Chris, the answer to your first question is: No, this isn’t about a Christian attack on Channukah, because as you well noted, this isn’t about the religious meaning of the season, but rather its riffing on the more secular one, the whole Santa thing. I guess it’s more about a cultural appropiation, and I don’t know if you would be able to understand it as well given you are not in the minority. But then again, you might.

I will agree with you that the religious meaning of Christmas is under a heavier assault there than Channukah, but then again, that is a larger cultural issue. As someone pointed out in the other thread where I am discussing this, if Santa had gone to save baby Jesus, then we’d be in the very same place and you (as well as any other Christian) would be quite more irate. I guess it is about how it’s ok to culturally-appropiate Channukah, but no one would dream of doing the same to the Christian meaning of Christmas.

And just to be clear, I am very much in favor of Christmas being taken back to its religious roots and celebrated for what it is. There’s a reason why Jews don’t celebrate it, and it is precisely because of that reason that Christians should celebrate it correctly and fully in the know of the relevance and importance it has to them.

Man, I wish I had something useful to say. I’m at a loss.

Mick, from your gut, man. The reason I sent this to you guys is because you are all spiritual but from other angles, so you’d be able to examine my reaction from a variety of POVs.

It’s just that I wish everybody else would stop celebrating my holiday and turning it into something it’s not.

David, again, in the other thread, someone made a very true assertion: just call it a Christmas supplement; calling it a “Holiday” supplement hints at a sense of inclusive pluralism that effectively robs us of our identity and tradition, because we are the minority and get swallowed up by the avalanche that is the general populace.

I would definitely enjoy a special Chanukah gaming session centered on Judah Hammer and his brothers. But (not having read the publication) I can guess that a different set of heroes for one of the adventure hooks would not make much sense for the supplement.

Still, I agree with you 100 percent. It’s not that I blame Evil Hat for trying (and you made it clear that you don’t either). It’s just that I wish everybody else would stop celebrating my holiday and turning it into something it’s not. I hate when I walk into a store and I’m told “Happy holidays” or when at work they schedule the “holiday party.” They can say “Merry Christmas” to me. I’m not offended. I acknowledge that I’m in the minority here and recognize people’s right to celebrate their holiday even if it’s terribly inconvenient for me. What really bothers me is that they pick this holiday of mine as the one to pay attention to. What about Sukkot or Pesach or Shavuot? What really bothers me is the suggestion that Chanukah is also celebrated by giving gifts instead of by eating fried foods and gambling. And to top it all off, those Jews who don’t know any better, believe what they hear from other sources instead learning about the richness of our own traditions.

Let me try to let my thoughts stew as I put myself in your shoes as best I can and see if I can get a better sense of how that would make me feel.

Well, maybe. But is it being taken advantage of any more than Christmas is? As a Christian, how much do I see of Christ’s birth outside of Sunday Mass? Not much. It’s all Santa. Yes, perhaps a secularized version of Saint Nicholas. Heck, everythign you mentioned has nothing to do with the real meaniong of Christmas.

It’s all how you look at it, really… I could get all torn up at what happens to a significant event in my religious calendar, but quite honestly, I don’t. It doesn’t affect my faith and beliefs one bit. I still have my relationship with Christ, and that ultimately is what matters to me. The rest of the world can melt away.

Are you getting upset by what you believe to be a Christian attack on your religion (which I do not see it as, because Santa is not Christian – at least not to me), or by something else? If it is, then what is it really?