12.16.06
Christmas Coming or Cancelled?
Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat,
We don’t celebrate Christmas, so that’s enough of that!
Richard and Laura don’t celebrate Christmas, neither do we. We are not religious, maybe if we were we would get into the Christmas spirit, although I know you don’t have to be religious to celebrate Christmas. For many people in Britain Christmas is a celebration of greed, gluttony, and inebriation. We think this is great, if that’s what makes them happy, or should that be Merry? Maybe Christmas has always been like this, but wasn’t it once a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ? Or did that event occur sometime in May? I’m too tired for a theological debate. I am happy we are living in France because Christmas has apparently been cancelled in Britain. Here in our area of France Christmas doesn’t seem so commercial as in Britain. Although over the few years we have lived here we have noticed it getting more and more like Britain. What a shame, France will follow Britain as Britain has followed America (in too many things, which is another topic). In Britain it is not politcally correct to call ‘Christmas lights’ by that name, now they are ‘Festive lights’, you must be careful not so wish anyone a “Merry Christmas”, incase you offend ethnic monorities, you can say “Seasons Greetings”. It’s all crazy, the British press are blaming the Muslims for the demise of Christmas. I am not naive in thinking that there are not some who would like to abolish Christmas. However the majority of decent, hard working, Muslims in Britain are more than happy for others to celebrate Christmas, (aren’t they?), complete with Christmas Lights, Red Father Christmas Hats, Mince Pies, and the usual orgy of debauchery that makes a typical British Christmas. Maybe the people who feel that Chritmas is being eradicated should concern themselves less with the consumerism of it all, and remember the religious context of Christmas. I hope Christmas is always celebrated in Britain without compromise. Britain should not pander to ethnic minorities, they should appreciate and embrace living in a wonderfully culturally diverse country which allows everyone religious freedom. After all no one is forced to live in Britain. If you don’t like living in Britain ~ leave. Britain is a Christian country, The Queen, The Head of State, is a Christian. Christian beliefs, holidays, and celebrations, should and must surely come first. The majority of people in Britain identify themselves as Christian, 72% of them. But the U.K. has one of the lowest levels of public worship attendance in the world, apparently less than 8% attend any form of regular worship. This isn’t necessarily significant, I don’t think you need to go to church to be a good Christian, a building where you pray once a week doesn’t make you a better Christian than someone who chooses to worship outside of the church. The one thing we do like about Christmas in Britain is the fact that people everywhere seem to be so much nicer to each other, it’s just a shame people can’t behave like that every day of the year. Stop trying to hurt and/or kill each other, why can’t people just be nice? Considering we are Teddy Bears who are not religious, I do seem to have rambled on with all this religious stuff for longer than I intended. It’s all crap, but I won’t bother hitting delete, I need something to post today. So much for the Christmas Spirit. The only spirit we are interested in is Vodka, and Gin, and Pastis. Pastis is very popular in our local area. Absinthe was banned in France in 1915, so Pernod, and Ricard (the major producers now merged as Pernod Ricard) reformulated their drink without the banned wormwood (Artemisia absinthium) component. With a new recipe focusing on the heavier aniseed flavour from star anise, sweetness from sugar, and a lower alcohol content, Pastis was born. The most popular way to drink Pastis here is with cold spring water. We like the way the water changes the colour of the Pastis, from a dark clear yellow to a creamy milky soft yellow, it’s yummy. Right, I have a headache from staring at the computer for so long, so no Pastis for me, a lovely cup of tea will do nicely.
Cheers, and a very Happy and Merry Christmas to all of the God botherers and Heathens alike!