[lbo-talk] Talk about a floating signifier...

[B.]

Was having a sort of related discussion about this,
about how many secular and pagan ideas are embedded
into Xmas that most Americans actually seem to prefer
to the straight-up religious-nut ideas. For ex.,
flying reindeer, a palace at the North Pole owned by a
fat guy in a red suit, helper elves, boughs of holly,
etc,. -- all the stuff that is not in the Bible and
would have to be wiped out to totally "re-claim"
Christmas, itself obviously a pagan holiday originally
as everyone on here knows.

And reading about foreign nations' Christmas
traditions is interesting. Like Iceland. On the 8th
day of Xmas the dead are said to rise from their
graves and seals take human form. Elves also try to
enter your house, which you can ward off with spells. 
I'd like to transplant O'Reilly into that nation and
have him argue that folks who refuse to admit the dead
are rising on the 8th day of Christmas are hostile to 
the Judeo-Christian origins of it, or something.

-B.

joanna wrote:


> 'Some of the nation's most prominent megachurches
have decided not to hold worship services on the
Sunday that coincides with Christmas Day, a move that
is generating controversy among evangelical Christians
at a time when many conservative groups are battling
to "put the Christ back in Christmas."'
>
>
>
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/09/national/09church.html?hp&ex=1134190800&en=509baeb5c8085b80&ei=5094&partner=homepage