The true Spirit of Christmas

This is just the best post I have read about being a progressive. Let the soon to be chaplai explain the true spirit of christmas. I often get frustrated with my friends and especially family as I can never understand how they are willing to trade convenience over what is simple matter of wht is right. Sure there isn't a dya that goes by that I don't wish, life were easier, but I think David Thoreau explained it best in Civil Disobedience when he said, If I devote myself to other pursuits and contemplations, I must first see, at least, that I do not pursue them sitting upon another man's shoulders. I must get off him first, that he may pursue his contemplations too. Read it here, My old rooomate Laura, decisions i don't have to make yet 12.15.05 Today here is who I want to be. I want a decent salary that allows me to go shopping every once in a while for things like shoes and clothes and nice things for my house and frequent trips to the coffee shop and out to eat, and I want a job that is easy enough that I still have the energy at the end of the day to socialize or call somebody or do anything other than sit. When I go shopping with my friends I would like to not feel bad about buying clothes that I know are made in sweatshops and coffee that I know was picked by slaves and not to think about how much more constructively I could be spending my money on people who really need it. And more than that, I would like to not make my friends feel like I'm judging them when we go out and I don't buy coffee or order food with meat when they do, etc. I'm really tired. There is the ministry thing, and it is exhausting. There are a lot of people involved in ministry, and that is indeed the kind of thing that wears me out. But that's not all. I'm tired of going to the mall and telling myself that if I buy I support worker exploitation. I'm tired of explaining why I'm a vegetarian. I'm tired of trying to conserve gas. I'm tired of worrying about other people who I don't even know and I wish I could just be a person with other priorities. I don't mean to sound like a martyr. I fail big time at most of the things I feel so righteous about, anyway. I have vowed to start buying all of my clothes at Goodwill a million times by now, and I still spend the majority of my cash on clothes from the Gap. This is what makes me tired. I just walk around feeling guilty all the time. I feel guilty because there are things I know to be true. I KNOW that chocolate is produced by slaves--real, 18th-century-American-style slaves who are bought and sold and unpaid and whipped and held against their will. I KNOW from the Gap's own reports that they use sweatshop labor. I KNOW that I could survive quite happily on far less energy and resources and waste. And I go and read the Bible and I am convinced, I can't read it any other way, that supporting this kind of waste and exploitation is antithetical to the whole point of being a Christian. Oh. This is not about heaven. This is not that I feel guilty because I sin and I am still saved by grace and I feel bad that Jesus suffered so much so that I can sin and still go to heaven. That's not my theology at all. It's just that here is God's precious creation and my brothers and sisters in Christ who I claim to love who looked right in my eye and told me to go serve them, to be a steward to this kingdom, to love these people as Christ loves them. It's just that in affirming my faith in Christ I say that I care about this creation, too, and I feel guilty about lying. But today I don't want to stop lying by going out and living how I know I should live. I want to stop lying by stopping with the caring altogether. I want to stop caring. I want to go to church on Sunday and work any old job and buy any old thing as long as I'm happy and be glad that I'll go to heaven someday because I professed Jesus as my personal lord and savior and all of that. I want to just buy a hot leather jacket and shop anywhere and drink all of that coffee and throw shit away not worry about who is suffering for it. But I can't.

Bringing the War to Santa

War on Santa by Philip Kovacs After returning from the mall, I've decided that the "War on Christmas" is being waged in the wrong place, in the wrong way, and at the wrong time. The enemy is not "Happy Holidays," the enemy is Santa Claus, and if you'll bear with me, I think it's time for progressives and conservatives, and all the wise refusing such nonsense labels, to unite against this elf. Santa is Satan and his nefarious goal is replacing the spirit of Christ (open to a great deal of interpretation) with crass consumerism. "What are you getting for Christmas? What do you want for Christmas? What do you want from Santa? What's Santa bringing you? What's in Santa's bag this year?" Goodies, that's what's in Santa's bag. Goodies massed produced by, well, a bunch of enslaved minority workers secreted away in a hard to reach location. Eight Compelling reasons for the Satan-fication of Santa. 1. The guy comes into your house under cover of darkness, appearing in the fire for goodness sake, and he doesn't get burned. He likes fire, and indeed, is fire. 2. He's jolly all right; how many shots can you do in a night? The drunken glutton (leave cookies out for him do you?) then proceeds to scatter "presents" as if they were worth anything compared to the actual presence of spirit. Think "Dress Me Up Barbie" left under a tree vs. spending an hour contemplating or living the Sermon on the Mount. It's hard to wrap the latter, and even harder to wrap sitting mindfully and appreciative with family and friends. Or, for you Zen masters, how does one wrap a walk down the street with your forty year old, but still functional, rod-o-enlightenment? Is your child asking for a greater appreciation of life and love this year? Are you? 3. Christmas today is about letters to Santa and praying for commodities. Unless I'm horribly mistaken letters to Santa generally go something like "This Christmas I want, and I want, and I want." Rarely, I venture to say, does a letter get to Santa along the lines of "Dear Santa, how about peace in the Middle East?" Or, "Dear Santa, how about genuine participatory democracy here before we 'give' it to others?" Or this rare one, "Dear Jesus, this Christmas, I was wondering if you could feed the 20,000 people who will die of malnutrition on your birthday. If it helps, you can tell Santa to take my presents, sell them, and use the money to help rebuild a home destroyed by a hurricane or war of his choice." How about an America where one million people wrote that letter? 4. Elves. Where are they from? How are they paid? I bet it's seasonal, so no health care. Is there a union? Doubtful. Please picture Santa as CEO, a fat Bossman in a red leisure suit complete with sealskin boots. Where Jesus has disciples spreading the gospel, Santa has elves, manufacturing rewards for good behavior. In rags travels one, in riches travels the other. 5. Enchanted, flying, glowing, deer. How many miracles involve flying deer? Let's see, there's water to wine, brilliant, but no flying deer. While the resurrection was impressive, maybe even frightening, no flying deer. Now if you turn to Harry Potter, a source for a number of hot commodities this Christmas season, well flying deer are just the beginning. "Thanks Jesus for the wand and robes and my first-person shoot-you-up video game, but you forgot the broom." 6. In Dante's Inferno Satan is depicted as frozen because he is so far from God's love. Why the North Pole? If you had access to the hearts, minds, and homes of every kid in America would you live in an ice-castle? No, you'd live in Disney World. The North Pole is the only place you can keep an army of elves and enchanted deer, that's why the North Pole. And even more importantly, it's the only place Satan can reside without burning up. He's too hot to live anywhere else, and if he stops longer than a nanosecond, he combusts, which explains why you never see him. This brings us to his untraceable global presence. 7. His sleigh moves faster than the speed of light so Satan can return to the North Pole, his frozen den if you will, without combusting. Environmentally friendly? I think not. "Dear Santa, this Christmas, when you are flying over the oceans and the cities and the mountains and the rivers, would you mind looking down and asking yourself, what would Jesus do? You do make judgments, right Santa?" 8. How does Santa know if I've been good or bad? Ten thousand spies scattered throughout malls across the country helps. But who is he to judge? Only the most judgmental angel in the history of angels, Lucifer himself. Patriot Act my ass, the CIA has loads to learn from Santa. You want to talk about social control? Then let's talk about a nation of children disciplined by one phrase: "Stop or Santa won't be bringing you anything this year." Let the above argument settle in for a minute and ask yourself, "is this a guy I want my children writing?" Progressives who are against consumptive culture should find a welcoming ear amongst conservatives (conservatives - not extremists) troubled by the loss of Christian values as Santa upsets both. Are conservatives up in arms about what Christmas has really become? And are progressives who moan about consumptive culture actually doing anything about it? My modest proposal: nothing brings people together like a disaster. This Christmas, why don't we all celebrate the true spirit of giving by giving our children and our money to a War on Santa? We must unite and end Santa's reign with a full invasion of the North Pole. The elves will certainly greet us as liberators; we'll be out in less than 6 months; it won't cost more than a few billion dollars; and it will stabilize the region. Philip Kovacs is working on his Ph.D. in Social Foundations at Georgia State University. Feel free to e-mail him pictures of coal...philipkovacs@yahoo.com.

