*groans*

[kat_chan]

Someone I know who works in the US House of Representatives (name withheld to protect his/her innocence) received the following communication.

Dear Colleague

Comments

[incendiarymind]

You should really listen to the "Blast The Right" podcast (#19) on this subject. Dude's from the religious left and he's taking a piece out of O'Reilly (who he refers to as a right wing psuedo-Christian) for a lot of the same reasons. It's brilliant!

[kat_chan]

I don't begrudge the Christians who aren't in-your-face about it, but I do dispute how innocuous it is for a government to have a plastic nativity out without also having a menorah out (since Christmas and Hannakuh happen around the same time every year). The government isn't supposed to take a position on religion. Having the symbols out for one religion's holidays, but not another's, that's taking a position on religion. But I'm not the sort who thinks that religious symbols ought to be absent. On the other hand, I understand the atheists' counter-argument, which is that by having any religious symbols out that the government is taking a position on religion by affirming the existance of religions.

"I don't go to my pastor legal guidance, and I shouldn't be getting spiritual guidance from my government" is probably the best tenet by which to live, and I wish more people did so. We'd probably get along much better if we did.

[incendiarymind]

The government is allowed to state that religion exists, just not choose one religion as an officially sanctioned one or disallow the practices of other religions besides that one.

[kat_chan]

Oh, I know that they're allowed to say that religion exists (no matter how deluded I may or may not think that to be). I'm just saying that I understand the atheists' arguement that acknowledging religion exists is tantamount to endorsing it in contrast to one's being areligious. I'm not sure that I disagree with that argument, but I do think that it's a politically untenable one at the present time.

[wolfie]

"However, common sense has been hijacked by political correctness."

Concept: politicians are SUPPOSED TO BE POLITICALLY CORRECT. Suck it up, you big ninnies.

[kat_chan]

What's more, our government isn't supposed to take a position on religion. This would be taking a position on religion.

[chaptal]

Would jesus have a real or artificial tree?

[kat_chan]

Jesus was born in a desert. He'd be happy to have an Xmas shrub! But if he had a tree, it wouldn't be a fir, either. Probably a fig tree or an olive tree. ;)

[chaptal]

I'd like it if He had one that provided him some shade from the hot desert sun.

Would he shop at Wal-Mart. But who's to say he wouldn't buy from Harrod's?

[kat_chan]

Of course he'd pick Wal*Mart over Harrod's!

Proof:
Wal*Mart has Christian owners. Harrod's is owned by the infidel Mohammed al-Fayed (or however it's spelled). Jesus Christ was the first, and best Christian. Good Christians shop at Christian-owned stores. Ergo, Christ would shop at Wal*Mart. QED

Man, that was a painful bit of using logic to prove bad crap there. I think I need to rest my brain.

[michiwolf]

Department stores play seasonal music to make shoppers buy more..

[kat_chan]

Well, it has to do with the mood that it puts people in. You hear that holiday music, and it makes you think of the gift-giving, so you buy more and more gifts to give. In theory, anyhow. I imagine that if they played surf-music in the spring/summer they'd see an increase in swimwear sales, too.

[oddharmonic]

I'm still boggling over the lady that got on Fox News to promote her rubberized wristbands that say "Just Say Merry Christmas" as part of her campaign to bring Christmas back to the baby Jesus. She's selling the wristbands for $2 when places I've looked at custom ones only charge 50 cents per item with a minimum order of 500.

[kat_chan]

Yeah, that's really bringing the holiday back to Christ. *gags* I just love the hypocrites.