XMAS
I am about to go off on a tangent here. Before I do, let me assure all of my faithful readers (and by all, I mean Wanderer. Hi!) that I have not forgotten about "Johnny" and will continue it soon. It's just that "Tribulation Game" and this post both seemed more important to me at this time. This is another short essay, not a story, poem, or whatever the heck "Darkness" was. And, timely enough, it's about Christmas, the holidays, and the pointless controversy surrounding them. I say pointless because I think that the problems surrounding the holiday season are ridiculous. I say "Merry Christmas!" And I will continue to say it.
At the risk of sounding like an old man at twenty-five, I remember a day when you could hear "Merry Christmas," on television and see the greeting in every store window and in people's decorations. I remember when Thanksgiving marked the day when you would start hearing religious music at the mall and on every radio station because everyone recognized that the Christmas season was about the birth of Jesus Christ. Yes, I am aware that many of our Christmas traditions have their roots in paganism (hi again, Wanderer!) and that Jesus was most likely not born on December 25th. (In "Back to the Future" when Doc Brown entered that date in the time machine it made for a good joke, but had he gone back in time on that day, there was no way he would have seen the birth of Christ. Especially in Hill Valley, California.)
But for all the inaccuracies and non-Christian elements that have seeped into the holiday, and the distortion of the story of St. Nick, Christmas remains a religious celebration of the birth of a man who, despite what you believe about Him, had a lasting impact on the world. He changed it. I would challenge any historian to prove that Martin Luther King Jr., George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, or any other person whose birthday we celebrate (are there any more? I don't remember) had a bigger impact on the world. In fact, it can be argued that without the teachings and influence of Jesus Christ, those other three people I mentioned wouldn't have amounted to much. If we just chose to celebrate this man's birth as a national (actually international, but we'll get back to that) holiday where the banks and schools close and the television stations ran Happy Jesus Christ's Birthday ads on TV, many people would have a fit. Somehow, forcing people to celebrate the birth of a president or a civil rights leader is okay, but forcing them to celebrate the birth of arguably the most influensive person in history is crossing the line. On the other hand, imagine celebrating President's Day without making any mention of America or the presidents themselves. Yeah, you get the day off of school or work and you can spend time with your family, even throw a party, but if you so much as mention Lincoln or Washington, or say the word "America" you have somehow infringed on somebody's freedom! How offensive would it be to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday by suddenly making it improper to talk about equality or speak out against racism? Sounds ridiculous, doesn't it. I am offended even thinking about it and I'm the one righting this. But something very similar has happened regarding the birth of Jesus. We can celebrate His birthday as a national holiday, take the day off, spend time with our families, exchange gifts, but it seems to be more and more improper to mention Jesus Christ, to sing a song specifically about his birth, or even say the name of the holiday as it appears on nearly every calendar on the planet! Does that make sense? There used to be signs hanging everywhere saying, "Jesus is the reason for the season!" When I was a kid, I saw these everywhere (one lady left her sign up until May or June one year and when asked about it she said, "Jesus is the reason for every season." Whether she was trying to make a point or just making an excuse for laziness I don't know, but in either case... AMEN!). This year I have seen it one time! ONCE! I remember when the fight used to be over Christmas vs Xmas. Now, even Xmas is offensive because not everyone celebrates it. By that reasoning, we shouldn't celebrate Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday because we might offend racists, and we should avoid President's Day because some poor anarchist might get his feelings hurt.
But what about Hanukkah or Kwanzaa? Shouldn't we use an all inclusive phrase like "Happy Holidays" so as not offend anybody celebrating a different holiday? Sounds fair. But let me point something out. Christmas is a universal holiday celebrated in some way by a majority of the world. You can find Christmas celebrations in Asia, Europe, Australia, Africa, and the Americas. And not just among Christians. Atheists celebrate it every year as the family holiday I described above, even picking that one day a year to sing songs about a God they don't believe in. Even though it isn't Jesus' actual birthday, billions of people choose to celebrate His birth on that day. In fact, most people who celebrate Kwanzaa also celebrate Christmas, so they really wouldn't feel too offended to hear the word Christmas. And as for Hanukkah, and I speak as a person who ethnically is mostly Jewish (long story, but trust me here), considering that Jesus (or Yeshua) is the only Jewish person in history whose birthday most of the world decides to celebrate, shouldn't we Jews be at least a little proud of it regardless of what we believe about Him? Maybe not, but it's a nice thought.
