There IS a war on Christmas, and it's very real. But it's not what you think.
Imagine you're a Christian, maybe 1000 years ago. If we've even begun to scratch the surface of what we think of today as scientific understanding and certainty, we've really only done just that. Scratched the surface. But also imagine that you...the Christian human, is also (from a genetic perspective) just one of a number of offshoots of the brand "Monkey" in existence today. Admittedly the most advanced intellectual monkey, but monkey you are my Christian friend. Even if the religious dogma tries to convince you otherwise, but that's okay. It has to be this way, trust me. Anyway, imagine you're this Christian (monkey) with a curiosity for understanding the world around you. You know, that innate thing all humans seem to be born with. A passion to learn and discover. But there is no lens of science that you have access to (born too early, luck of the draw) so you do the best you can with the tools you have. One BIG tool you have is your faith and your belief that Jesus is your savior and as such a beacon so true and steady in your life, that no matter what happens, you'll always have THAT ONE THING. And because everyone around you is in the same boat, limited by the lack of scientific lens access, the collective minds come together and form a sphere of influence that becomes an echo chamber for like minded thought. I mean, who wouldn't want to feel like their thoughts and opinions mattered? And what better way to validate that reward system than to have others agree with you? To have others resonate with that central being of you. And it will, across the centuries.
Now I want you to imagine the passage of the last 1000 years as the rapid ripping of the mindset of that Christian (monkey) through time, and how that would feel. Yanking them through the metaphorical looking glass of science, and every impact is a threat to the central belief...THAT ONE THING...is under fire. Could you blame that person for feeling like Christianity was being attacked? That on some level, hearing "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas" is just another bullet being fired in that war...on THAT ONE THING?
Not to excuse away the backlash that happens, as it will. We are all monkeys remember? We have conflict, and there are ways to resolve it. So if you shake a persons core, they're likely going to shake back okay? But there is a perspective to it that at least demands empathy. To some, myself included, it can be easy to label these people as misguided. But what is that if not an expression of our monkey brain attacking outsiders? No matter how irrational it may seem to us, we owe it to ourselves to remember that they can, and will, with every ounce of determination equal to that which you bring, see you as equally irrational. And if you can make that concession. That your enemy is no more your enemy because they hold different beliefs, than they are because they are made up of different atoms than you are. If you can make that leap...
You'll realize that through their eyes, and the eyes of THAT ONE THING there is a war. And it's not against just the unbelievers, and the perceived assault on their faith, but against the ever changing structure of the world revealed by science.
That my friends, is the War on Christmas.
As seen through the eyes of an atheist.
Trying to imagine why a Christian might feel like there is a War on Christmas.
Afterthought:
In rereading this, I hope that at least one person I know who is an atheist read this and when I say "Imagine you're a Christian from 1000 year ago" they actually tried to square the atheist-to-believer circle. And equally, I hope that a Christian friend of mine reads this, and the only circle they have to square is "holy shit, it's 1000 years ago". The hope here is that they each read the exact same words, arrive at the exact same place <something like love is everything> and yet they are experiencing a fundamentally different reality, but in the same place. Like standing back to back, and each only seeing half the universe and so to them, their half is "the light", and the other is "dark". But it's only relative to perspective. That would be an amazing journey to behold.
Imagine you're a Christian, maybe 1000 years ago. If we've even begun to scratch the surface of what we think of today as scientific understanding and certainty, we've really only done just that. Scratched the surface. But also imagine that you...the Christian human, is also (from a genetic perspective) just one of a number of offshoots of the brand "Monkey" in existence today. Admittedly the most advanced intellectual monkey, but monkey you are my Christian friend. Even if the religious dogma tries to convince you otherwise, but that's okay. It has to be this way, trust me. Anyway, imagine you're this Christian (monkey) with a curiosity for understanding the world around you. You know, that innate thing all humans seem to be born with. A passion to learn and discover. But there is no lens of science that you have access to (born too early, luck of the draw) so you do the best you can with the tools you have. One BIG tool you have is your faith and your belief that Jesus is your savior and as such a beacon so true and steady in your life, that no matter what happens, you'll always have THAT ONE THING. And because everyone around you is in the same boat, limited by the lack of scientific lens access, the collective minds come together and form a sphere of influence that becomes an echo chamber for like minded thought. I mean, who wouldn't want to feel like their thoughts and opinions mattered? And what better way to validate that reward system than to have others agree with you? To have others resonate with that central being of you. And it will, across the centuries.
Now I want you to imagine the passage of the last 1000 years as the rapid ripping of the mindset of that Christian (monkey) through time, and how that would feel. Yanking them through the metaphorical looking glass of science, and every impact is a threat to the central belief...THAT ONE THING...is under fire. Could you blame that person for feeling like Christianity was being attacked? That on some level, hearing "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas" is just another bullet being fired in that war...on THAT ONE THING?
Not to excuse away the backlash that happens, as it will. We are all monkeys remember? We have conflict, and there are ways to resolve it. So if you shake a persons core, they're likely going to shake back okay? But there is a perspective to it that at least demands empathy. To some, myself included, it can be easy to label these people as misguided. But what is that if not an expression of our monkey brain attacking outsiders? No matter how irrational it may seem to us, we owe it to ourselves to remember that they can, and will, with every ounce of determination equal to that which you bring, see you as equally irrational. And if you can make that concession. That your enemy is no more your enemy because they hold different beliefs, than they are because they are made up of different atoms than you are. If you can make that leap...
You'll realize that through their eyes, and the eyes of THAT ONE THING there is a war. And it's not against just the unbelievers, and the perceived assault on their faith, but against the ever changing structure of the world revealed by science.
That my friends, is the War on Christmas.
As seen through the eyes of an atheist.
Trying to imagine why a Christian might feel like there is a War on Christmas.
Afterthought:
In rereading this, I hope that at least one person I know who is an atheist read this and when I say "Imagine you're a Christian from 1000 year ago" they actually tried to square the atheist-to-believer circle. And equally, I hope that a Christian friend of mine reads this, and the only circle they have to square is "holy shit, it's 1000 years ago". The hope here is that they each read the exact same words, arrive at the exact same place <something like love is everything> and yet they are experiencing a fundamentally different reality, but in the same place. Like standing back to back, and each only seeing half the universe and so to them, their half is "the light", and the other is "dark". But it's only relative to perspective. That would be an amazing journey to behold.
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