By Morf Morford

Tacoma Daily Index

It has become a tradition along with cards and Christmas trees – the annual campaign to convince us all that there is a focused and relentless “war on Christmas”.

The “war on Christmas” has become as predictable as the flood of Hallmark movies in November and December.

And, like those movies, the plot lines of the dire warnings about the “war on Christmas” are painfully redundant; the “woke” liberals, like the Grinch, in yet another favorite holiday tale, are working tirelessly to “steal” Christmas.

This year, those pesky liberals have engineered a global pandemic and, when we (most of us anyway) still, in our own socially distanced way, gathered and celebrated Christmas last year, those determined party-poopers have, in 2021, engineered a global supply chain glitch to ensure that even “good” kids would have little to look forward to under the yuletide tree.

Virtually none of this is true (Hallmark movies are, in fact formulaic).

And, in an era of controversy about Dr. Seuss, Sesame Street and of course, the king of controversy in 2021, Critical Race Theory (CRT) which, up until a year or so ago, was an arcane school of thought taught in a few graduate laws schools (as are many other schools of thought across many other academic disciplines at the graduate level) when it was “discovered” by cable news anchors, some of whom, after a year or so of unrelenting hysteria have admitted that they do not understand what it is – or what it means.

But they do know that it sells.

In our era, where everyone takes (or imagines) threats and offenses, any topic or event, or in our case, a season, becomes grist for real or imagined conspiracies.

Rage and suspicion may corrode our social fabric and disrupt our sleep – and relationships, (and do terrible things to our digestive processes) but they do raise the ratings and get people elected.

In other words, when it comes to the televised talking heads and wanna-be politicians, there is nothing better than a tantalizing fantasy – no matter how preposterous or unbelievable – in fact, a rule of thumb among politicians is that the more ridiculous, the better.

From Big Bird, to antifa, to the color of Starbucks cups, any topic, no matter how petty or imaginary, is material for even more divisiveness or confusion.

And that seems to be the intent- to confuse and divide.

And if there is anything we, as Americans, as neighbors and as citizens of the world should never cultivate or advocate, it is confusion and division.

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. – Luke 2:14

The irony though, is that this cynicism seems to reach its highest fever pitch around the holidays, you know, the time when we are to wish cheer and good will to our fellow human beings.

And this usually comes from people who (attempt to) convince themselves and a dedicated base, that they have a monopoly on what Christmas really means.

Have yourself a merry little Christmas, or not

Ginning up “culture wars” might be fun, or profitable, or get questionable people elected, but it certainly does the larger community little good.

And, from my reading at least, that certainly does not have much resonance with the songs, activities and tone of the holidays which, we are told endlessly, are to be filled with “good cheer”, generosity, peace and joy, and as one holiday song puts it “every soul feels its worth”.

The contrast between how we are told to feel and how we actually feel can be disorienting – at best.

And this dichotomy is perhaps best expressed by those who are in the profession of telling and retelling our stories; film makers and comedians.

Here are a few thoughts to keep in mind as we approach our annual confluence of holidays.

“I don’t know what to say, but it’s Christmas, and we’re all in misery.” — National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation

“There has to be at least one day of the year to remind us that we’re here for something else besides ourselves.” — Eric Sevareid

For whatever reason, November and December are the months many families and individuals feel the nudge to volunteer to help “the disadvantaged” or donate to a humanitarian cause or organization.

Apparently this is a novel thought to many, but apparently those generous spirits have forgotten that those organizations work for the whole year, and those individuals have needs after January.

“Santa Claus has the right idea. Visit people only once a year.” — Victor Borge

“Christmas is a time when you get homesick, even if you’re home.” — Carol Nelson

And, a warning to all of us in danger of losing our “Holiday spirit” – “Once you stop believing in Santa, you get underwear for Christmas.”

Whether underwear is on your list or not, we wish you the best during this holiday season.