Guns: The perfect 2021 Christmas accessory
In the United States, it is difficult to imagine a Christmas season without a kerfuffle or two. In past years, faux fights have been waged over whether “happy holidays” is a secret weapon to decimate the celebration of true Christmas. That one is perennial, with social media memes proudly proclaiming the right greeting is “Merry Christmas” and others pointing out that the winter seasons contains holidays as diverse as Advent, Hanukkah, Christmas and Kwanzaa — to name just a few of the major ones.
Happy holidays includes everyone, hardly a divisive thing.
Then there was a battle from 2016, when an unadorned red Starbucks cup was viewed by some conservatives as a swipe at Christianity — a Vox article at the time pointed out “The conflict over this dumb cup is so passionate that the original version of a viral Starbucks’ War on Christmas video has more than 14 million views.” At issue was Starbucks removing decorations from the cup; the 2021 reusable version, you’ll be glad to know, is adorned with ribbons. The cup is still red.
That pales in comparison, though, to this Christmas season. Welcome to the year of politicians sending out Christmas cards featuring family members armed with the weapon of their choice. So far, two members of Congress have jumped on the Guns are Good (in all settings) bandwagon.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., tweeted a photo of his family holding firearms (his, alas, appears to be pointed at his daughter’s knee). Not to be outdone, Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., fired off a similar photo of herself and her four young sons, each one bearing his own large gun.
At least the Christmas trees were festive.
Oh, and Rep. Massie sure would like Santa to send his family ammunition. Sadly, ammo is generally in short supply, given that gun owners are primed to believe they must buy it up before liberals outlaw it. Stoking fears of guns being outlawed has been very good to the manufacturers of weapons and ammunition. According to reload. com, a website that reports on weapons, Ruger and Winchester both reported profit spikes in recent earnings filings for the first six months of 2021.
Sales topped even the height of the 2020 gun sales surge. Don’t we all feel safer?
Days before the cards went out, four children were killed in a high school shooting in Michigan. These holiday messages were less about the spirit of the season and more about tweaking liberals — no matter how distasteful the point.
Christmas, a holiday dedicated to celebrating the birth of a savior, has morphed into something else.
We all know the consumer aspect of Christmas — more shopping, more spending, more presents, more lights, more feasting, more, more, more. Christmas also has become a season to push the buttons of our never-ending cultural war.
With a 24-7 outrage machine ready to pounce on perceived slights — or to create them — it’s hard to make it through the holidays without becoming incensed. There is no War on Christmas, but it’s clear to see that even without an actual battlefield, some people will be armed and ready.
Unfortunately, the rest of us have to live alongside them.