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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels November 29, 2004 Majority mocking shouldn't be so tempting Rob Ashgar It's taken for granted in constitutional democracies that the needs of the few outweigh the wants of the many. But when the wants of the few outweigh the needs or wants of the many, you've got political dynamite and a short fuse on your hands. America's cultural majority has been informed over the years that it can't enslave ethnic, religious or political minorities or even jail them once in a while for kicks. With occasional nagging, it has made the necessary adjustments. But the majority has also been told in more and more cases that it's not even allowed to offend delicate souls. The company at which I serve as marketing director is about to hold its annual Christmas party. Forgive me, it's a holiday party. Actually, it's now a "Winter Ball," two degrees removed from the offensive christo-reference that allegedly made some one percent of employees stay home a couple of years ago; staffers are even busy finding new decorative colors to replace the too religiously suggestive traditional green and red. Across our nation, we are finding ways to water down the significance of the season. Scientific research suggests that the public mention of Jesus Christ does not cause cancer or even acne, yet the majority gets firmly gagged when its convictions might cause peer pressure or social awkwardness for any smaller group. If the majority complains about the mass media promoting violence and sexual irresponsibility to impressionable children, the majority is condemned as trampling the guarantee of free expression. But if they say, "Jesus is the reason for the season," they are being offensive and indecent. The de-christ-mass-ing of Christmas in the end may not really be about how one feels about religion, but about other issues. By mid-November, an easy-listening radio station in Los Angeles had already moved into holiday mode by shifting its entire 24/7 playlist to Christmas songs: contemporary ditties and jingles, classic carols and religious hymns. Is this an anomaly, a mainstream media station bent on converting Southern Californians to that old-time religion? Not exactly. This same station has popularized on-air new-age psychics who give rashes to evangelicals. This radio station realizes that, in today's culture, the carols and hymns are merely nostalgic fluffies that in no way threaten the mental boundaries of anyone who refuses to feel threatened. The content is emptied and the words are a mere hollow backdrop to the winter-season warm fuzzies. In our cynical, Jerry Springer-flavored media culture, nothing really means anything more - yet some folks still manage to take offense and manage to change how everyone else can act. How did that happen? What is the harm in Christmas? Why does it offend some sensitivities at some times but not other times? I suspect it has something to do with whether people are present who enjoy chucking turds into the punch bowl of the cultural majority. Many liberals harbor a contempt for authority and many harbor a contempt for unsophisticated people; in a democracy, the majority plays both roles and thus wins both forms of contempt. Yet tying up the majority Gulliver-style is a losing game over the long haul. It too is a losing game to say that the feelings of the minority matter infinitely and that the feelings of the majority matter not at all. There are better ways of protecting the rights of the minority without constantly shushing the majority and finally triggering a right-wing flood. So let me say that I don't care whether you have a pleasant generic holiday or a happy New Year - but let me be the first to wish you a merry Christmas season. If that offends you, just deal with it. DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams