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Political Correctness

SailSail
edited December 2006 in Everything Else
Today at work, my dad was told that he can't say "Happy Holidays" because 'holiday' is a derivative of 'holy day'.

Political correctness is bullshit.
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Comments

  • VentureJVentureJ
    edited December 2006
    Political correctness is bullshit.
    Indeed.
    Post edited by VentureJ on
  • Rob From the ArmyRob From the Army
    Today at work, my dad was told that he can't say "Happy Holidays" because 'holiday' is a derivative of 'holy day'.

    Political correctness is bullshit.
    That just does not seem possible.
  • AprecheApreche
    Political correctness is indeed bullshit. However, the first amendment clearly states that "Congress shall make no law...". You do not have free speech at work. Your bosses at work can limit your speech in the context of your employment in almost any way they wish. If your employer is a Yankees fan, they can prevent you from saying "Let's Go Mets" at work. If you are a radio DJ, your employer can dictate what you can and can not say on the radio. The worst they can do to you if you disobey is fire you, and as long as they didn't discriminate against you based on age, race, gender, etc. their are perfectly within their rights to do so.

    Your dad's company sucks, but they are within their rights to be so sucky.
  • SailSail
    My dad works in the television industry. Perhaps that has something to do with it?
  • JasonJason
    My dad works in the television industry. Perhaps that has something to do with it?
    I'm not sure where that implication is going, and I don't want to find out.
    *Squeezes his eyes shut....
  • SailSail
    My dad works in the television industry. Perhaps that has something to do with it?
    I'm not sure where that implication is going, and I don't want to find out.
    *Squeezes his eyes shut....
    No, no. I was thinking more along the lines of how politically correct one must be on TV.
  • CremlianCremlian
    The hell? A holiday may derive from a religious term but it quickly lost relevance as that, as it now means anything from "talk like a pirate day" to "Martin Luther King day" none of which have anything to do with religion.

    "remember there is a war on Christmas!" LOL...
  • HMTKSteveHMTKSteve
    When you are a kid holiday = no school!!!
    When you work holiday = no work! OR better call in sick!
    When you are a union worker holiday = work for ungodly amounts of extra money!
  • RymRym
    Heh.. I'm salaried, but I still get effective time and a half if I work a holiday. I love New York tech jobs. ^____^
  • KilarneyKilarney
    edited December 2006
    Uh... this time of year, "holiday" refers to holy days... whether it's Christmas, Hannuka, Kwanazaa, etc.

    Okay, so Kwanzaa is a made up holiday - but you get my point.
    Post edited by Kilarney on
  • AprecheApreche

    Okay, so Kwanza is a made up holiday - but you get my point.
    All holidays are made up. Kwanzaa is just a holiday that was made up more recently.
  • ThaedThaed

    Okay, so Kwanza is a made up holiday - but you get my point.
    All holidays are made up. Kwanzaa is just a holiday that was made up more recently.
    Almost every aspect of human life is affected by something we made up. Humans are apes with an exaggerated sense of self-importance.

    /goes to eat a banana.
  • RymRym
    I just ate a banana...
  • KilarneyKilarney
    edited December 2006
    All holidays are made up. Kwanzaa is just a holiday that was made up more recently.
    The difference is that Christmas and Hannuka evolved from a group's belief in a specific and meaningful historical event.

    Kwanzaa was created out of the blue by a political activist (a convicted felon who assaulted and tortured two women) as an "alternative" to Christmas. Seems somewhat different to me.

    Tony Snow wrote a great article on just how wrong Ron Karenga got it.
    Post edited by Kilarney on
  • AprecheApreche
    I want a banana.
  • AndrewAndrew
    The difference is that Christmas and Hannuka evolved from a group's belief in a specific and meaningful historical event.
    I'm pretty sure that Christmas is not based on a historical event. It derives from the ancient Roman winter festival of Saturnalia as well as other similar pagan festivals. In fact, the early church forbid the celebration of birthdays, including that of Jesus.
  • KilarneyKilarney
    edited December 2006
    I'm pretty sure that Christmas is not based on a historical event.
    Read carefully what I wrote. I said that Christmas is based on a group's belief in an historical event. That what makes it Christmas and not... well... Labor Day or something like that.

    True, Christmas was essentially adopted from pagan traditions. It is not a coincidence that it falls near the solstice. The idea was that during the darkest times, people needed some hope.

