Yes, Virginia, there really is a Grinch.

December 22, 2000 7:19 AM

Yes, Virginia, there really is a Grinch. (This guy's choice of recipients for his charitable giving is lawyers. You'd think he could find someone more needy.)
posted by Steven Den Beste (7 comments total)

I don't know about him being a grinch, if you read his reasons and the court's response, you have to admit the court's ruling is on pretty shaky footing. Though everyone gets the day off here in the US, Christmas is a christian holiday and the guy is asking that it not be a federal holiday.
posted by mathowie at 10:55 AM on December 22, 2000

An easy solution to that, of course, is to make Christmas so very commercialized that it begins to lose the Christian meaning and becomes a by-product of the commercial sector.

Or, give all end-of-year religious holidays equal footing.
posted by hijinx at 10:58 AM on December 22, 2000

I'm not sure how that would work. Something like half of the people taking day off while the other half is left working? Christmas has really just become more than a Christian holiday, it's a way of American life, everyone buys gifts, puts up lights and such. Not that that's excluded to Christians only. The only possible solution I would see, is, how' it's in Russia, since 80-or-so percent of the population is Christian Orthodox, Christmas is January 6th, and the Christmas, that is known here, is called New Year, we had the same trees, lights, place presents underneath, and in the morning of the new year, we'd open them. I actually like that better. I do think the guy's a bit of a meanie.
posted by tiaka at 11:07 AM on December 22, 2000

"everyone buys gifts, puts up lights and such"

Everyone? I think you mean everyone who celebrates Christmas, which mostly means Christians. I haven't put up any lights, and see nothing "mean" or Grinch like in this lawsuit. He is legally correct. The court is ignoring his sound legal theory because it doesn't want to change the status quo or do something so socially and politically unpopular. There really is no justification for making a religious holiday a national holiday, even if it has become commercialized. It's still essentially a religious holiday, and the government isn't supposed to support one religion over another.
posted by Outlawyr at 11:19 AM on December 22, 2000

I'm not Christian and I don't have a problem with Christmas. You must realize that Christmas holds absolutely no religious significance anymore, and that it has been transformed into a secular holiday. It's really about big bucks for the retail industry and a time to take a break in the winter and be with family and friends. It should be a national holiday because that's what it has become.
posted by Bag Man at 3:14 PM on December 22, 2000

I like this guy! My birthday is Christmas day and, basically, it doesn't exist because it got sucked into the big black Christmas hole, and except for a little bit of birthday Hawking radiation now and then (sometimes my cousin Jill makes me Jello) I have received no benefit from having a birthday since I was born, though I still have all the liabilities (getting older) and my Mom still kvetches at me for making her miss the Christmas party that year. . .

<deep breath>

. . . so I guess what I'm saying is, I'd be perfectly happy to ruin the holidays for a couple hundred million people if I could have a birthday party in exchange. Go, Richard Ganulin , go!
posted by rodii at 5:58 PM on December 22, 2000

It's kind of funny that Christmas is a Christian holiday when it has such a pagan origin. The Christmas tree is a pagan tradition. I guess it doesn't matter though.
posted by AndyGrossman at 12:11 AM on December 23, 2000