Was it just me, or did Unity really almost happen?

[captain_slinky]

I'm not sure if this really happened or if it's just the rose-colored tint of nostalgia distorting my memories, but... did we almost have peace, unity, understanding and/or tolerance in the late-80's/early-90's?

I seem to remember a time, right around the time that "Kwanzaa" became a thing, where there was a huge push for everybody to celebrate (or at least acknowledge) every holiday regardless of religious affiliation. Governmental offices had a Christmas Tree AND an entire bulletin board dedicated to Hanukkah. Easter had very little to do with the commercialization of Jesus and was just a celebration of Springtime. Halloween was about costumes and the history of why we dress-up to go begging for candy. It was...

I guess I'm trying to figure out when it stopped being about all the things you CAN celebrate and started being about what you're NOT allowed to celebrate? But then I started thinking wait a minute - did we ever actually HAVE that all-inclusive celebratory era? Did that actually happen, or was that just my perception???

I remember when it all ended, even if it was just my own perspective. It was a big news item, some self-proclaimed Atheists were protesting because there was a Christmas Tree in their City Hall, which was a HUGE violation of "separation of Church and State". Having been semi-religious at the time (Catholic), I heard it repeated over and over again that these "Atheists" were actually SATANISTS bent on nothing less than THE FULL ABOLITION AND DESTRUCTION OF ALL THINGS DECENT. This was *WAR*, no doubt about it, and so The Forces Of Good HAD to fight back!

But instead of fighting back by just saying "Aww c'mon let us have our pretty little Christmas Tree", they fought back by insisting that NO ONE ELSE gets to have THEIR religious stuff up either. THIS was the big mistake! I'm sure that at least partially the intent was to just point out how ridiculous it would be to try and ban all religious observances, it became an excuse to be ever vigilant against anyone who believed something different than you. Different beliefs and observances are the *enemy*!

Did that really happen???

Comments

[dulcegomez.livejournal.com]

Was it 9/11? The attacking of our nation by a group of Muslim extremists, perhaps, stirred still waters that ran deep. The instinct to be wary/suspicious/hostile toward people who are perceived as being "different" may be lodged deeply in the DNA/human culture- stemming all the way back to when "those strange people from across the river" might come over and steal the tribe's winter food stores.
I'm not saying it's right. I'd like everyone to use their cerebellum to reason, and to learn more evolved social behavior. Sadly, that seems a tall order for some...

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

Well 9/11 certainly started the current climate of fear and hatred, but this was different... this was earlier than that. Watching sitcoms from the 80's, every Christmas Episode has a nod to the other holidays and traditions being celebrated and the big message was Unity. Then at some point it became "If I'm not allowed to celebrate MINE, then YOU can't celebrate YOURS". And even beyond that, in our "enlightened age" that we currently live in, it's more about slamming The Other Guy than about celebrating the good stuff. "Hanukkah is just a bunch of crappy presents, we Christians get REAL presents!" "Oh yeah? Well December 25th isn't even when your Jesus was really born! You guys just stole the dates and traditions of a bunch of other religions to make yours look better!"

We all love to kick back and delight in how clever we are for having torn down The Other Guy... how about we get back to just enjoying the pretty bits? Ooooh, pretty candles! Here, buddy, have a Christmas cookie!