Back to the question. Wouldn't a more politically correct term like "holidays" be more appropriate? I am not about to claim that this is a Christian nation and therefore should celebrate a Christian Holiday, nor am I going to sound like some ignorant redneck and say something like most people celebrate Christmas so the others can just shove it up their... noses and go back to Israel or something. I do not believe either is true. What I do believe is that we can be all inclusive without being exclusive. We can say Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah and Happy Kwanzaa as well as happy Balloon Animal Day, if such a thing existed. Would I be offended if somebody wished me a happy Kwanzaa? Not at all. I don't celebrate that particular holiday, but I wouldn’t go filing a lawsuit or anything.
Which reminds me of a story I heard on the news today. A town had a long tradition of decorating a Christmas tree down town and celebrating Christmas officially as a town. Then a few years back a menorah was put there as well. Now both the major holidays of the season were covered. Nice and inclusive, not offending anybody but the stray Midwest Nazi or ignorant redneck (Can you tell, I take issue with Nazis, rednecks, and also cheerleaders, but I don't know how to work them into my ranting here). Then, this year, someone decided to include a nativity scene. Then there was controversy. Somehow putting a nativity scene on city property violates the First Amendment of the Constitution. What? How in the world can anybody in their right minds equate an image of a historically documented birth with congress passing a law that establishes a religion? Let me say this here, because most people like to tout their opinions on the First Amendment without actually realizing what it says. In order for the "Establishment Clause" to be violated, Congress would have to convene and pass an official bill making Christianity or Islam or Buddhism the national religion. It would have to publicly declare, and pass a law, that makes one religion official while the others would range from deviant to illegal. Short of that, the Establishment Clause has not been violated. There is absolutely NO part of the Constitution of the United States that makes it illegal to have a Christmas pageant in a public school, or restricts school prayer, or even keeps the President from using the name of Jesus in a national prayer. Unless a law is passed that either promotes or restricts any or all religions, the First Amendment has not been violated. In fact, any government endorsed restriction of speech, religious or otherwise, is a violation. Anybody out there realize that banning prayer in school violated the First Amendment? Just a thought.
Anyway, back to the menorah. The candle holder isn't just a symbol of the Jewish race, it's a symbol of the Jewish faith. Hanukkah is a religious holiday, as is every other Jewish holiday, and there are a lot of them. So placing a menorah next to the Christmas tree was a celebration of the Jewish faith, and one that might not exactly please a lot of people (although I sure hope that none of those displeased people would be Christians! After all, Jesus regularly worshiped in a Jewish temple complete with menorahs!). So how come the image of a baby in a manger is offensive while a menorah is not? Why are Americans so offended by this display, when statistics show that a majority of people believe that the Christmas accounts in the Bible are literal and accurate, but the display of a religion that a small minority of Americans celebrate is perfectly acceptable.
Perhaps the real question is "What is so wrong with Jesus?"
Perhaps it was the Jews who were offended. I have already spoken about the fact that the world is coming together to celebrate a Jew’s birthday. But most Jews really don't care if we celebrate Christmas, and as long as we include Hanukkah in our greetings, which really isn't that hard to do, there should be no problem. The problem is that there are people who think that the Jews might be offended. I say this because a few years back when there was a big controversy about the monuments of the Ten Commandment being publicly displayed, someone made the statement that a display of the Ten Commandments would offend Jews. To any educated person, this is the most ignorant statement possible! Any Jew who would be offended by the Ten Commandments is a moron, considering that they only appear twice in the Bible, both of which occur in the "Old Testament." In fact, they are in the writings of Moses, the foundations of Jewish faith. So how would such a display offend Jews? It wouldn't. But liberals in the media seeking to attack Christians any chance they get (okay, Nazis, rednecks, cheerleaders, and the liberal media) picked a minority religion and invented an offense.
This "Happy Holidays" thing is getting ridiculous! I recently saw a commercial that featured drunken ginger bread men (a Christmas staple, of course) at a Holiday party. My first question is how many of these ginger bread men were Jewish? Okay, stupid question, and one I really don't want an answer to. But one of these drunk cookie people stood up on a table and loudly yelled, "Happy Holidays!" Now my second question: What drunken ginger bread man is going to remember in that moment to be politically correct? Okay, also a stupid question.
