Merry Intolerance
Celebrate whatever you want, but call
it Christmas!
The Dog Ate My
Homework
As those few who follow
my blog may have noticed, I have not been posting often lately. Part of this is
because I have been going through some life changes, and also have gotten a bit
busy with work. But really, it harkens back to CNN firing Aaron Brown! It's not
that I'm protesting, it's just that I've lost interest in the news! I used to
keep CNN on most of the day, and really paid attention after dinner (West Coast
time) when Brown came on. For a little while, I did protest the network by not
watching. And then I cautiously returned. And got annoyed by a pompous Wolf
Blitzer who commands the daytime schedule, and a showboating (no Louisiana
"keeping them honest" pun intended) Anderson Cooper. Who's keeping Anderson
honest? They're certainly not keeping him
humble.
So I've stopped
watching round-the-clock news, sticking with my local Southern Oregon 5, 6 and
11pm newscasts, and Brian Williams (because he's on that channel, sandwiched in
between local news) on the NBC news. I get all my other info from the Web, and I
guess I am just not as fired up about current events these days. I'm sure my
blood pressure benefits from
that.
And also, I have,
for the moment--or maybe the season--given up on the politicians. Or the system.
The American public is too easily swayed by propaganda for any real changes to
happen soon. People are impressionable and believe what they see and hear on TV.
Or are too lazy to investigate further. The FBI is once again--as they did under
Nixon--investigating those who dissent from the administration's view. Our
country steadfastly refuses to join the rest of the world and deal with climate
change. The Patriot Act will be renewed with provisions to do random roving
wiretaps of innocent citizens, monitor what books you buy or take out of the
library, and follow what you read on the Web. We continue to torture prisoners
contrary to our own stated principles and those rules established by the Geneva
Convention. We operate secret prison camps in other countries, and when that
news is broken, the camps are quietly closed and the investigation is not into
the practices of how we treat people, but that someone informed the public of
what's really going on. Our politicians rig elections on a grander scale than
ever, and then they pack the courts to uphold their fraudulent practices. Our
government is in collusion with oil executives, and the owners of the largest
companies to fleece the American public--fix prices, back out of pensions, cut
jobs or send them overseas where they don't have to pay living wages and
benefits.
All very
depressing and you don't want to hear it, and, at this point, I don't either.
The problem goes much deeper than Karl Rove or "Scooter" Libby or any of that.
The American political system has turned as corrupt as we used to say the
Soviets were. The difference is that we are the only remaining world power and,
as Anderson
Kiewper
would say, who's keeping
us
honest? Certainly not the voters nor the
taxpayers.
So I don't want
to spoil your Festivus... let's get a little closer to home and talk about the
holidays.
A
Pagan Holiday by Any Other
Name
Perhaps the most
distressing thing about the religious right commandeering our government is
their intolerance for anything that is not them. Intolerance for different
sexual orientation; different religions; different
sects
of religions; different races; different countries of origin; science and logic,
for christ's sake--we are getting to be one of the most small-minded countries
in the world, which is ironic considering we started out as a nation based on
representation, the separation of church and state, personal freedoms and the
pursuit of happiness. Ben Franklin would live in France or Canada if he were
alive today.
The latest
crock of pine cones is the line towed by the puffy-haired (which clearly
demonstrates how much air is in their heads) evangelists to "put the Christ
back" in Christmas. They are boycotting stores (I think this is the first time
that I've
cared
that WalMart has been a target!), harassing people, and further engendering a
climate of intolerance, discrimination, and
pettiness.
Put the Christ
back in Christmas. Well, as I've probably written before, Christ didn't
start
out in Christmas! This season
began as a pagan holiday--the solstice--to celebrate the return of light, and
kept getting co-opted along the way to suit the prevailing beliefs by the Romans
and then the Christians. The tree is a pagan symbol and Christ wasn't even
necessarily born in December. It was just a convenient time for a
holiday.
America was not
established as a Christian country; true, most of our founding "fathers" were
white, christian men, but they made it a point to preach tolerance and
separation. They were revolutionaries, and they were rebelling from state
religions such as the Anglican church. There are many religions in America--many
different types of Christians; as well as Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and
let's not forget atheists and agnostics. And a whole group of people (of which I
count myself) who believe they are "spiritual" but not religious. That something
greater perhaps exists, but we don't have the faculties to know what that is. Or
even whether it really is.
So there is no reason
people have to say "Merry Christmas" as opposed to the all-inclusive "Happy
Holidays," which discriminates against no one (except those who choose to
celebrate their most serious holidays at another time of year).
The next time you go to a
chain store where employees have been
instructed
to say "Merry Christmas," just reply with a greeting of your choice. Isn't that
what Christ would have
done?
YES, I AM INTOLERANT
OF INTOLERANCE!
Have a
scintillating Saturnalia, a swinging Solstice, a happy Chanukah, lovely Kwanzaa,
and a happy new year! Oh yeah, and merry Christmas!
Posted: Wed - December
14, 2005 at 12:48 PM
