Wednesday
I talked with John and Rana this morning. Well, it was evening for them, but why quibble? I found out something very amusing: My site is blocked in China… but Maddox’ site is not blocked. I don’t understand it, but it makes me laugh. I’ll have to be sure to pass that along to Maddox.

Most of the afternoon was spent spreading a little Christmas cheer – , and I delivered Christmas presents to a few folks. Then it was off to Borders while did some Christmas shopping for me. Nyx and I had a good chat over coffee and I got a new drawing started.

Tonight was RPG Night at Nyx and Nox’ place. No one died. That’s a good thing. It started snowing (again) this evening as I was on the way to their apartment. Apparently, it snowed for a while. I like being able to see the lines in the road; unfortunately, they weren’t always visible. But I made it home in one piece. That’s a good thing, too.

News
Morning Edition: 30 Years of Garrison Keillor
Talk of the Nation: House of Explorers: National Geographic
Day to Day: An Atheist’s Faith in Christmas
All Things Considered: Ancient, Complex Peruvian Communities Explored
Fresh Air: Rapper and Actor Mos Def

Space.com: Asteroid Buzzes Earth, Highlighting Cosmic Blind Spot

Random Access
Whose Holiday Is It Anyway?

I don’t think that I can adequately put into words how asinine I think that the current wave of holiday-related lawsuits is. But that’s not going to stop me from trying.

After listening to yesterday’s Day to Day story about Nativity Scenes Spark Not-So-Jolly Suits, I decided that I wanted to vent my spleen. The story mentioned a number of different cases including, but not limited to:

  • FL: A federal judge orders a town to allow a Nativity after a menorah was allowed to be displayed.
  • NJ: The singing of Jingle Bell Rock is allowed in schools… but not Silent Night.
  • NY: A New York City school policy allows menorahs to be displayed for Hanukkah and crescents for Ramadan, but does not allow Nativity scenes for Christmas.
  • CT: A Nativity scene was ordered to be taken down because atheists felt that it infringed on the separation of church and state.

It seems as though displaying Santa Claus and trees is allowable as they are secular icons, but Nativity scenes – being religious in nature – are not.

On the other side, there are also suits in favor of religious expression:

  • CA: There is a group boycotting any store where employees say “Seasons Greetings” instead of “Merry Christmas.”
  • TX: A boy got a court order allowing him to give out candy canes – with the story of Jesus attached – to his classmates.

The bases of these suits is basically this: You can’t permit the display of Hanukkah, Ramadan and Kwanzaa symbology but not permit Christmas ones – that is considered persecuting one religion. According to the Day to Day story, many problems come from “Lemon Test” from the 1970s which was supposed to clarify when the states has gotten entangled with religion but has instead created a morass of different rules around the country.

*** deep breath ***

America the Beautiful.
Home of the free and the brave.
And the incredibly stupid.

Unless everything that I recall learning in U.S. History was a clever fabrication, this country was created with a foundation that included freedom of religion. “Of. Religion.” That does not mean “freedom from religion.” Also, we often hear talk of “separation of church and state” being in the Constitution and/or the Bill of Rights.

Guess what…

It’s not.

What it does say is:

Amendment I
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.

In layman’s terms: Congress can’t tell you “Religion X is the official religion of the United States of America.” Nor can it tell you that your religion is “wrong.” Period.

I was raised Baptist, with a good dose of Methodist and a smidgen of African Methodist Episcopal. When I’m home for certain holidays, I attend Catholic Mass with my uncle. I went to a predominantly Jewish, but not parochial, high school. One of my best friends converted from the Baptist church to Islam a few years ago. I have a couple of friends who are practicing Buddhists. I currently live in Utah, the seat of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I think that it’s fairly safe to say that I have had a fair amount of religious influence in my life. I won’t say that my faith is better than your faith… or yours… or even yours. I won’t even say that it’s better than someone’s lack of faith. All that I can say is: My faith works for me. If you ask me questions about it, I’ll gladly answer, but I’m not going to try and force it down your throat just because you don’t believe the same thing that I do.

