The Fifth-Generation War On Christmas
American Conservative,
by
Declan Leary
Original Article
Posted By: GustoGrabber,
12/4/2021 8:55:12 AM
The day after Thanksgiving—the day after Thanksgiving—I was riding in somebody else’s car when some unholy noise started screeching from the radio. I’ve blocked the memory of exactly what it was, but suffice it to say that it was some kind of “Christmas” music of the abhorrent Mariah Carey variety. The driver, in a sadistic tone undeniably intended for yours truly, defended the move with just two words: It’s time.
I despise Christmas music. I hate it. I can’t stand it. I don’t want to listen to a single minute of it, and I certainly don’t want to listen to it starting at Thanksgiving and stretching right up to New Year’s.
Reply 1 - Posted by:
bamapreacher 12/4/2021 9:18:08 AM (No. 996649)
Churches should adopt Carey's "All I want for Christmas is you" into a kind of hymn making "you" mean Jesus. Tell people that it is in honor of Jesus, that all we want is Him. That will drive the left nuts while actually making some sense.
10 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
seamusm 12/4/2021 9:35:07 AM (No. 996674)
Hey Leary! Lighten up! Yes, you are correct that the season has been commercialized and laicized. But our hope remains as does the reason for joy in spite of the 'war'. Satan has tried for 2000 years but his ultimate destiny is already written. Our job is to frustrate him and work and pray not to join him for eternity.
16 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
BeatleJeff 12/4/2021 9:36:18 AM (No. 996677)
Wow, I'm sorry I read this article. What a miserable soul. And you thought puritanism died out with Oliver Cromwell. Truth is, there is good Christmas music and there is bad. Mariah's ubiquitous seasonal hit is quite awful, but it isn't the worst I've ever heard. That dishonor goes to The Christmas Shoes - because death and poverty is what the season is all about, right? Fortunately, SiriusXM offers a vast array of holiday channels, enabling me to find one to my liking, one free from Mariah and her ilk. Nothing beats Joy To the World and Hark the Herald Angels Sing. If you hate those kind of songs (and Mr Leary seems to imply he hates those as much as the Mariah genre), then there is something wrong with you.
17 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
red1066 12/4/2021 9:40:40 AM (No. 996680)
This year the assault started even earlier. I started hearing Christmas songs and seeing Christmas commercials at the beginning of October. We're only in the first week of December, and I'm already getting tired of some of the Christmas music, and I've found that the commercialism of the season is bothering me more and more. Even when I was young, I always found the commentary on news programs about how well businesses are doing this time of year to be odd. No other time of the year did news programs give a damn about how businesses were doing except this time of year starting with Black Friday. I also remember the whole lack of the reason for the season started to irritate me even when I was in my teens. Now it's all about the giving for me. I don't care if I get presents. I really don't need or want anything. To me, it's become all about the reason for the season.
4 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
cor-vet 12/4/2021 9:53:10 AM (No. 996689)
My daughter in law has had her 7 (seven) Christmas trees up since before Halloween. Do I think it's ridiculous, yes. Do I begrudge her the pleasure she gets from starting earlier every year, no! She's compensating for years of minimal, if any, Christmas celebrations! My son and I are betting she will be starting by the 4th of July one day. It hurts no one. The author needs to lighten up; any Christmas music, even Mariah Careys, is better than the vulgar rap crap that blasts out of some passing cars!
16 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
Cindiana 12/4/2021 10:01:11 AM (No. 996701)
Wow, I couldn't believe that Declan was serious based upon the intro to the article posted here, so I took a look. Yikes. He's completely bent out of shape. Of course the season has been commercialized. We can all agree on that. But it doesn't mean we have to abandon any of our personal beliefs and choices as to how we observe and participate.
I cherish and will always love the music that honors the reason we celebrate. But there's also plenty of room for my enjoyment of other popular/secular songs that evoke childhood memories. as well as more recent tunes that bring a smile. Sorry, but Mariah's hit is a favorite of mine for one simple reason: it makes me feel happy. I will play it many times, and it lightens my heart and brings a bounce.
No one's making you listen to it, Declan, and you should just ignore it. You sound like a real grouch.
