I'll be home for Christmas, Xmas, Kwanzaa, Festivus, Hanukkah...
Cheers all!
The holidays are a wonderful time of year. It's also the time of the year where those who dwell in the information ecosphere of Fox News are bombarded with the “war on Christmas.” I am aware of this because I happen to watch Fox News. I watch Fox News to understand the way that folks on the cultural right think. Not the opinion shows, mind you, which are as useless as their counterparts on the left. Just the news - which is actually better than I expected.
That's right. I'm sufficiently impressed with Fox News that I've ordered every nutritional supplement they hawk and the $9.95 plan. A few of you may look forward to some interesting holiday gifts. Better than a lump of coal.
Parody aside, I understand why Fox is popular even if I'm not down with their slant on a lot of things. The people at Fox News never talk down to their audience. Fox anchors, reporters and guests almost invariably come across as people you'd enjoy talking with yourself. And when they book liberal guests, they book good ones. Liberal commentators on Fox are generally pretty game at defending their points of view and are able to do so without coming across as unpleasant.
MSNBC and CNN, by contrast, seem to never tire of booking the most churlish conservatives they can find. It's a smart, if dishonest and intellectually lazy, strategy. It's simply a lot easier to defend partisan fantasy if you can make the other side so unlikable that most of your work gets done for you.
But the “war on Christmas” is a bridge too far. I get why Fox and the cultural right are all in on this - and they are not all wrong either. Christianity is about the only thing that a person in our society can still disrespect and not get dinged for doing so. But there is no substantial war on Christmas outside of the far left. Most people like this time of the year a lot, even if they do so for vastly different reasons.
As an atheist, the only thing that December 25th means to me at a personal level is an excuse to celebrate the winter solstice (which reasonably coincides with the actual solstice on the 21st). But the multitude of celebrations that occur near the winter solstice around the world have personal meaning to billions. Who am I to tell anyone that their version of what to celebrate is any less relevant or important than my own?
The answer is no one. So I try to respect everyone's holiday traditions as best as I can. Besides, the holidays are a lot of fun. Especially if you have kids.
I assume that holiday greetings are delivered with good intentions. I personally don't waste a second attempting to discern the variations of intent behind seasons greetings, happy holidays, merry Christmas, cheerful Kwanzaa, festive Festivus, joyful Hanukkah – whatever. Anyone who utters any holiday greeting, at least as far as I'm concerned, is trying to be pleasant. I'm all for pleasant, and I'm willing to enjoy it just about any way that it comes.
In our house the rule is to read the audience. For our religiously observant in-laws and friends it's merry Christmas. For colleagues and non-observant friends it's happy holidays. When in doubt, just deliver the greeting with a warm smile.
I know of very few people actually boorish enough to dispute a heart-felt greeting delivered with a smile. Unless they are a leftist faculty member in a college humanities program – then all bets are off.
In our house we have had a decades long tradition of recording a holiday song. This tradition started back in the 1990's, when we'd invite musician friends to come up and record a song in our studio. We'd shuttle people in and out for a few days until we got what we needed. It was always great fun – and took way more effort and care than sending out holiday cards.
As time went by and a lot of these folks left the area, the holiday song became more of a family project with occasional contributions from our friends – most of them far away. For the past few years, out of convenience, Megan and I just went into the studio and did it ourselves. It was still fun to both create and present, but some of the collaborative joy was missing.
This year we hit upon a new idea. Instead of recording a song, why not stream music performed live over the Internet? It's a bit tricky, but doable with planning. This idea became a short, live-stream concert that was not only outrageous fun (until our up past her bedtime 4-year old went off like a firecracker near the end), but spurred some future collaborations that I think will be even more fun.
So from our home to yours: https://www.youtube.com/@circleoffifthsmm. And seasons greetings, not matter how you enjoy them. My best wish for all is that I hope that you are still here this time next year.
Associated Press and Idaho Press Club-winning columnist Martin Hackworth of Pocatello is a physicist, writer and retired Idaho State University faculty member who now spends his time with family, riding bicycles and motorcycles, arranging and playing music. His writing on Substack, “Howlin' at the Moon in ii-V-I” may be found at martinhackworth.substack.com. Follow him on Twitter @MartinHackworth