It seems that we can put up all sorts of displays and Christmas decorations (sorry, holiday decorations. I forgot how important decorated pine trees and dancing snowmen are to the Hanukkah story) and sing all sorts of Christmas songs like "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" but the true meaning of Christmas (please refer here to the end of the Charlie Brown Christmas Special) is somehow taboo! Nativity scenes are offensive and hateful. Christmas is just one of many (3) holidays celebrated this season, and to single it out would offend countless people (about 5% of the population, who probably don't really care anyway).
This tangent is just about over. I really want to get back to real writing. But let me say to everyone, "MERRY CHRISTMAS!" "HAPPY HANNUKAH!" "HAPPY KWANZAA" and just to cover all my bases, "HAPPY BALLOON ANIMALS DAY!"
May your holidays, whatever ones you celebrate, be blessed this year, and remember: Jesus is the reason for the season!
ABR
At the risk of sounding like an old man at twenty-five, I remember a day when you could hear "Merry Christmas," on television and see the greeting in every store window and in people's decorations. I remember when Thanksgiving marked the day when you would start hearing religious music at the mall and on every radio station because everyone recognized that the Christmas season was about the birth of Jesus Christ. Yes, I am aware that many of our Christmas traditions have their roots in paganism (hi again, Wanderer!) and that Jesus was most likely not born on December 25th. (In "Back to the Future" when Doc Brown entered that date in the time machine it made for a good joke, but had he gone back in time on that day, there was no way he would have seen the birth of Christ. Especially in Hill Valley, California.)
But for all the inaccuracies and non-Christian elements that have seeped into the holiday, and the distortion of the story of St. Nick, Christmas remains a religious celebration of the birth of a man who, despite what you believe about Him, had a lasting impact on the world. He changed it. I would challenge any historian to prove that Martin Luther King Jr., George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, or any other person whose birthday we celebrate (are there any more? I don't remember) had a bigger impact on the world. In fact, it can be argued that without the teachings and influence of Jesus Christ, those other three people I mentioned wouldn't have amounted to much. If we just chose to celebrate this man's birth as a national (actually international, but we'll get back to that) holiday where the banks and schools close and the television stations ran Happy Jesus Christ's Birthday ads on TV, many people would have a fit. Somehow, forcing people to celebrate the birth of a president or a civil rights leader is okay, but forcing them to celebrate the birth of arguably the most influensive person in history is crossing the line. On the other hand, imagine celebrating President's Day without making any mention of America or the presidents themselves. Yeah, you get the day off of school or work and you can spend time with your family, even throw a party, but if you so much as mention Lincoln or Washington, or say the word "America" you have somehow infringed on somebody's freedom! How offensive would it be to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday by suddenly making it improper to talk about equality or speak out against racism? Sounds ridiculous, doesn't it. I am offended even thinking about it and I'm the one righting this. But something very similar has happened regarding the birth of Jesus. We can celebrate His birthday as a national holiday, take the day off, spend time with our families, exchange gifts, but it seems to be more and more improper to mention Jesus Christ, to sing a song specifically about his birth, or even say the name of the holiday as it appears on nearly every calendar on the planet! Does that make sense? There used to be signs hanging everywhere saying, "Jesus is the reason for the season!" When I was a kid, I saw these everywhere (one lady left her sign up until May or June one year and when asked about it she said, "Jesus is the reason for every season." Whether she was trying to make a point or just making an excuse for laziness I don't know, but in either case... AMEN!). This year I have seen it one time! ONCE! I remember when the fight used to be over Christmas vs Xmas. Now, even Xmas is offensive because not everyone celebrates it. By that reasoning, we shouldn't celebrate Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday because we might offend racists, and we should avoid President's Day because some poor anarchist might get his feelings hurt.
But what about Hanukkah or Kwanzaa? Shouldn't we use an all inclusive phrase like "Happy Holidays" so as not offend anybody celebrating a different holiday? Sounds fair. But let me point something out. Christmas is a universal holiday celebrated in some way by a majority of the world. You can find Christmas celebrations in Asia, Europe, Australia, Africa, and the Americas. And not just among Christians. Atheists celebrate it every year as the family holiday I described above, even picking that one day a year to sing songs about a God they don't believe in. Even though it isn't Jesus' actual birthday, billions of people choose to celebrate His birth on that day. In fact, most people who celebrate Kwanzaa also celebrate Christmas, so they really wouldn't feel too offended to hear the word Christmas. And as for Hanukkah, and I speak as a person who ethnically is mostly Jewish (long story, but trust me here), considering that Jesus (or Yeshua) is the only Jewish person in history whose birthday most of the world decides to celebrate, shouldn't we Jews be at least a little proud of it regardless of what we believe about Him? Maybe not, but it's a nice thought.
