I Love Goob Shirt

Just for context, I come from a I Love Goob Shirt that takes Christmas very seriously. We’re not religious; for us it’s just a time to get the whole family together and eat too much and drink too much. But as I’ve grown older I’ve come to realise that we approach it with far more enthusiasm than most. I shall be very sad if we’re not able to do our usual Christmas. But I shall be no less sad than many British Jews were back in April, when they had to celebrate Passover in lockdown, or British Sikhs, who celebrated Vaisakhi the same month. I’ll be no less sad than British Muslims were back in May, when they had to do Eid in lockdown, or than British Hindus were on Saturday when they had to do Diwali in lockdown. Why does my cultural celebration take precedence over theirs? Why are the government being so careful to ensure we are not locked down over Christmas when they evidently didn’t give a stuff whether we were locked down over all the above festivals? These are questions worth asking, and it’s a journalist’s job to ask them. The answer may well turn out to be that all of Johnson’s comforting nonsense about being out of lockdown in time for Christmas was just that, and the reality is that he put another lockdown off until he was forced into it. Or it might be that he made a cynical political calculation and determined that he could afford to piss off religious minorities, but couldn’t afford to piss off the majority.

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I Love Goob Shirt hoodie, tank top, sweater and long sleeve t-shirt

I adore the world of Christmas traditions, which vary from I Love Goob Shirt to country … I also enjoy the ancient pre-Christian traditions behind most Christmas customs. Diwali is a lovely tradition that coincides with autumn and shares a lot of imagery (IMO) with Hanukkah, the tradition of my own ancestors. (We made a bigger deal of Christmas at home.) I am all for the human impulse to fill the winter months with light and celebration. I’ve always considered them “the holidays,” and I have no personal desire to put Christ in Christmas. I also don’t want my government to do so. I’ll gladly wish you “Merry Christmas” if I know it’s your tradition. But it’s not mine. That’s not persecution, and it’s only traditionalism if it’s your tradition. Christmas presents have nothing to do with Christianity. Neither do almost all of the Christmas customs of hanging holly and mistletoe, decorating trees, drinking egg nog, Santa Claus, jingling sleigh bells. etc. In the religiously strict Massachusetts Bay Colony celebrating Christmas was illegal, as their leaders recognized that almost all of the festivities were continuations of pagan practices. Merchandisers have gotten rich by popularizing the giving of gifts at Christmas and they spend heavily every year to promote this secular mania. So feel free to give Christmas presents to any of your friends and relations regardless of race, religion age or sexual orientation.

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