During a panel discussion on Tuesday's NBC Today about hiring people to do Christmas chores like decorating the tree or buying gifts, the network's chief medical editor Nancy Snyderman suddenly broke into an anti-religious rant: "I don't like the religion part. I think religion is what mucks the whole thing up....I think that's what makes the holidays so stressful."
Snyderman's take-the-Christ-out-of-Christmas commentary was prompted by fellow panelist Star Jones explaining: "I focus on, honestly, the religion part of it. I really and truly do. So I can't out-source that part of it. I can send you to get my tree, but I can't help – you can't help me pray." When Snyderman launched into her attack on faith, Jones countered: "That's the only reason for me to have the holiday....We wouldn't have the holiday if it wasn't for the religion part."
Moments later, Jones was still giving Snyderman a quizzical look, causing Snyderman to react: "Look at you." Jones replied: "I'm sitting here, in my head going, 'Jesus is the reason for the season and you don't like the religious part.' Okay."
Um, ok. I'm not sure what we would even be celebrating if not for the birth of Jesus. The problem is not with "the religion part" the problem is irrational, liberal fools constantly trying to re-frame everything to suit their ideas. If you don't want to celebrate the birth of Jesus-DON'T-no one forces you to participate.
I'm not Jewish. I don't celebrate Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur but I don't try to turn those dates into days into something that suits me.
The great polemicist H. L. Mencken never celebrated Christmas and would have invited Scrooge to skip it with him. An atheist of the first water, he was public enemy #1 to the fundies. He was constantly branded antisemitic, yet his fellow editor and colleague was Jewish, and the editor and publisher of the Daily Forward his friends and correspondents. But his one hard and fast animus was his contempt for fraud. Snyderman obviously looks down on all Christians as phonies. Let her be that way. There are very few people who have only one face.
ReplyDeleteWow.
ReplyDeleteI get your point about trying to define another people's religion -- I do --- however, "irrational, liberal fools constantly trying to re-frame everything to suit their ideas."...yes, because Christians surely aren't in a constant process of trying to convert everyone, are they?
Happy....Holidays...(oh, how those words offend...except holidays comes from HOLYdays...maybe you shouldn't try to corner the market on good will towards others)
Love ya lots.