There has been a long running stereotype that New Yorkers are heartless cynics. While this is, for the most part, untrue, it has recently turned out to be so, to some extent, for a specific matter — Christmas. We all know what Christmas here in the United States is like — holiday-themed songs played indefinitely, a sea of red, white, and green in stores and public areas, and of course the infamous rush of holiday shopping. This is especially true in New York, where “Christmas cheer” has become an overpowering, ever-present force in December. As such, many New Yorkers, and others throughout the country, are joining the “anti-Christmas” front in, if not anger or hatred, but just sheer annoyance, of the presence of Christmas in every nook and cranny of their life. But what is the “anti-Christmas” front. Here’s a breakdown:
The religious Protestants: These are people who want to move back to how Christmas used to be in America before the 20th Century. Little to the knowledge of the average Christmas celebrator, Christmas was not just discouraged by the early settlers in Massachusetts Bay Colony, it was hated by them. The Puritans, who saw Christmas as a religiously inaccurate (Christian and historical authroities both suggest that Jesus was born sometime in the spring) and overly pagan (the holiday was really a winter solstice holiday that incorporated Christian ideas into the Yule of Northern Europe and the Saturnalia of Rome, along with others) kept Christmas from really being celebrated in America until the late 19th and early-2th century. Lately, though, many ministers, churches, and individuals have been starting to reject Chritmas celebrations again (Beliefnet has an interesting article on the subject)
The anti-”consumerization”-of-Christmas crowd: This group is mainly made up of the disciples of Bill O’Reilly (”The War on Christmas”) and Reverend Billy/Billy Talen (What Would Jesus Buy?), who believe that Christmas has become overly-comemrcialized and needs to be be tuned down and revert back to its old ideas of family, community, giving, and the birth of Jesus.
The very religious non-Christians: Mainly very observant members of other religions, such as Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and others, are against the proliferation of Christmas in secular America, and wish for it to be restrained, in all forms, in the public sphere.
The atheists: While many “new atheists,” such as Richard Dawkins, do celebrate the secular parts of Christmas, they despise the religious parts, in contrast to those who are against the “consumerization” of Christmas.
The “annoyed” crowd: The recently emerging group of people who are ordinary, secular Americans who simply hate hearing Christmas songs at every Starbucks and seeing holiday decorations in every public space.
So, where do I fall? As a an observant Jew by American, and even New Yorker, standards, I don’t celebrate Christmas at all. No tree, no stockings, no festive, home-cooked meal on Christmas Eve and Day (though I do like to do a little more than eat Chinese food), and no childhood-belief in Santa Claus. Still, I sort of enjoy the Christmas atmosphere that exists in the United States, and especially New York City. Sure, the music gets a little annoying after a while, but I love seeing all the festive decorations, hearing some classic holiday songs, and walking through the city on a crisp, hopefully snowy, December day. But that isn’t even really about Christmas. Instead, it seems to be more about a general winter solstice celebration, the same kind that has existed throughout human society for thousand of years. Back then, people had solstice holidays so they could have some warmth and light in the cold, short days during this time of year. While we now have these basic needs on a 24/7 basis, holidays like Christmas are able to provide us with something else — a warm, hopeful spirit of giving, family, and celebration that can help us get through the darkest part of the year.
With that in mind, I wish you all a late Hanukkah Sameach (”Happy Hanukkah” in Hebrew), Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Yule, Io Saturnalia (”Happy Saturnalia” in Latin), and Merry Christmas on this winter solstice night.
The year is 2015. Every day, millions of Americans wake up, get dressed, and go to work. Each day they also carry in hand a newspaper, whether from a subscription or a newsstand. The paper is digital, with automatic, real-time updates from the Internet, complete with streaming text, video, and images. The newspapers experience newfound prosperity that hasn’t existed since the 1940s. Advertisers and readers flock to them, paying for subscriptions and reading in print and online, in perfect harmony. But the newspapers also are no longer what they were like even just ten years ago. Everything that’s published goes through careful screening. All articles considered to be too far left of the industry’s conservative agenda are edited or all together cut. While not always very obvious, everything in the paper is at least subtly leaning towards the political right. The newspaper content has been reduced to that of tabloid quality, with mostly celebrity gossip and very little actual news. While there are no official ties, the government and the newspapers have an agreement — keep information filtered, and everyone’s happy. Well, everyone except the rebels…
Aaron Freedman is a 16 year old who's very passionate and knowledgeable about technology and journalism. He enjoys working on his two main projects, 
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