    However, while it may have roots in paganism, it celebrates the birth of Jesus the Christ. That much can't be argued.
    In fact, the early church forbid the celebration of birthdays, including that of Jesus.
    There is a logical flaw here. You are assuming that since the early church forbade the celebration of birthdays (and this is true), Christmas is therefore not a celebration of a birthday. Here is the gap: Christmas was not celebrated in the early church. The earliest Roman Catholic reference to Christmas is not found until AD 354. Christmas evolved after the celebration of Jesus the Christ's birthday became acceptable.

    So, while there are pagan roots, the holiday itself is indeed a celebration of the birth of Jesus the Christ. Surely you don't think otherwise?
    Post edited by Kilarney on
  • AndrewAndrew
    Read carefully what I wrote. I said that Christmas is based on a group'sbeliefin an historical event. That what makes it Christmas and not... well... Labor Day or something like that.
    While I don't disagree with you on this point, you really don't quite have a grasp on what I am trying to get across. Christmas as it was originally conceived was not intended to be celebrated as the birth of Christ, or rather not factually. It is pretty much accepted that Jesus was NOT born on Dec. 25 or even at some point during the winter. It is believed that he was born on the date of March 25, the same date in which he was believed to be crucified, which would give credit to the Jewish prophecies that the savior would have lived an integer number of years. Now why would anyone want to change that?

    *Steps into the time machine*
    Random Christian dude: Lets see...hmm we need more people in the church, we don't have any really big holidays...I know! We can change the birth of Jesus to the time of that really popular Winter festival. We will tell the people that they can convert to our religion and still celebrate during the winter! It's genius.
    The Doc: Great Scott Marty! We have to get out of here!

    Also, Kwanzaa was never intended to be an "alternative" to Christmas, it was intended to be a celebration of African-American heritage.
  • KilarneyKilarney
    edited December 2006
    I see what you're saying. And yes, you are right. No serious scholar believes that December 25th is when Jesus the Christ was born. So yes... there are serious flaws in the holiday. Nonetheless, it is a celebration of the birth - as logically flawed as that may be. That's all I was trying to say.
    Also, Kwanzaa was never intended to be an "alternative" to Christmas, it was intended to be a celebration of African-American heritage.
    Then somebody needs to edit the Wikipedia entry. I do suspect that it was meant to compete with Christmas, since no African culture celebrates a harvest festival in December.

    This brings me to my major beef with Kwanzaa. It's a celebration of Swahili heritage. The vast majority of slaves came from Western Africa, and were not in the least bit Swahili. Yet, since the Swahili culture has become representative of the African as "noble savage", those traditions were used.
    Post edited by Kilarney on
  • AndrewAndrew
    Then somebody needs to edit theWikipedia entry.I do suspect that it was meant to compete with Christmas, since no African culture celebrates a harvest festival in December.
    Meh, after reading into it more deeply, it's too hard to tell what Karenga originally intended Kwanzaa to be. He flips his position more than a modern-day politician.
  • AprecheApreche
    The Kwanzaa guy came to speak at RIT sometime while I was there. I didn't go see him, had better things to do.
  • KilarneyKilarney
    Read the Tony Snow article that I linked above. He's got it spot on.

    Don't get me wrong, I think the idea of celebrating African-American heritage is great. I just think that, with Kwanzaa, the execution is poor.
  • JasonJason
    I had some banana yogurt for lunch. Not strawberry-banana; just banana. Damn that was good. And no sticky peel.
  • AprecheApreche
    I had some banana yogurt for lunch. Not strawberry-banana; just banana. Damn that was good. And no sticky peel.
    Banana peels aren't sticky. What bananas are you eating? Also, strawberry-banana yogurt is the bomb. Fruit on the bottom only, thank you.
  • TheWhaleSharkTheWhaleShark
    Strawberry-banana ftw!

    I've found that I rather dislike the texture of fruit-on-the-bottom yogurt.

    On topic: PC is bullshit, etc.
  • SailSail
    For those keeping score:

    Posts about Political Correctness: 9
    ~
    Posts about Jobs and Holidays: 2
    ~
    Posts about Holidays Being Made-Up: 10
    ~
    Posts That Include The Word 'Banana': 6
  • trogdor9trogdor9
    For those keeping score:

    Posts about Political Correctness: 9
    ~
    Posts about Jobs and Holidays: 2
    ~
    Posts about Holidays Being Made-Up: 10
    ~
    Posts That Include The Word 'Banana': 6
    Meta posts about this thread: 2 as of now.
  • BrineshrimpBrineshrimp
    I want a banana.
    Allow me,

    IT'S BANANA DAY!
  • JasonJason
    Merry Banana Day, Brineshrimp. And a Happy New Avacado.
  • Loganator456Loganator456
    Gimme a banana.
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