Activist Judge Cancels Christmas

Activist Judge Cancels Christmas WASHINGTON, DC—In a sudden and unexpected blow to the Americans working to protect the holiday, liberal U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Stephen Reinhardt ruled the private celebration of Christmas unconstitutional Monday. "In accordance with my activist agenda to secularize the nation, this court finds Christmas to be unlawful," Judge Reinhardt said. "The celebration of the birth of the philosopher Jesus—be it in the form of gift-giving, the singing of carols, fanciful decorations, or general good cheer and warm feelings amongst families—is in violation of the First Amendment principles upon which this great nation was founded." In addition to forbidding the celebration of Christmas in any form, Judge Reinhardt has made it illegal to say "Merry Christmas." Instead, he has ruled that Americans must say "Happy Holidays" or "Vacaciones Felices" if they wish to extend good tidings. Within an hour of the judge's verdict, National Guard troops were mobilized to enforce the controversial ruling. "Sorry, kids, no Christmas this year," Beloit, WI mall Santa Gene Ernot said as he was led away from his Santa's Village in leg irons. "Write to your congressman to put a stop to these liberal activist judges. It's up to you to save Christmas! Ho ho ho!" Said Pvt. Stanley Cope, who tasered Ernot for his outburst: "We're fighting an unpopular war on Christmas, but what can we do? The military has no choice but to take orders from a lone activist judge." Across America, the decision of the all-powerful liberal courts was met with shock and disappointment, as American families quietly took down their holiday decorations and canceled their plans to gather and make merry. "They've been chipping away at Christmas rights for decades," Fox News personality John Gibson said. "Even before this ruling, you couldn't hear a Christmas song on the radio or in a department store. I hate to say it, America, but I told you so." Gibson then went into hiding, vowing to be a vital part of the Christmas resistance that would eventually triumph and bring Christmas back to the United States and its retail stores. The ban is not limited to the retail sector. In support of Reinhardt's ruling, Sen. Ted Kennedy, a Jew, introduced legislation that would mandate the registration of every Christian in the United States and subject their houses to random searches to ensure they are not celebrating Christmas. "Getting rid of every wreath or nativity scene is not enough," Kennedy said. "In order to ensure that Americans of every belief feel comfortable in any home or business, we must eliminate all traces of this offensive holiday. My yellow belly quakes with fear at the thought of offending any foreigners, atheists, or child molesters." America's children are bearing the brunt of Reinhardt's marginal, activist rulings. "Why did the bad man take away Christmas?" 5-year-old Danny Dover said. "I made a card for my mommy out of paper and glue, and now I can't give it to her." Shortly after Dover issued his statement, police kicked down his door, removed his holiday tree, confiscated his presents, and crushed his homemade card underfoot. A broad, bipartisan coalition of lawmakers has been working closely with the White House, banding together in the hope of somehow overruling the decision. So far, however, their efforts have been fruitless. "Our hearts go out to the Americans this ruling affects," Sen. Chip Pickering (R-MS) said. "If it's any condolence, I wish you all a Happy Holidays, which, I'm afraid, is all I'm legally allowed to say at this time."

The Pope Agrees With Me

What I think is missed in all this hysteria about the War on Christmas is that nothing could be farther from the importance of Christmas than whether stores say, "Merry Christmas." If anything Christians should be encouraging stores to stop including their RELIGOUS holiday into the consumerist hysteria. If Bill O'Reilley or John Gibson actually cared about the celebration, precerving its integrity would mean stop stores from trying to make so much money on the birth of their savior. Pope: Christmas Polluted by Consumerism "In today's consumer society, this time (of the year) is unfortunately subjected to a sort of commercial 'pollution' that is in danger of altering its true spirit, which is characterized by meditation, sobriety and by a joy that is not exterior but intimate," the pope said in his traditional Sunday blessing." As a Jew I sure as shit would be pissed if they started commercializing Passover or Yom Kippur...

