...which must mean that "this blog is no longer about how Scott is an angry Democrat" isn't a principle. Quelle dommage.
Perry's running a "War on Christmas" ad in Iowa.
The way religion gets wielded in elections has always bothered me. Democrats put their butts on the line to pass healthcare reform because we think poor people should have some kind of access to medicine, and yet, for some reason, we roll over and take it whenever anyone tells us we are the less Christian of the two major political parties.
That's all I'm going to say about that.
What I am going to continue talking about is this: I'm still trying to figure out what I believe writ large, but I am quite certain that if I am a Christian, Easter is by far more important than Christmas, doctrinally speaking. Christmas celebrates Jesus' birth. Easter celebrates Jesus' willing sacrifice as an example to God (who is also him... like I said: not yet sure what I actually believe) that humans are a worthy creation and shouldn't just be tossed into the cosmic trash bin. If the claim truly is that we are a Christian nation and should remain a Christian nation, it seems to me there should be an outcry that "our kids aren't allowed to openly celebrate Easter... in schools" (by the way, did you notice how Perry inserted other words between "Christmas" and "in schools" so that it sounds like kids aren't able to openly celebrate Christmas anywhere?). My feeble mind can only come up with two possible explanations that I have never heard anyone bemoan the "War on Easter":
1) Easter's secular component is much weaker than (to quote my hometown pastor) the Santa Claus festival. Even Republicans can't make a claim that everyone should have to celebrate the resurrection of a man/God whom they don't necessarily believe was resurrected. In other words, they know this is a fight that they cannot and should not win. This, to me, means that they don't actually believe in or care about the "War on Christmas" and are just using it as a wedge issue (which they obviously are, so why am I wasting your time on this....)
2) The people who whine about the "War on Christmas" actually believe Christmas is the central holiday in the Christian tradition. Christmas emphasizes Jesus' Superman-like qualities (birth heralded by angels, turned water into wine, that sort of thing). Easter forces us to remember that, in the end, he still died the most miserable death humans have figured out how to inflict on one another. It's the difference between the Prosperity Gospel and the actual Gospel. Is God concerned about showering his followers with wealth? or is He concerned about the fact that somewhere, right now, someone is suffering from hunger, or a curable disease, or civil war, or.....
This brings me back to that thing I wasn't going to talk about ("Rule number 1: [this] doctor lies"). The left should stop cowering in the face of accusations that they are "unChristian" and instead employ more of an "I'm rubber and you're glue" defense. I think we could actually win that argument (something about rich men and camels and the eye of a needle comes to mind). I suppose the fear is that we would lose most of our principles and some of our heroes (I'm going to miss you, Barney Frank).
I just wanted to point this out (to people who probably already noticed it...)
If anyone wants to have a discussion about it, though: so do I.
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I really enjoyed reading this post (although I must admit I didn't watch the video, because I don't feel like getting irritated). I also particularly like the composition of your final sentence.
ReplyDeleteI think there is a lot of truth in your second post. Like, a Lot. I haven't heard the term Prosperity Gospel, but lately I've been thinking a lot about how ridiculous people get about Christmas music when it is the Advent season, and in my mind this seems related.
e.g. It was excitedly reported to me that a certain church in Hanover sang Joy to the World last week. So apparently you don't have to stay true to the religious season, because it just makes everyone so happy to sing the Christmas songs...
The Prosperity Gospel is the belief (cult?) that if you pray hard enough (and possibly donate to your church), God will literally reward you with material wealth. It's kinda like some Christians saw Scientology and decided they wanted to try it out for a spin.
ReplyDeleteA friend of mine who spent a year in Denmark said that Christmas is nowhere near as big a deal there as it is here. He's also been careful to point out to me that Western Europe has been secularizing at the same time that we have been not. But they also get state holidays for Easter and Pentecost. It's possible that Christmas is the central religious holiday here, it's just that the religion is centered on the act of faith that, if we spend enough money, the economy will be okay.
I've been thinking about this (what I believe) a lot lately, and I'm starting to question the very notion of "Christian holiday" or, at least, "Christian celebration." (Ours) is a religion based on the idea that things got so bad on Earth that the only way to fix them was for an innocent (man?) to get tortured to death. My hometown pastor always emphasized the vulnerability of God-as-baby in his Christmas sermons. It's more pitiful than that, though. It's God-as-a-baby-who-can't-ever-have-a-happy-life. That makes me sad. The "myrrh" verse of "We Three Kings" alludes to that, but it's the only traditional Christmas trapping that does.
Can Christians really celebrate anything but Easter? Even then, it seems like there's an overwhelming note of "Wow, we reeeeaaaallly don't deserve this."
And then there's this:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.hulu.com/watch/308659/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-moment-of-zen-what-would-jesus-say
Who knew Jesus was a featured birthday boy on the reality show "Sweet Sixteen"? Who knew?
Just thought I'd put this here. Just one of many reasons you should never listen to anyone who says: "Don't listen to X; X is only a comedian"
ReplyDeletehttp://www.theonion.com/articles/god-angrily-clarifies-dont-kill-rule,222/