The following tweet from Dish Network entered my Twitter stream this morning
Did you see it? O’Reilly dubbed us Patriots on The Factor last night for our new commercial!: http://bit.ly/4KW3xs
I have been a long time Dish Network subscriber and I was peeved when I saw this and watched the video. Fox’s Bill O’Reilly has been popping off about the supposed “war on Christmas” for the past several years. His argument is that too many people are using the word Holidays instead of Christmas thus degrading the traditionally Christian holiday. Personally I think this artificial controversy is ridiculous. There is no “war” on Christmas and if anything has been lost of the religious basis of the season, it was lost a long time ago mostly to over consumerism and not because of any deliberate effort.
Dish Network has the right to make any kind of commercial it wants and I’m not bothered in the least that they say Merry Christmas in the spot. But Bill O’Reilly holding them up as some kind of heroes and worse than that, Dish Network glomming onto that is what pisses me off. As I said, I’m a long time Disk Network customer and I also happen to be Jewish. While I don’t mind the spot itself, Dish Network had better watch where they step and who they choose to affiliate with. I’m sure Dish has many customers who are not Christian and I feel like they just slapped them all in the face.
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About David
That they would be proud to be hailed as heroes by Bill O’Reilly speaks volumes about what that company’s values are.
I couldn’t care less, speaking as someone who wavers between atheist and agnostic, what people say to me at this time of year. Wish me Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays, I don’t care. But don’t hold yourself, or someone else, up as a hero for saying Merry Christmas… that’s insane.
Like so many things in life, Christmas or whatever holiday you celebrate, is what you make of it. If yours is steeped in “over consumerism”, fine. Sad, but fine.
You want to wish me a Merry Christmas, cool. That’s the holiday I celebrate. You wish me a Happy Hanukkah. Thanks! I’m not offended because I’m not Jewish. You obviously celebrate Hannukah, good on you. It’s not a slap in the face.
In the same vein, I don’t wish people a Happy Hanukkah or Happy Kwanzaa or Festivus because I don’t celebrate those. I understand what you’re celebrating for some reason, but I’m not invested. It’s not a slap in the face.
Merry Christmas David!
Slap in the face language was meant to be deliberately provocative and maybe I shouldn’t have taken it that far, but I was genuinely angry about it. It’s not just if you are invested or understand what I or any one else celebrates that matters. When O’Reilly says you have to say Christmas and anything else is wrong, that’s patently offensive to me.
David,
I am glad that someone else has come forward. There are a number of posts on this subject at dbstalk.com. Not surprisingly, the overwhelming number of posters supported the company’s position. Many of my arguments on the other side have been redacted by the board’s moderators.
This latest pronouncement, as well as Justice Scalia’s astounding declaration in the Mojave cross case (http://articles.latimes.com/2009/oct/08/nation/na-court-cross8) and other similar incidents are drawing me to the regrettable conclusion that it is time for Jews to abandon America and return to Israel, the only land in the world where we are truly home.