10 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
LadyHen 12/4/2021 11:17:49 AM (No. 996796)
Oh lighten up Francis!
We always go to Momma's for Thanksgiving and we always listen to Alice's Restaurant going there and then and only then on the way home does dh allow us to listen to Christmas music and man we enjoy it!! And the tree goes up that weekend.
I am listening to some right now.
Home Free (country and really stellar acapella, many Gospel) has some fantastic Christmas tunes. Their "Mary Did You Know?" is just amazing. "Full of Cheer" is also pretty cute.
5 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
Lucky5 12/4/2021 11:22:18 AM (No. 996800)
What a Grinch. Merry Christmas everyone!
6 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
IdahoSky 12/4/2021 11:24:58 AM (No. 996805)
Leary is calling Christians back to the ancient Christian understanding of Advent.
Many modern churches don't observe Advent in any meaningful way, so the call goes unanswered.
That's Leary's point.
Many modern Christians have thrown a way a rich, spiritual season in favor of a secularized celebration.
I don't think that makes Leary a grouch or a Grinch. It just makes him a Christian who adheres to a more traditional understanding of the season.
6 people like this.
To add to another comment about Home Free, I like these guys very much, but I LOVE Pentatonix. They have a smoothness to their acapella style that Home Free doesn't have quite yet. Their Christmas music is out on video and it is just wonderful to listen to. Plenty of good stuff out there if you do a little research.
3 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
bigfatslob 12/4/2021 11:43:50 AM (No. 996820)
I made a comment about a Christmas song I dislike because as a child I thought it was dumb, The Little Drummer Boy. That's right I hate that tune I just realized some drugged out hippie must have come up with that one. Needless to say, I received grief for saying I disliked it but there is always Mariah Carey to hate with her bird song whistling voice. She could make my dog start howling. Merry Christmas and to the other group of nice people Happy Kwanza to you.
1 person likes this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
LadyHen 12/4/2021 12:13:43 PM (No. 996852)
#9 Being a member of a church with an Ancient (Eastern) Tradition of Christmas, I understand. Advent is a time of contemplative anticipation, of fasting before a great feast.
That said, you can be very joyful and sing carols and Christmas songs and enjoy the season without completely succumbing to the commercialization of the season. Many of us manage it every single year. Draining all of the joy and childhood fantasy from what is a traditional joyful season in the West is the worst kind of joyless strict puritanical nonsense that the holier than thou zealots ever came up with. If the author wishes to turn folks away from Christ and His Church, by all means be as joyless and dour as possible in the most sparkling part of the year.
The answer to the pendulum swinging wildly to the left is not swinging the pendulum completely to the right. Moderation is key.
1 person likes this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
WV.Hillbilly 12/4/2021 12:39:52 PM (No. 996878)
Lighten up, Francis.
0 people like this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
mc squared 12/4/2021 12:43:45 PM (No. 996880)
Started on Halloween in my part of FL. I'm sick of it already.
0 people like this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
SweetPea3 12/4/2021 1:17:17 PM (No. 996918)
"Oh Holy Night". Brings tears to my eyes every time I hear it.
7 people like this.
Reply 16 - Posted by:
Aubreyesque 12/4/2021 3:54:15 PM (No. 997065)
The only REAL decent Christmas songs are church hymns. There are some beautiful ones that no one sings or listens to anymore.
1 person likes this.
Reply 17 - Posted by:
Sanddollar 12/4/2021 4:08:35 PM (No. 997080)
I agree about the Little Drummer Boy song. I was walking with my dog today and hear that at a neighbor's yard who plays music from his manger scene. I thought the words to this don't fit the Biblical Christmas story. It has been my least favorite Christmas song. I like sacred and religious Christmas music but get tired of the pop music. And I must listen to it when I exercise at the gym. There is no way to avoid hearing it. At home I use my own CDs and hear the Christmas music I prefer.
0 people like this.
Reply 18 - Posted by:
udanja99 12/4/2021 8:10:06 PM (No. 997262)
I start playing Mannheim Steamroller’s Christmas CDs around December 15 and keep it up until January 6. Their version of Silent Night gives me chills and can bring me to tears.
2 people like this.
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