Great Post: Why Bill O'Reilley is Evil

Open Letter to Bill O'Reilly: It's Bill of Rights, Not Bill's Rights! Larisa Alexandrovna Poet Managing editor of Raw Story Her Bio is actually amazing, fled from the USSR, moved to America famous and brilliant Poet. Here is the Post: Dear Mr. O'Reilly: We all know that you make a living selling the “victimization of hate” concept, a not entirely new genre in scapegoating, Germany in the 1930’s, for example, already had a horrifically successful run at it. So while not original, somehow you still manage to make a fortune spewing the kind of filth that would even make the Soviets blush. Everyone is quite aware of your penchant for lying, in frequency only second, perhaps, to Ann Coulter’s proclivity for self-hate, pathetically heaved up and served like poison in hopes of making everyone as bitter as she is. Your hate bravado, however, is something that requires a whole new category, and Fox News selling this filth only illustrates what I have always believed to be true about corruption and greed: Namely, both matter more than Christian values and both have no nationality. (Perhaps when the Lincoln and Rendon Group contracts are up, someone might consider taking a closer look at Fox News and what, if any, type of contract they may have with the military industrial complex. Sure, it is easy to write this garbage off as a bid for ratings, but given the extremism, anti-American sentiments, and real and absolute contempt for all things truly American that are regularly displayed on your show, it is doubtful you are merely churning up the numbers. Even hate consumers apparently have a limit.). But I digress. In truth, Mr. O’Reilly, for all your ravings about who is a traitor and who is not, you forget the most basic definition of treason, and you also seem to forget where that definition is located. I suggest you turn to the actual document that this nation is built on, the Constitution (not the Bible), which starts with something called the Bill of Rights. Now, while you have managed to make racial slurs against anyone who simply prefers to use one word over another to refer to a specific holiday, you may have missed something key in this particular document, the Constitution, that is. You may have missed that allegiance to and defense of the Constitution is the first responsibility of a patriot, followed by allegiance to and defense of the nation. Note: The country as a whole is second to the Constitution on the loyalty scale. Against this backdrop, the real stage of history, you, Mr. O’Reilly, would fall very much on the wrong side of the good fight. Consider your incessant rage against the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), for example, an organization that you call “traitors” on a regular basis. You call so many people and organizations traitors that it is hard to choose just one, but the ACLU does provide the easiest of arguments. Do you know what the ACLU really is or what it is for? I suspect that you must have spent oodles of hours researching this particular organization to be able to so thoroughly and consistently refer to them as traitors, right? Bill Learns Reality, 101 The ACLU has one and only one client, a non-partisan, wholly American client: The Bill of Rights. Now, given that patriotism must first demand the defense of the Constitution before anything else (see my column on being an American), one could argue quite easily that the ACLU is the patriot in this argument and you, Mr. O’Reilly, are the traitor. No? After all, they are simply doing what every American is tasked with and should be doing, defending the reason and foundation for this country, while you are demanding an all out assault on that very same reason and foundation. The same ACLU that you decry as traitors is made up, astonishingly enough, of Republicans (read: real Republicans, not theocrats or neo-fascists), Democrats, Independents, and every shade of political thought in between a Democracy and a Republic. The ACLU’s membership numbers in the millions and is made up of Christians as well as Jews, Muslims, and so forth. In case you should require additional proof that the evil, liberal, ever-plotting ACLU is anything but, consider that one of their clients is none other than Rush Limbaugh. Now it can hardly be said that old Rush is part of some grand left wing conspiracy - right wing probably, left wing, not hardly. The waters are a bit muddied here, so perhaps I can better help you clarify your real objection to the Bill of Rights - and extended to all actual Americans - by asking you a series of questions. For brevity, I will only cover the First Amendment: "If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein," Justice Robert Jackson (West Virginia v. Barnette). Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. On Free Speech: While you seem to enjoy the benefits of free speech, clearly you are unwilling to share that right with others. Is this the correct interpretation of why you are waging a war against the Bill of Rights? On Religion: While you seem to respect the pomp more than the actual substance of religion, you still would rather see only your religion practiced and only with your narrow practice, is this correct? Is this the correct interpretation of why you are waging a war against the Bill of Rights?On a Free Press: Your own position on a so-called news channel should prove without doubt that freedom of the press has extended even to the bowels of payola, confusion, misinformation, and a general brothel of crap floating on the outer banks of decency and anything remotely resembling human reason. Is it correct to say that you want to secure the right of a free press so long as it is made of the type of sewage that flows out of Mr. Murdoch’s toilet? Is this the correct interpretation of why you are waging a war against the Bill of Rights?On Peaceable Assembly: While you and your backers meet at every nanosecond to determine the most cost-effective way to keep hate prettily packaged, you find it repugnant that others would meet for non-profit-related reasons. You seem to find it horrific that Americans (Christians and Jews and Muslims alike) should stand peacefully against an illegal war, yet you take no issue with working for a corporation willing to sell those same Americans into death for profit. You even attack grieving mothers who gave their sons and daughters for this country as traitors. Are you afraid of your own cowardice in the face of such courage? Is this the correct interpretation of why you are waging a war against the Bill of Rights? On Redressing Grievances: So your position then, given your absolute loathing of the First Amendment, is that the government (the people’s government), should ignore its constituents, deprive them of a right to be heard, and in general run largely disinterested in or unaccountable to the citizenry? Let me remind you what our founding fathers thought of King George, that other George, who was just as arrogant and indifferent as the current one: "In every state of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people." The above is from still another important American, real American, wholly American document: the Declaration of Independence But really, let’s get down to the marrow of it: What is your problem with this particular section of the First Amendment? Are you opposed to the right to redress grievances because such a right might compel a company such as the one you work for to be accountable for its own abuses? Is this the correct interpretation of why you are waging a war against the Bill of Rights? I do not expect that you will answer these questions, because in doing so you would either expose yourself as an utter and complete buffoon (to your fans that is) who can barely keep his loofah afloat every morning or you would expose yourself as an opportunist of the worst kind (to your fans that is). Whatever the reality of your embedded psyche and moral compass may be, you can trust that the majority of the public is smarter and more honest than you are. Your fans will get a grip on reality eventually because even the most inane of us has some ability to eventually think. So feel free to channel and express your inner Joe McCarthy. I suspect that you will be nothing more than a footnote to the national embarrassment that we now see McCarthyism as. Imagine that, your entire life nothing more than a footnote to a national disgrace and the epitome of un-American.

