I'm not completely sure why. Perhaps it's the obnoxious tendency for politically correct people to mention "Kwanzaa" in the same breath as millennia-old religious celebrations. Or perhaps it's the secular, socialist and racially-exclusive nature of the thing. Or maybe it's Kwanzaa's "history" as the creation of a black nationalist activist and sometimes felon.
Whatever.
Then it occured to me... since Kwanzaa is not religious, the free-exercise clause doesn't apply. Now, some will argue that the pesky "free-speech" clause might protect it, but given its message of racial exclusion, can't we just ban it as "hate speech?"
Posted by Kevin Murphy at January 4, 2006 10:58 AM"[kwanzaa's] origins are in the first harvest celebrations of Africa from which it takes its name. The name Kwanzaa is derived from the phrase "matunda ya kwanza" which means "first fruits" in Swahili, a Pan-African language which is the most widely spoken African language.
The first-fruits celebrations are recorded in African history as far back as ancient Egypt and Nubia and appear in ancient and modern times in other classical African civilizations such as Ashantiland and Yorubaland."
Again you're spot on, those darkies don't need more time to lay around!
Actually, Cromwell had it right, all celebrations of that magnitude threaten our core christian belief of humility and should be banned.
Posted by: brayker at January 5, 2006 11:17 AM1) yeah, right, the mid-winter harvest festival
2) Cromwell, unlike Charles I, was not as intolerant as you assert. For example, he allowed Jews back into the country after Charles had tossed them out.
Posted by: Kevin Murphy at January 5, 2006 11:58 AM1) I'm sure you're aware that Africa isn't on the same seasonal schedule as us. I'm not too knowledgable on their exact periods of harvest but I do know that in Botswana the dry season lasts from may to dec. and the wet season runs from Jan. to April.
On the other hand I /am/ pretty confident Jesus' birth date wasn't Dec. 25th.
2) Fair enough, Cromwell wasn't solely responsible for abolishing Christmas, it was the work of the Godly Party, and his views on religion were certainly well advanced for the time, but playing tit for tat with 'He allowed the Jewish to return' is also a little misleading, I'm sure the Irish would have something to say about his 'tolerance'.
Posted by: brayker at January 6, 2006 08:21 AM1) you are aware that my post was tongue in cheek.
2) The traditional northern harvest festival is in November ("Thanksgiving"). Dates differ, but late fall seems to be it. And yes, this predates Columbus by quite a bit under various names. Halloween also has a harvest theme, of sorts. In the sothern hemispehre this would likely be around May. Certainly not mid-winter (or mid-summer).
3) Don't have to tell me about the Irish -- note my name -- but that was racism and colonial rationalization as much as it was Christian politics.
Posted by: Kevin Murphy at January 6, 2006 10:12 AMCan't we just ban it because it's a tenuously pre-fabricated stupidly condescending pseudo-holiday?
Posted by: -keith in mtn. view at January 6, 2006 11:53 AMAlright, well, to dump the numbering and get closer to your point, were you trying to argue against the pseudo-'War On Christmas'? The use of 'happy holidays'?
I understand halloween via samhain being harvest related, but isn't attaching Christmas to the older traditions of the winter solstice pretty much the same as attaching kwanzaa as a modified version of an older tradition to Christmas?
As a personal note I really have no attachment to kwanzaa /or/ Christmas, logic and my catholic upbringing (which are not always exclusive) show me that Easter is actually the most important Christian holiday.
Keith: I think a lot of the perceived war on Christmas comes from people saying the same thing with a different target.
Posted by: brayker at January 6, 2006 12:11 PM