Saturday, December 24, 2011

Merry Christmas, Buon Natale, Feliz Navidad, Kellemes Karacsonyi, Joyeux Noël, Sretan Bozice...to you all that I love and care for :) xoxo



Little Drummer Boy - Neil Diamond 

Christmas and family...it just goes together? Or does it? With all the commercialism and trappings of how Christmas is supposed to be, what do we do if we fall short for some reason. Like being alone? I just received an unexpected phone call from a friend who will be spending the holidays alone. Kind of sad, but in a lot of cases, including his own, he is okay with that. Certainly has been doing it for many years at any rate. However if you are alone and don't want to be, pop into the closest hospital or seniors residence, I bet that there are people there who are similarly alone and don't want to be. 

In a cosmopolitan area like the Greater Toronto Area, there is enough diversity that the Christmas holidays are not observed at all. There are malls, movie theaters and grocery stores that are open, and churches too. In fact the other day I noticed that that iconic symbol of Canadian culture - Tim Hortons - will be open on Christmas Day in one of those multi-cultural communities. Kinda makes me sad really, this country was founded on a principal of freedom of religion. People knew then and still know today that they will not be persecuted in Canada regardless of their religious affiliation. Unless you are a true Native American, you are an immigrant to Canada. But most of us call ourselves Canadian and appreciate the life and liberty that we are entitled to because we are Canadian. All the immigrants that landed on the shores of this great country and the vast majority of them embraced the culture and customs of the new land while at the same time sharing some of the food and traditions of their homeland. It was wonderful and exciting. You could visit Little Italy, Chinatown or the Finnish grocery store and be swept into another land without your feet leaving the ground. 

But then things began to change. The turning point in my mind is when in 1990 our federal government permitted our beloved Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Dudley Do-Right, to become decidedly un-Canadian. The uniform that the world and the country associated with the RCMP was gone in the name of Religious freedom. That opened up the flood gates to allow countless changes to the way we as Canadians viewed our selves. We were no longer a collective trying to become a cohesive unit within a diverse nation, but rather a minority trying to change the country into the one they left for a better place. If everything was so great there...go back! For in bending over backwards and changing to preserve your religious freedoms, you are trampling all over mine. Children are not allowed to have Christmas Concerts at school, stores advertise Holiday Sales and people wish Season's Greetings. It's wrong!!!

So I purposefully chose the song by Neil Diamond because he is in fact Jewish and singing and celebrating with the Christian community by offering his interpretation of several Christmas songs. This one happens to be a favourite of my mothers and I think Neil does an excellent version of it. I have absolutely no interest in converting someone from their chosen religion. I don't care if you worship trees or Buddha. To each his/her own, but to that end, I deserve the same respect. leave me alone to believe what I want and how I want. Come to Canada, stay, live and prosper but we were a great country before you came...if you don't like us the way we are....leave. You are now infringing on my rights. 

I don't know who wrote the following letter that I received in an e-mail. But it was not me and I own no part of it. I would give credit where credit was due if I knew. In it's jocularity, there is a spur of truth that really hit home with me and made me a bit sad. Either way, I hope you enjoy.

And from me to you  MERRY CHRISTMAS! 

 Have a..a... 'good one', But ONLY if you want to!

Dear Friend / Family member,

I wanted to send some sort of holiday greeting to you, but it is difficult in today's world to know
exactly what to say without offending someone. So I met with my lawyer yesterday and on his/her advice I wish to say the following:

Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non addictive, gender neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday practiced with the most enjoyable traditions of religious persuasion or secular practices of your choice with respect for the religious / secular persuasions and / or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all.

I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2012, but not without due respect for the calendar of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make our country great (not to imply that Canada is necessarily greater than any other country) and without regard to the race, creed, colour, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishee.

By accepting this greeting, you are accepting these terms: 
This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for her / him or others and is void where prohibited by law, and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher. The wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year or until the issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher.

Best Regards (without prejudice)

Name withheld (Privacy Act)




No comments:

Post a Comment