Gruesome

It just doesn't feel right. Should We be doing this as mere humans? Williams, 51, died at 12:35 a.m. Officials at San Quentin State Prison seemed to have trouble injecting the lethal mixture into his muscular arm. As they struggled to find a vein, Williams looked up repeatedly and appeared frustrated, shaking his head at supporters and other witnesses. "You doing that right?" it sounded as if he asked one of the men with a needle. In the Comments Section of last Post The Invisible Man wrote this, READ HIS BLOG its great. Here is a better explanation of why the death penalty is wrong. I too am against the death penalty. It is an extreme, barbaric, primitive and uncivilized act. There is no logic in murdering a human being to punish that person for the crime of murder. Capital punishment amounts to nothing more than vengeance and, as such, is an act which is devoid of civility. In a society that states parenthetically that the killing of a person is wrong, capital punishment is the apex of arrogance and hypocracy. I do favor the imprisonment of murderers for the remainder of their natural life. Let them spend the rest of their days repaying the families and society for their crimes through hard labor. There is a difference between revenge and justice. Jesus saved Mary from being put to death for her crime against society. Christians should try to follow his lead. That is what real Christians would do. Jesus was a man of peace and not a man of vengeance.

Stanley Tookie Williams to be murdered

The Reason I am against the Death Penalty is that THIS PERSON Should not be making life and death moral decisions on our behalf. Certainly not for this man: "SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California Gov. denied clemency on Monday to former Crips gang leader Stanley Tookie Williams, who is slated to be executed early on Tuesday for murdering four people in 1979. The case has generated widespread interest and fierce debate over the death penalty in the United States because Williams, 51, has written a series of books warning young people against gangs and says he has found redemption. His supporters argued he should have been spared so that he could continue his anti-gang work from behind bars. POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS? [can you believe there should be any?] Schwarzenegger, weakened by a stinging loss on all his initiatives in a special election he called last month, would have risked alienating his Republican party if he granted clemency. Williams was convicted in 1981 of killing Albert Owens as he lay facing downward on the floor of a 7-Eleven convenience store in a $120 robbery. Two weeks after the robbery, Williams shot dead an elderly Taiwanese immigrant couple running a motel. Williams has said he did not commit the murders, but said he hurt many people as leader of the Crips gang in the Los Angeles area." $120 what are we doing? What type of people are we making that anyone would kill someone for that? I pray for us all. That we allow that man to make this decision.

Happy Holidays

JUST SO "THE CHRISTMAS WARRIORS" KNOW ITS CALLED HAPPY HOLIDAYS BECAUSE CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEARS RUN TOGETHER NOT NOT BECAUSE OF SOME LIBERAL PROGRESSIVE SECULARISTS See in the English language we represent plural with an "S" and since there are 2 different celebrations we put it together with HOLIDAY(S). And since the TWO holidays coincide with a few days for which most businesses are not open. the Businesses put it together and we call it HAPPY HOLIDAYS. ridiculous

Why I am Fighting against the so called War Against Christmas

This quote is really all you need to know about why I have been dedicating this week to fighting the FAUX channels fake war on christmas: Religious conservatives have a cause this holiday season: the commercialization of Christmas. They're for it. This year's Christmas "defenders" are not just tolerating commercialization - they're insisting on it. They are also rewriting Christmas history on another key point: non-Christians' objection to having the holiday forced on them. Its not just the perversion of a christian holidy, it is a pervesion of religion. To make this manufactured holidy proof of some conspiracy and financial gain is so disgusting and immoral. To me it is the same line of logic that you can make religion do anything to influence people. Regardless of how against the actual message of that religion. ITS JUST WRONG... Find the rest of this New York Times Editorial HERE: Its worth the read. More good quotes below: Other non-Christians have long expressed similar concerns. For decades, companies have replaced "Christmas parties" with "holiday parties," schools have adopted "winter breaks" instead of "Christmas breaks," and TV stations and stores have used phrases like "Happy Holidays" and "Season's Greetings" out of respect for the nation's religious diversity. The Christmas that Mr. O'Reilly and his allies are promoting - one closely aligned with retailers, with a smack-down attitude toward nonobservers - fits with their campaign to make America more like a theocracy, with Christian displays on public property and Christian prayer in public schools.

