As we leave 2013 behind us we prepare to celebrate Christmas. Out come the tinsel and the glitter balls, in comes the tree and we send cards, but only to those who sent one to us last year in the spirit of Christmas. The shops are full of eager consumers, all vying to get the latest digital device and ticking off the long list of requirements from their nearest and dearest. The works Christmas party leaves its employees with a hangover and some embarrassing photographs, posted on social media sites for all to see. We stock up our cupboards with special treats, mince pies and the obligatory tin of Quality Streets from which the purple ones are first to go and the orange creams left for the late comers. This is pretty much the modus operandi of almost everyone, but amidst the frivolities those of you who are paying attention will have noticed the absence one fairly important detail: the birth of the alleged son of our Lord and our saviour, the baby Jesus, for whom this whole celebration is centred around. Unless you happen to be a gloating parent of a primary school child, the central raison d’être for Christmas will probably not have even entered your thoughts. It is also worth noting that the classical ‘nativity play’ stops just short of the point where King Herrod ruthlessly massacred ever male infant born within his kingdom, but the indoctrination has to lull its victims into a false sense of security before revealing the ‘catch 22’. The hell and damnation can be woven in at a later date, once we have allowed our children to believe in the complete omnipotent nature of ‘god’s’ existence……
Christmas, along with Easter, Valentines’ Day, Mothers’ Day and Fathers’ Day, to name but a few, is nothing more than a commercial opportunity for the multi-nationals to generate sales.
Unless you are a devout Christian, in which case you need to get with the program, and then take advantage of the time you have been off work and get drunk, but have a re-think on some of your other actions.
Your kids don’t need anymore mind-numbing computer games and why buy so much food that you’ll still be finding out of date Christmas fodder in your cupboards in July 2014……
The Alternative……
By all means buy your closest friends a token gift; hand made with thought speaks volumes. Most people would appreciate a bottle of £5 plonk and the ridiculous game of only buying for the people who bought for you last year is hardly in the spirit of Christmas. I can’t think of anything more satisfying than receiving a card explaining how you’ve donated the money that would have paid for your gift to a charity that cares for the hundreds of thousands of orphaned, displaced and starving people who are only in that position because of US and UK foreign policy. Four million, that’s 4,000,000,000 Syrians are currently in dire need of assistance for food, shelter and medical supplies. 870 million people are classed as malnourished. The displaced Palestinians are in need of help as they eek out an existence whilst the occupying Israeli forces continue to encroach on what little territory they have left despite dozens of UN resolutions against Israel who are in contravention of international law but continue to receive military assistance and hardware from the US and UK.
The majority of suffering in the ‘third world’ is as a direct result of the actions of the UK, US and the Netherlands’ historical desire to build empires. In the 19th century we killed the food supply for fun and now the only animals left can just about support safaries for the wealthy. Think of the difference your Christmas spending, which is meaningless to all but the devout practicing Christians, could make to the people of the world. I doubt whether the Prime Minister or his contemporaries will give the true meaning of Christmas even a passing thought as they rip into their presents on Christmas day. How long he can afford to keep his central heating on will not feature, nor will his electricity consumption, water bill, council tax and the endless other considerations that his minions are hard pressed to pay after the celebration of the birth of Christ. I doubt he will give a passing thought to the British troops who lost their lives needlessly in ‘the war on terror’, or to the devastated families they left behind. No, Christmas at the PMs will be all Champagne and laughter, as it will at Nick Cleggs’ and the others who are responsible for our suffering. What more could a detached upper-class Etonian under the control of the global elite wish for at Christmas……
May we all one day live in an equal secular society that makes no categorical judgement other than ‘member of the human race’, that takes only what is needed to live in a warm, sheltered, loving environment……
Make someone’s Christmas by sending your excessive, indulgent spending so they can sleep in shelter and drink clean water……
Happy Equinox for the 21st……
A Dripping Tap's Blog 