Back to the question. Wouldn't a more politically correct term like "holidays" be more appropriate? I am not about to claim that this is a Christian nation and therefore should celebrate a Christian Holiday, nor am I going to sound like some ignorant redneck and say something like most people celebrate Christmas so the others can just shove it up their... noses and go back to Israel or something. I do not believe either is true. What I do believe is that we can be all inclusive without being exclusive. We can say Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah and Happy Kwanzaa as well as happy Balloon Animal Day, if such a thing existed. Would I be offended if somebody wished me a happy Kwanzaa? Not at all. I don't celebrate that particular holiday, but I wouldn’t go filing a lawsuit or anything.
Which reminds me of a story I heard on the news today. A town had a long tradition of decorating a Christmas tree down town and celebrating Christmas officially as a town. Then a few years back a menorah was put there as well. Now both the major holidays of the season were covered. Nice and inclusive, not offending anybody but the stray Midwest Nazi or ignorant redneck (Can you tell, I take issue with Nazis, rednecks, and also cheerleaders, but I don't know how to work them into my ranting here). Then, this year, someone decided to include a nativity scene. Then there was controversy. Somehow putting a nativity scene on city property violates the First Amendment of the Constitution. What? How in the world can anybody in their right minds equate an image of a historically documented birth with congress passing a law that establishes a religion? Let me say this here, because most people like to tout their opinions on the First Amendment without actually realizing what it says. In order for the "Establishment Clause" to be violated, Congress would have to convene and pass an official bill making Christianity or Islam or Buddhism the national religion. It would have to publicly declare, and pass a law, that makes one religion official while the others would range from deviant to illegal. Short of that, the Establishment Clause has not been violated. There is absolutely NO part of the Constitution of the United States that makes it illegal to have a Christmas pageant in a public school, or restricts school prayer, or even keeps the President from using the name of Jesus in a national prayer. Unless a law is passed that either promotes or restricts any or all religions, the First Amendment has not been violated. In fact, any government endorsed restriction of speech, religious or otherwise, is a violation. Anybody out there realize that banning prayer in school violated the First Amendment? Just a thought.
Anyway, back to the menorah. The candle holder isn't just a symbol of the Jewish race, it's a symbol of the Jewish faith. Hanukkah is a religious holiday, as is every other Jewish holiday, and there are a lot of them. So placing a menorah next to the Christmas tree was a celebration of the Jewish faith, and one that might not exactly please a lot of people (although I sure hope that none of those displeased people would be Christians! After all, Jesus regularly worshiped in a Jewish temple complete with menorahs!). So how come the image of a baby in a manger is offensive while a menorah is not? Why are Americans so offended by this display, when statistics show that a majority of people believe that the Christmas accounts in the Bible are literal and accurate, but the display of a religion that a small minority of Americans celebrate is perfectly acceptable.
Perhaps the real question is "What is so wrong with Jesus?"
Perhaps it was the Jews who were offended. I have already spoken about the fact that the world is coming together to celebrate a Jew’s birthday. But most Jews really don't care if we celebrate Christmas, and as long as we include Hanukkah in our greetings, which really isn't that hard to do, there should be no problem. The problem is that there are people who think that the Jews might be offended. I say this because a few years back when there was a big controversy about the monuments of the Ten Commandment being publicly displayed, someone made the statement that a display of the Ten Commandments would offend Jews. To any educated person, this is the most ignorant statement possible! Any Jew who would be offended by the Ten Commandments is a moron, considering that they only appear twice in the Bible, both of which occur in the "Old Testament." In fact, they are in the writings of Moses, the foundations of Jewish faith. So how would such a display offend Jews? It wouldn't. But liberals in the media seeking to attack Christians any chance they get (okay, Nazis, rednecks, cheerleaders, and the liberal media) picked a minority religion and invented an offense.