The ACLU as the War on Christmas Leader

Bill O'Reilly (as he is really the only one talking about the War on Christmas) loves to blame the ACLU for its war on christmas... I have been talking about why this is stupid... Here is a good response from the ACLU. How the ACLU Didn't Steal Christmas When the angry phone calls and e-mails started arriving at the office, I knew the holiday season was upon us. A typical message shouted that we at the American Civil Liberties Union affiliate in Indiana are "horrible" and "we should be ashamed of ourselves," then concluded with an incongruous and agitated "Merry Christmas." We get this type of correspondence a lot, mostly in reaction to a well-organized attempt by extremist groups to demonize the ACLU, crush religious diversity and make a few bucks in the process. Sadly, this self-interested effort is being promoted in the guise of defending Christmas. For example, the Alliance Defense Fund celebrates the season with an "It's OK to say Merry Christmas" campaign, implying that the ACLU has challenged such holiday greetings. (As part of the effort, you can get a pamphlet and two Christmas pins for $29.) The Web site, WorldNetDaily, touts a book claiming "a thorough and virulent anti-Christmas campaign is being waged today by liberal activists and ACLU fanatics." The site's magazine has suggested there will be ACLU efforts to remove "In God We Trust" from U.S. currency, fire military chaplains and expunge all references to God in America's founding documents. (Learn more for just $19.95 . . . ) Of course, there is no "Merry Christmas" lawsuit, nor is there any ACLU litigation about U.S. currency, military chaplains, etc. But the facts are not important to these groups, because their real message is this: By protecting the freedom of Muslims, Jews and other non-Christians through preventing government entanglement with religion, the ACLU is somehow infringing on the rights of those with majority religious beliefs. In truth, it is these Web-site Christians who are taking the Christ out of the season. Nowhere in the Sermon on the Mount did Jesus Christ ask that we celebrate his birth with narrow-mindedness and intolerance, especially for those who are already marginalized and persecuted. Instead, the New Testament -- like the Torah and the Quran and countless other sacred texts -- commands us to love our neighbor and to comfort the sick and the imprisoned. That's what the ACLU does. We live in a country filled with people who are sick and disabled, people who are imprisoned, and people who hunger and thirst for justice. Those people come to our Indiana offices for help at a rate of several hundred a week, usually because they have nowhere else to turn. The least of our brothers and sisters sure aren't getting any help from the Alliance Defense Fund or WorldNet Daily. So, as often as we can, ACLU secures justice for those folks for whom Jesus worried the most. As part of our justice mission, we work hard to protect the rights of free religious expression for all people, including Christians. For example, we recently defended the First Amendment rights of a Baptist minister to preach his message on public streets in Southern Indiana. The ACLU intervened on behalf of a Christian valedictorian in a Michigan high school, which agreed to stop censoring religious yearbook entries and supported the rights of Iowa students to distribute Christian literature at their school. There are many more examples, because the ACLU is committed to preserving the constitutional guarantee of religious freedom for all. We agree with the U.S. Supreme Court's firm rulings that this freedom means that children who grow up in non-Christian homes should not be made to feel like outsiders in their own community's courthouse, legislature or public schoolhouse.

Foudning Father's and Christmas

After the American Revolution, English customs fell out of favor, including Christmas. In fact, Congress was in session on December 25, 1789, the first Christmas under America's new constitution. This is according to the Historychannel.com. All this talk in the war against christmas, is a factual lie. In fact the tradition was brought to us by our ENEMIES. By the people sent here to end our revolution. As http://www.christmas-tree.com/where.html explains: The Christmas tree tradition ...came to the United States with Hessian troops during the American Revolution. And we hated the holiday in our early days. The Puritans banned Christmas in New England. Even as late as 1851, a Cleveland minister nearly lost his job because he allowed a tree in his church. Schools in Boston stayed open on Christmas Day through 1870, and sometimes expelled students who stayed home. The earliest white Christian Americans that Bill O'Reily uses as the rational for why we should not be inclusive and use "Happy Holidays" instead of Merry Christmas. History Channel.com explains further. The pilgrims, English separatists that came to America in 1620, were even more orthodox in their Puritan beliefs than Cromwell. As a result, Christmas was not a holiday in early America. From 1659 to 1681... Anyone exhibiting the Christmas spirit was fined. They were probably on to something.

