12.23.2005
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Hyphenated Americans
Well, the holiday "message" from the President started well:
Then Mr. Bush starts wading in politically correct waters. First, he addresses Hebrew-Americans who celebrate an unbiblical (ok, uncanonical; the two Books of Maccabee are in the Apocrapha) and relatively trivial Jewish celebration.
I write "trivial" not to insult believing Jews, but to amplify on what any observant Jew knows: The two most important "holidays" are Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, and every Sabbath. Others in the top tier might be Pesach (Passover) and Succoth (Festival of Booths), which includes Simchat Torah (Joy of the Law). Hannukah? Gimme a break. Secular Jews, on the other hand, are annoyed that they can't string pretty blue and white lights to go along with the Menorah lights.
Oops. Actually, they can. In the believe it or not category, these things are for sale at finer Hallmark stores in neighborhoods with concentrations of Jews (or at least one such I visited in Rockville, Maryland). Then there's the whole megillah of giving of presents. Of course, this is just as off the mark (of the purification of the temple that marked the Maccabean revolt), as is the giving of lavish gifts to anyone other than the Holy Child. But hey, the goyim do it; we'll do it. At about the same time on the secular calendar. So there.
Hannukah greetings are sad enough, given the relative unimportance of the event it commemorates (hey, Mr. President, where was your Simchat Torah greeting? Don't know what that is, do you?). But then Mr. Bush dives into the deep end of the politically correct cesspool: kwanzaa.
The things celebrated by kwanzaa read almost like the Communist Manifesto: "unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and faith." OK, except for that last. Commies only had faith in idols such as Joe Stalin. This is the worst kind of pandering. Kwanzaa is a made-up non-holiday, celebrating collectivist political virtues. It's character can perhaps best be exemplified by the notion that the late, unlamented and unrepentant stone cold killer, Tookie Williams, was named Los Angeles' "King of Kwanzaa" (hey, I got my back my komedy k's...).
Well, there you have it, hyphenated Americans. Christian-Americans, Hebrew-Americans, African-Americans. December 25th is Christmas. The season leading up to Christmas is Advent. Period. Anything more is less.
Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel,' which means, God with us.-- Matthew 1:23President Bush then goes on, in his annual proclamation, to issue what amounts to a well-earned "thank-you" for our armed forces in harms way. I think the Christmas part of the message is close to perfect.
More than 2,000 years ago, a virgin gave birth to a Son, and the God of heaven came to Earth. Mankind had received its Savior, and to those who had dwelled in darkness, the light of hope had come. Each Christmas, we celebrate that first coming anew, and we rejoice in the knowledge that the God who came to Earth that night in Bethlehem is with us still and will remain with us forever.
Then Mr. Bush starts wading in politically correct waters. First, he addresses Hebrew-Americans who celebrate an unbiblical (ok, uncanonical; the two Books of Maccabee are in the Apocrapha) and relatively trivial Jewish celebration.
I write "trivial" not to insult believing Jews, but to amplify on what any observant Jew knows: The two most important "holidays" are Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, and every Sabbath. Others in the top tier might be Pesach (Passover) and Succoth (Festival of Booths), which includes Simchat Torah (Joy of the Law). Hannukah? Gimme a break. Secular Jews, on the other hand, are annoyed that they can't string pretty blue and white lights to go along with the Menorah lights.
Oops. Actually, they can. In the believe it or not category, these things are for sale at finer Hallmark stores in neighborhoods with concentrations of Jews (or at least one such I visited in Rockville, Maryland). Then there's the whole megillah of giving of presents. Of course, this is just as off the mark (of the purification of the temple that marked the Maccabean revolt), as is the giving of lavish gifts to anyone other than the Holy Child. But hey, the goyim do it; we'll do it. At about the same time on the secular calendar. So there.
Hannukah greetings are sad enough, given the relative unimportance of the event it commemorates (hey, Mr. President, where was your Simchat Torah greeting? Don't know what that is, do you?). But then Mr. Bush dives into the deep end of the politically correct cesspool: kwanzaa.
The things celebrated by kwanzaa read almost like the Communist Manifesto: "unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and faith." OK, except for that last. Commies only had faith in idols such as Joe Stalin. This is the worst kind of pandering. Kwanzaa is a made-up non-holiday, celebrating collectivist political virtues. It's character can perhaps best be exemplified by the notion that the late, unlamented and unrepentant stone cold killer, Tookie Williams, was named Los Angeles' "King of Kwanzaa" (hey, I got my back my komedy k's...).
Well, there you have it, hyphenated Americans. Christian-Americans, Hebrew-Americans, African-Americans. December 25th is Christmas. The season leading up to Christmas is Advent. Period. Anything more is less.
posted by Jack Rich at 12:26 PM
I was born, grew up, and went to school in the Bronx, New York -- on the wrong side of the
tracks. Got the chance to go to college, so instead of joining the NYPD (the obvious career choice at
that time and place), I became an engineer. Spent
some years designing things that go boom (or things that take things that go boom to their destinations...), principally for our military.
Also took an interesting career turn and for some years was in charge of counter-terrorism for my agency...so I learned something about guns. And when to use them.
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