Jingle H*lls: The War on Xmas

EPISODE 22 | Jingle Hells: The War on Xmas

Some members of the largest religion in the world, over 2.4 billion people, somehow feel aggrieved or under siege, especially when it comes to one of their most important holidays. We're talking about Christians and Christmas, and the narrative that claims there's a concerted effort to destroy the celebration of Jesus' birth. Who? Depends on who you talk to. Communists, or Jehovah's Witnesses, or 7th Day Adventists, or Puritans, or Jews, or Muslims, or Black people, or atheists, or some combination of these groups. 

This episode traces the notion of a "war on Christmas" back to its beginnings and looks at some periods in history when the holiday was not only not celebrated but was actually illegal. And many of the modern trappings of Christmas are, in fact, quite recent innovations in a long story.

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SECTIONS

1. 02:30 - Winter Wonderland - Winter Celebrations of All Kinds
2. 06:18 - Jolly Old St. Nicholas - Different Ways of Celebrating
3. 07:22 - Colonel Sanders is Santa Claus
4. 08:24 - Nicholas of Mira was a Greek, Born in Turkey, and an Interesting Guy
5. 10:06 - Fairytale of New York - Birth of Modern Christmas Tropes: A Poem, a Dutch Connection, Washington Irving, Thomas Nast & Jeff the Puppet
6. 11:40 - Santa is a New Yorker, an Address, Oz, Advertising, Howard's Santa School
7. 13:15 - Rudolph the Commie Reindeer - The John Birch Society Kicks Things Off
8. 15:13 - Peter Brimelow - the Immigrant Who Hates Immigrants
9. 16:47 - Little Culture War Drummer Boy - Papa Bear Sees an Opportunity
10. 18:14 - Language & Laws, Companies Caught in the Culture War, X-Rated Xmas
11. 22:37 - Walking in a Puritan Wonderland - Christmas Was Outlawed in England & the New World Colonies, by Christians
12. 24:23 - Santa Claus Won't be Coming to Town - The Unpopular Holiday Was Revived by a Poem & Charles Dickens, with Mixed Results; After WWII, Religions Returns
13. 26:55 - Baby, It's Cold Outside - No Christmas in Revolutionary France, Communist Nations, Nazi Territory, Cuba Prefers Sugar to Santa, Brunei & the Saudis Barely Tolerate It
14. 30:02 - The 12 Plots of Christmas (or Xmas) - Santa Is Satan, Santa's a Cannibal, Elf on a Shelf is CIA, Climate Changers Hate Jesus
15. 32:11 - Poinsettias Are Racist
16. 33:40 - These Are a Few of My Favourite Things - Conspiracies Get Commoditized, the Advent Conspiracy

• Music by Fanette Ronjat

LAPSUS LINGUAE:

I mispronounce the name for the Greek letter "X", because I don't speak Greek. I also stumble over the word "Walmart".

Referenced in this episode:

• Why rich New Yorkers created Santa Claus at Business Insider
• The War on Christmas: How the Liberal Plot to Ban the Sacred Christian Holiday Is Worse Than You Thought by John Gibson
• Christmas in the Crosshairs: Two Thousand Years of Denouncing and Defending the World's Most Celebrated Holiday by Gerry Bowler 
• The Elf on the Shelf by Chanda A. Aebersold & Carol V. Bell 
• Some Conspiracy-Themed Christmas Ornaments
• The Advent Conspiracy
• Living Water International

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Other Podcasts by Derek DeWitt

• DIGITAL SIGNAGE DONE RIGHT - Winner of 2020 Communicator Award of Excellence for Podcasts Series-Corporate Communications and on numerous top 10 podcast lists. 
• PRAGUE TIMES - A city is more than just a location - it’s a kaleidoscope of history, places, people and trends. This podcast looks at Prague, in the center of Europe, from a number of perspectives, including what it is now, what is has been and where it’s going. It’s Prague THEN, Prague NOW, Prague LATER.