The War on Christmas

I have had to comment on this because as many of you know, I am not a fan of the HOLIDAY season. Apparently people like me, according to Faux News has endangered the future of this Pagan Holiday. I will be dedicating my time to the War on Christmas, mostly because it cracks me up, but also to show the complete lack of honesty and fear mongering the crazy crazies are actively engaged in. Why I don't like Christmas: If Christmas were a religious holiday I would be its biggest fan. I am all about celebrating the birth of Jesus, even as a Jew, Jesus life has important lessons about the importance of dedicating your life to peace, love and justice. The guide of his life, of self-lessness and good deeds as a G-dly life, is a lesson I try to live daily. But Christmas, a day set a side by Pagans to honor the Roman G-d of Saturn, the festival of Saturnalia, was no where near when Jesus was born. Most religious scholars agree that Jesus was mostly like born in the summer months. Regardless it could be argued that it doesn't matter the real day of his birth as long as we dedicate a day to commemorate it. Something I completely agree with. According to the Leftist anti Christmas hating site http://www.christmas-tree.com/ (sarcasm added by my.. its actually a very pro Christmas sight) The Romans decorated their houses with greens and lights and exchanged gifts. They gave coins for prosperity, pastries for happiness, and lamps to light one's journey through life. Centuries ago in Great Britain, woods priests called Druids used evergreens during mysterious winter solstice rituals. The Druids used holly and mistletoe as symbols of eternal life, and place evergreen branches over doors to keep away evil spirits. My point is this, the celebration has nothing to do with Jesus... so any customs around Christmas are really just Pagan Customs and have nothing to do with Chritianity. Bad Music, fake happiness, lying to children, and over abundant consumerism have nothing to do with Jesus life. The holiday is just obnoxious and a perversion of Jesus life. Everyone pretending to be nice as we dutifully head off to buy goods made by extremely poor people, at poor wages, under inhuman conditions, sold to us by equally poor people unable to have access to the basic right of health service. Meanwhile bad music written mostly by Jews I might add, is blasted all over. People struggle to find the right things to BUY the love of their relatives or at least their appeasement. Haven't even touched up that fat white guy in a tight red suit. Little children are told a big fat white guy with a beard is there to give them presents is they are robots of goodness. Santa has the ability to travel around the world in one night. Instead of bringing food or drugs to underprivledged starving children he uses this miraculous ability to bring cheap plastic crap. Its just ridiculous. We should be nice to each other year round, bring joy no matter what. Have peace on earth because its what Jesus would want 365 days a year, not the arbitrary day we set aside to celebrate it. We should have colorful lights all the time, because they are nice. Enjoy nature all the time, not just one bring in a dying tree once a year. And we should enjoy our family, gifts can be with that (I am far from anti-gifts I love gifts), but we should enjoy the time, and de-emphasize the STUFF. I think http://www.raptureready.com/faq/faq156.html explains it well: I do not hesitate to say that Jesus does not care which day we choose to celebrate His birth as long as we remember Him throughout the whole year. Having one day set aside in special tribute to Him is good. It must pain Him, though, when people claim to be celebrating His birth but hardly think of Him on Christmas Day as they hurriedly prepare gifts and fancy meals and rush through their traditions. Next Christmas--and every day--pause in the middle of your hustle and bustle to reflect on that little baby, born in a stable, who came to save the world--and you.

Sex For One

After the last post, my friend Joanna had sum suggested reading for me to get through this year at SOAS. Found Here:

Creativity linked to sexual success

Finally a scientific study that explains me. Psychologists at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne and the Open University in Britain found that professional artists and poets have about twice as many partners as other people. "Poets and artists have more sexual partners but they also have high rates of depression," he told Reuters. Read the Whole Thing HERE:

Montreal, Is there anything We Can Really Do?

Global Climate Change is a dangerous problem, whose negative effects have yet to be truly felt. But there is something we can do, NOW that would be a simple steps in the right direction. Mandatory caps on carbon emissions in the U.S. and other developed nations. All developed countries should introduce national mandatory so-called "cap-and-trade" systems for carbon emissions, harnessing market forces to curb pollution. Governments should also increase investment in energy efficient technologies and practices through such measures as the phase-out of fossil fuel subsidies and requiring export credit agencies and multilateral development banks to adopt minimum efficiency or carbon intensity standards for projects they support. Establish a long-term climate objective and build momentum to stop the rapid increase in the earth's temperature. A long-term objective should be established to prevent global average temperature from rising more than 2°C (3.6°F) above the pre-industrial level, to limit the extent and magnitude of climate-change impacts. A global framework should be set up that builds on existing international agreements, and enables all countries to be part of concerted action on climate change at the global level in the post-2012 period. A focus on developing renewable energy sources and more sustainable forms of agriculture. G8 governments should work to establish national renewable portfolio standards to generate at least 25 percent of electricity from renewable energy sources by 2025. G8 governments should also increase their spending on energy research and development and shift agricultural subsidies from food crops to biofuels while safeguarding sustainable agriculture and biodiversity. http://www.stopglobalwarming.org/marchers/?2631&e=1 March As well