Neil Peart, drummer for the band Rush, had the following to say in the liner notes for the program for the band’s “Roll the Bones” tour:

Be-bop or a one-drop or a hip-hop lite-pop-metalist
Yep — no matter what kind of song you choose to play, you’re betting your life on it, for good or ill, and what you believe is what you are. So there. However you slice it, you’re taking a chance, and you might not be right. (Just this once.) No one can ever be sure, in this best of all possible universes.

That’s why the essence of these songs is: if there’s a chance, you might as well take it. So what if some parts of life are a crap shoot? Get out there and shoot the crap. A random universe doesn’t have to be futile; we can change the odds, load the dice and shoot again.

And there’s no escaping the dice; even if you try to take the sting out of a random universe by embracing the prefab structure of Faith, you still have to gamble that it’s the right one. Say the secret word and win a hundred dollars. For anyone who hasn’t seen Groucho Marx’s game show “You Bet Your Life,” I mean that no one but Groucho knows the secret word, and one guess is as good as another. You might have lived a good long life as an exemplary Christian, only to be met at the gates of heaven by Mohammed…

Anything can happen. That is called fate.

Simple. Direct. And a pretty accurate summation of my opinion.

There’s no good reason that I can think of to give another person grief about their paradigm. To be honest, each of us has more than enough on our own plates to deal with. If you can find the time to belittle someone else’s beliefs, you might really want to take a look at your own and make sure that there aren’t any chinks in your own armor. (And, I’ll bet dollars to doughnuts that you’ll find a few imperfections if you look closely enough. I’m sorry, I should have said “…if you’re willing to look closely enough.”)

As I mentioned earlier, this country was created with a foundation that included freedom of religion. Just because some members of a given faith commit an atrocious act that the same desires burn in all members of that faith. Radicals exist in every religion. And, guess what: There are even secular radicals. It comes as part of the whole “being human” package. It’s listed under “Factory Options” as “Free will.” Whether you choose to act like an idiot is up to you, but be sure that you are aware of the possible consequences and that you’re fully willing to accept said consequences if your actions step outside of acceptable bounds.

Here’s an outrageous concept: Why not take the time to learn about different religions and/or non-religious beliefs? What do you have to lose? Well, you might lose a few inaccurate preconceived notions, but is that really a “bad” thing? I don’t think so. You might even find that there aren’t as many differences in the core concepts as you might have thought.

So, the next time that you – or someone that you know – is faced with a different belief system, don’t be so quick to take offense. Try to act like a rational, reasonable person (yes, I know that this will be hard for some people) and listen. If you don’t agree, say so. Chances are better than even that the other person will respect you more for being willing to admit that you disagree than for just portraying yourself as an insensitive and closed-minded prick.

And, by the way: Merry Christmas.

Stray Toasters

  • This morning, I stitched a couple of holes in a jacket that I haven’t worn in a couple of years. Aside from the holes, the jacket was in great condition, but the holes weren’t exactly small. I think that I did a pretty decent job… especially since I used thread that’s not the same color as the jacket. But, unless someone is standing inside my personal D.E.W. line, the chances of them noticing are pretty slim.
  • It’s been a while since I’ve mentioned it, but I still want to build a ‘Mech. This morning, CNet News had this story about Giant Robots in the Backyard. And that’s pretty neat, too.
  • By way of : Echo
  • This is the way that John Constantine should look!
  • told Nyx and me that she was channel surfing the on her radio this morning when she heard something that made her stop. It sounded like Adam Sandler’s The Hanukkah Song… but it wasn’t. It was a parody. And, in her opinion, it was a poor one. Nyx then sought out the offensive ditty. What she found was The Mormon Thing.
  • From Broken Frontier: Why do you love comics? and Stay Awake for Lullaby
  • Westbound and Down along with Eastbound and Down
  • : Click here (…and here and here and here and here).
    : Two words: “Tom. Welling.”

  • “You are so full of crap.”

Namaste.