| Some Thoughts about Responses Don't expect dramatic changes to occur right away. If you do receive a response from someone regarding your letter about reclaiming Christmas, their response may be cliche ridden rationalizations or platitudes that fail to take responsibility for anything or to understand your concerns. They may say your letter is being forwarded to someone else. This will probably happen much of the time early in our movement to reclaim Christmas. If you think about the bizarre expressions and restrictions that holidayization has spawned, they are reflections of thoughtlessness and of following a hand-me-down formula. Holidayization behavior is misinformed behavior. These people are not free thinkers. Don't get discouraged. Denials and platitudes come with the territory. I see the success of the "Holiday-free Christmas" movement happening over time. One letter may produce a change in someone's attitude and behavior depending upon who reads it. If they think a strict "Holiday" stance won't sell, they'll ease up and bring back Christmas in some way. More likely it will take receiving several letters or some additional exposure to "Holiday-free Christmas", perhaps a story in the media, or just hearing people as they start talking about it, to enact change. Keep in mind that regardless of what a response says on paper, whoever reads your letter may start thinking about your point of view, or will remember it the next time they encounter similar comments. |