This "Happy Holidays" thing is getting ridiculous! I recently saw a commercial that featured drunken ginger bread men (a Christmas staple, of course) at a Holiday party. My first question is how many of these ginger bread men were Jewish? Okay, stupid question, and one I really don't want an answer to. But one of these drunk cookie people stood up on a table and loudly yelled, "Happy Holidays!" Now my second question: What drunken ginger bread man is going to remember in that moment to be politically correct? Okay, also a stupid question.
It seems that we can put up all sorts of displays and Christmas decorations (sorry, holiday decorations. I forgot how important decorated pine trees and dancing snowmen are to the Hanukkah story) and sing all sorts of Christmas songs like "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" but the true meaning of Christmas (please refer here to the end of the Charlie Brown Christmas Special) is somehow taboo! Nativity scenes are offensive and hateful. Christmas is just one of many (3) holidays celebrated this season, and to single it out would offend countless people (about 5% of the population, who probably don't really care anyway).
This tangent is just about over. I really want to get back to real writing. But let me say to everyone, "MERRY CHRISTMAS!" "HAPPY HANNUKAH!" "HAPPY KWANZAA" and just to cover all my bases, "HAPPY BALLOON ANIMALS DAY!"
May your holidays, whatever ones you celebrate, be blessed this year, and remember: Jesus is the reason for the season!
ABR
posted by Arthur Brokop II at 8:16 PM
5 Comments:
An interesting position, but I should probably clarify that the supposed culprits in most of these claims of religious infringements aren't the Jews or people worried about them. (I know this wasn't an anti-semitic thought process of yours either. Just wanted to clear the air on that one.)
The complaints tend to come from atheists and Pagans more frequently. (Not that I always, or even often, agree with them.)
Also your limit of three holidays in the season is incorrect. An oversight that surprises me due to your original references. Many of us celebrate Yule at this time of year. Saturnalia is also still observed by some. Many holidays revolved around the beginning of the season when days were longer, hence the light was returning to the world. One might argue then that the Sun, not the Son, is the reason for the season in general.
Now I agree that it seems stupid to take offense to people wishing you a Merry Christmas. Provided that the statement is reflecting their good intentions. If they do so because they know you to be an atheist, or they call this greeting out around your Yule circle, then I can see somewhat of an issue.
That being said, I must also address your comments on the first ammendment issue. Much of the restriction there comes not from the claim that the actions themselves violate the amendment, but more from the knowledge that the institution of a nationally recognized, or even just nationally preferred religion wouldn't happen overnight. It would happen in steps. Public schools don't have the time to put on pageants for every holiday in the season. Thus picking and condoning one puts public support behind the religion it exemplifies. This can be problematic. This is in violation of the spirit of the establishment clause. The forefathers obviously weren't saying that such things couldn't be officially on the books but could be forced by selective practices by public officials "off the books."
Even if you could put on all of these pageants, it would still impede on the atheists, since collectively it would support some religion.
"Separation of church and state" is an inappropriate naming of the establishment clause, but in truth it seems to be the only way for the most part.
Before you jump on the persecution bandwagon, consider this. Consider how you feel, based on your faith, at these things being removed. Then turn that on it's head and consider how you would feel if you were on the other side and had to hear Merry Christmas everywhere you went. How about as things are now? What if it went further like O'Reilly wants everyone to think it is going to, and next year you were bombarded with message after message about Yule with no mention of Christmas or any other holiday.
I don't really think those of us who don't worship as you are being oppressed by the huge amounts of Christmas messages. (Although many of us campaigned enough that the All-Christmas music after Thanksgiving plan of a local radio station was changed to intersperse the songs with our normal music.) At the same time though, I can give no credence to claims that others are being persecuted because they can't hear us saying them.
Practice as you wish, but this is no crazy political correctness thing. It is a matter of respect. Simple respect for your fellow man, at no real cost to you. It doesn't hurt your faith if a stranger doesn't wish you a Merry Christmas, but instead says Happy Holidays. After all, your Christmas is a "Holy day" isn't it?
Thanks again, Wanderer, for an insightful and thought provoking comment. I am sorry that I overlooked a few holidays in my essay. I did not mean to limit it to three, and I should have known that you would at least mention the others, but my intent was more to address the issue of "holidays" not make a list of all observances, religious or otherwise. In my defense, I was speaking to major holidays celebrated by major religions, and even you that Paganism, for all of its history and practitioners, isn't exactly "major" as one would define it. Not to defame your faith, though we both know where I happen to stand (as do most of my readers, unless they simply don't read my stuff!) but the calendars (albeit the so-called "Christian Calendar") recognize Christmas, Hanukkah, sometimes Kwanzaa, but rarely will you see Yule or Saturnalia. By the way, a public school teacher whom we both know and love saw what you said about schools not having the time to put on a pageant for every holiday and she said, "Yes they do!"
