight against Christianity, but rather an adoption of the early Church's use of the Greek letter "chi" ("X") to stand for Christ. And these folks completely ignore the older mid-winter celebrations the Church aligned the official celebration of Christ's birth to correspond with, missing the fact that they too celebrated hope and new life, thus missing the importance of Christ's birth as a symbol of hope.

I'm not suggesting that everyone get all dour and dreary on Veterans Day, but instead I'd like to see fewer "buy our crappy beds!" sales and more "help out a veteran today!" activities. Awareness and acknowledgment are important to appreciating what you're celebrating, and I think having a reason to celebrate makes the celebration even better.