By Alberto Rivas
This “Winterfest” thing at San Jacinto Plaza – well, let’s just call it what it is, an attack on Christmas. It’s the social trend these days: wokeism, and El Paso is all about the latest trends, isn’t it. “Oh, it’s just about inclusion,” they’ll say. No, it is not.
“Winterfest” – a festival celebrating winter, right? Since when do people today celebrate winter? Turn on the Weather Channel during winter storms and see how they promote fear about how deadly it’s looking, about how many people are endangered, how many oldsters will die when the electric grid fails, a disaster waiting to happen… in winter.
No. Who indeed celebrates winter in Texas? El Pasoans celebrate snowfall for the one day it happens until they get into a fender bender, unable to handle winter driving.
No certainly, winter is not a cultural fiesta in El Paso. But what is?
Christmas is. And that’s what this city, a majority Christian population, used to celebrate unabashedly until this recent silent slide into woke paganism.
Winterfest? Really? You celebrate the seasons? Ok then, where’s the “Springfest,” the “Summer Solsticefest”? Where is the Autumnfest celebration??
Heh, there are none, because “Winterfest” is not really about celebrating a natural occurrence. “Winterfest” is really just about upstaging Christmas, and that’s all it really is: a simple elimination of the word “Christmas.” If it were about a season, all the other “-fests” would be celebrated too.
So what’s so special about winter that we should celebrate only it and not the other seasons?
What’s special about it is Christmas, Navidad, Noël, Weihnachten.
Come on, we all know that. And that, my friends, is what nowadays is called an attack, to adopt the media penchant for overstatement.
We hear from the attacking enemy without end that Christmas was appropriated from pagans: the tree, the Yule log, the solstice, etc., We’ve all read that rot. Never mind that Christians were celebrating the 25th of December as the birth of Christ a century before Romans invented a solstice celebration, ironically, to try to win Christians BACK to paganism, an attack against nascent 3rd century Christianity.
Well, it’s the same attack going on today, against Christmas: “Winterfest” – an attack, an aggression, a passive aggression par excellence; a “macro” aggression so big it goes over most people’s heads unnoticed, and thoughtlessly accepted, disguised as a misguided notion of social tolerance.
Just remember; culture is a living, moving thing. Stand still and you’re roadkill. Christian culture must forever move forward in its purpose, reaffirming its purpose. Remember that the birth of Christ was objectively the single most important event in world history, an event so important that it split time. Henceforth is time either B.C. or A.D. That’s why we celebrate Christmas, a festival of blessings we receive, the greatest blessing being Emmanuel – God With Us.
Just remember; culture is a living, moving thing.
So, when you hear about Winter-“Festivus for the Rest of Us,” just air your grievances, and say, “No thanks, but have a Merry Christmas anyway.” Speak your mind. This is still your city… your culture.
Merry Christmas to you!
You can reach Alberto Rivas at: bivas@email.com
Sarcasm aside, there is no reason that people cannot celebrate ALL of the holidays that fall in a short time together – Hannukah – winter soltice – kawanzaa – New Years – etc. There is attack on El Paso Christians – people should feel free to celebrate in their own way.