At the risk of alienating a few of my readers, I watched South Park last night. Now, all you conservatives (I am one too!) stop gasping and keep reading. It was a rerun of the classic "Mr. Hankey the Christmas Pooh" and oddly enough it dealt with exactly what my blog post was about. The so-called holiday controversy sparked by the South Park school's Christmas pageant got so heated that absolutely every element that could possibly be offensive to anybody was removed and the pageant was a disaster! If I were a pagan, instead of trying to get rid of Christmas celebrations, I would sit back and laugh at the Christians who have incorperated countless pagan traditions and symbols into their holiday without even realizing it. (and Easter too!) As for atheists, I saw a story today about Atheists suing the state of Utah to take down memorials set up to honor fallen state troopers because they happened to be crosses. They say that the crosses support one religion. Really? Besides the fact that taking down the monuments would be offensive to the fallen officers and their families, most people in Utah would associate the cross with Mormonism, not mainstream Christianity. The cross is actually a symbol of many different, although related, faiths, and therefore doesn't endorse anymore than the phrase "Under God" promotes Christianity when Muslims, Hindus, Jehovah's Witnesses (who don't say the pledge anyway) and even some Buddhists use the term "God".
Okay, I'm getting off on another tangent here, and maybe this should be a post instead of a comment, but back to my original post.
A vast majority of Americans this year will celebrate Christmas. Not that that makes it the only holiday, but it should guarantee at least a mention of the holiday, along with the others. Would it really hurt people to say "Merry Christmas" then say "Happy Hanukkah" and also say the others. Yes, Happy Holidays is politically appropriate, but it is far too generic. Sorry to sound like a religious nut here. Wait, no I'm not. I am a religious nut!
By the way, the establishment clause also prohibits any government action to restrict the free excersize of any religion. Step by step, little by little, the governemt has acted to restrict the free excersize of Christianity. The Happy Holiday controversy is one of those minor steps. Taking down a nativity scene and making every religious symbol from the Star of David to the Yin Yang (yes, that is religious too!) acceptable but the Cross is a restriction on free excersize. Public schools restrict the wearing of crosses and Christian T-shirts, but religious symbols such as the pentagram are fine!
Sorry again. If you bothered to read this whole thing, MERRY CHRISTMAS, and Enjoy your Yule celebration, happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, have a nice Saturnalia, have a blessed Ramadan, and just for the heck of it, Happy New Year (or does that offend the Chinese, who have a different calendar?)
God Bless
I do find much of it amusing, and as you are well aware, I am not one of these ones trying to remove Christmas from everything. I have more important things to worry about. Like whether to tie my left shoe first or my right, and whether I feel like counting every snowflake I can until the numbers cause my brain to tilt. These are higher priorities in my life.
I don't completely disagree with you, and I have in fact argued with many a Pagan about the absurdity and offensiveness (to me and other Pagans) of their actions in whining about every religion out there. I mean, it almost makes it look like we have some Pagan O'Reilly clones. The thought makes me shudder.
Still, you have to consider that, while tolerance is needed on all sides, as long as someone attempts to "Win" this so called war, it is going to continue. Compromise (not in values, but in co-existence on this planet) is necessary somewhere. More importantly though, people need to look at the real persecutions going on elsewhere around the world and realize that all of us have it pretty good over here. Remember, if your cross isn't allowed to be worn in school, at least you aren't being shot for it.
(Remember also that these other groups use the ACLU, while the Christian "victims" tend to get their support from the religious right. If you guys are losing these little battles, maybe you need better generals?)
as a pagan, I celebrated the Saturnalia, remember the song by Stevie Wonder? it was my Christmas carol that year...
my tree was a pole (drift wood) with one red ornament and some tinsel hanging on it...
some traditional Christmas Carols mention the Yule...Arthur had some good points about all the pagan symbolism we have adopted into our Christmas traditions
A few thoughts struck me this morning so I figured I would put my own post up that sort of touches on this matter on my blog. Feel free to wander over and check it out.
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