Monthly Archives: December 2007

Dec
31
2007

It’s not about the Bible per se…

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but two sisters are refusing to return to school after an incident at their school. The incident in question concerns a classmate who decided to rip pages out of a Bible.

As many Parker High School students get ready for Christmas break, junior Elle Jacobson is at home and will not be returning like her friends.

“I have never felt threatened like that in a classroom before,” said Jacobson.

The 17-year-old is talking about an incident in her English class two weeks ago during a class presentation.”

This boy got up and his visual aid was a Bible and a book. And he got up and started his speech by saying ‘Now, this piece of crap’ and pointed to the Bible.”Jacobson said that she quickly felt threatened.”He took the Bible and he said, ‘I’m going to do this because I can. I’m going to do something that your stupid, little minds aren’t going to be able to comprehend and he took the Bible and started ripping out pages.”

What caught my eye is that the Bible was only one of the books the unnamed student held up.  The second is alleged to have been a collection of works by Ralph Waldo Emerson.  If you’re familiar with Emerson’s work then you know that a reoccurring theme is that conformity is a vice.

From the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy on Emerson:

Conformity is the chief Emersonian vice, the opposite or “aversion” of the virtue of “self-reliance.” We conform when we pay unearned respect to clothing and other symbols of status, when we show “the foolish face of praise” or the “forced smile which we put on in company where we do not feel at ease in answer to conversation which does not interest us” (CW2: 32). Emerson criticizes our conformity even to our own past actions-when they no longer fit the needs or aspirations of the present. This is the context in which he states that “a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen, philosophers and divines” (CW2: 33). There is wise and there is foolish consistency, and it is foolish to be consistent if that interferes with the “main enterprise of the world for splendor, for extent, …the upbuilding of a man” (99).

Conformity in America as it relates to the Bible is that the collection of works is something good, worthy of being preserved – despite what one may actually think of the collection.  It’s the foolish face of praise, the forced smile.  If this unnamed  book was in fact the student’s second book, it puts his remark about doing something the other student’s could not comprehend into striking context and proved his point.

“Little minds” cannot fathom that someone would look upon a revered symbol and precede to destroy it.   Such minds retreat back to the castle, where all is safe and sound.

Dec
31
2007

Bogus Christmas card sent to SC Republicans

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Election 2008 is looking to be quite entertaining with Republican voters in South Carolina receiving a bogus Christmas card from a yet unknown group of people. Alleging to be from Mitt Romney and paid for by the Mormon temple in Boston, Massachusetts, the card quotes from the Book of Mormon.

One such passage is the one dealing with Mary’s alleged impregnation with Jesus which states:

“And it came to pass that I looked and beheld the great city of Jerusalem, and also other cities. And I beheld the city of Nazareth; and in the city of Nazareth I beheld a virgin, and she was exceedingly fair and white.”

On the card it is depicted as:

RomneyCard_Mary

And there we have it. The first official shot across the bow of Election 2008.

Republican officials are threatening hellfire and damnation for it, but this is par for the course in South Carolina politics which can be referred to as “Ground Zero” for GOP sponsored Attack Politics. (see King George’s 2000 campaign for reference).

Dec
30
2007

Everybody point and laugh

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Once upon a time I used to get irritated when I found out one of the esteemed “men of God” was lying. I’m either getting old or used to it, because this post by Hemant of Friendly Atheist about Ray Comfort, best known for claiming atheists are afraid of bananas, puts a smile on my face.

Ray Comfort has decided to lie about his conversations with Dan Barker, author of the highly entertaining Losing Faith in Faith and former fundamentalist pastor. According to Ray, Dan Barker threatened him with lawyers (emphasis added).

There is one well-known atheist who has an itinerant ministry, who says that he was a Christian pastor for 17 years. That’s impressive. Judas only managed to fake it for three and a half years. This man faked it for seventeen years–in a pulpit! His name is Dan Barker. A number of years ago I emailed Dan and explained about the Judas thing. Barker bit back that if I ever contacted him again, I would hear from his lawyers.

Here’s what happened according to Dan Barker (again, emphasis added):

Actually, I found the email correspondence between me and Ray Comfort from 2001. I did NOT say he would be hearing from my lawyers. I said I would contact his provider to complain about using email for harassment. I asked him to stop emailing me, after we hit a dead-end, and he continued, after being asked not to continue.

Oopsy.

Of course, this is just par for course with Ray Comfort who’s whole ministry depends upon the ignorance of the audience in order to be successful.

Dec
30
2007

The reason for the season is not Jesus

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December wouldn’t be complete without obligatory “Jesus is the reason for the season” commentary and this year it’s delivered by Ronald S. Martin of CNN.

This whole push to remove Christ from the Christmas season has gotten so ridiculous that it’s pathetic.

Because of all the politically correct idiots, we are being encouraged to stop saying “Merry Christmas” for the more palatable “Happy Holidays.” What the heck are “Seasons Greetings”? Can someone tell me what season we are greeting folks about? A Christmas tree? Oh, no! It’s now a holiday tree. Any Christmas song that even remotely mentions Christ or has a religious undertone is being axed for being overtly religious. And I’m sorry, forget X-M-A-S. Malcolm X? Yes. X replacing Christ? No.

It never fails to strike me how rude Christians can be in the name of their messiah. People celebrate a variety of things during this time of the year and heaven forbid a Christian getting caught recognizing that by using an inclusive, generic greeting like “happy holidays”. Their god might strike ‘em dead or something.

Of course, Martin’s column is really just another example of the seemingly American Christian imperative to consume all things, regardless of the evidence or the logic. In truth, it takes an amazing amount of ignorance to claim this holiday as being Christian in origin.

Jesus has not been excluded from Christmas, he’s been drafted onto it. The season is much older than Christianity and Jesus only became the reason after the Christian church appropriated the season.

A recently discovered pagan shrine dedicated to Rome’s legendary founder Romulus and his brother Remus is being linked by a scholar to the first celebration of Christmas held on the date that still marks the festivity today.

Last month Italian archaeologists unveiled an underground grotto which they believe ancient Romans worshipped as the place where a wolf nursed the legendary twins.

Now, a top Italian scholar says that because of that shrine, 4th century Emperor Constantine chose the site to build the church where Christmas was first marked on Dec. 25. The choice was part of efforts in the early days of Christianity to link pagan practices to Christian celebrations.

One should also keep in mind that while no one knows when Jesus was born, should he have actually existed, most scholars are pretty sure it was not December 25th, but during sometime the spring. Further complicating things is the cult of Mithras, a semi-rival to early Christianity in Rome, which celebrated the birth of their sun god on December 25.

Of course, there’s also the fact that there isn’t one integral thing about Christmas that can be solidly connected to Christianity. In fact, the Bible expressly forbids one of the biggest symbols of Christmas – the decorated evergreen (emphasis added):

Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. (Jeremiah 10:2-4, KJV)

Even if we pretend that these verses are not about modern Christmas trees, it cannot be denied that cutting down trees, dragging them into the house and decorating them predates Christianity by at least 500 years as Jeremiah was written between 627BCE and 585BCE.

Of course, Christians seem to have a knack for pretending that the only religions to exist prior to theirs were the Roman pantheon and Judaism. Hell, one of them recently stated that nothing existed prior to Christianity.

In conclusion, there’s only one way to claim that Christmas, as it is celebrated by millions, is a Christian holiday and that would be not only sheer ignorance, but intentional ignorance.

Dec
29
2007

Citizen Soldier

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I saw this video recently and thought I’d share. It’s 3 Doors Down’s Citizen Soldier that’s being used by the National Guard for recruiting purposes. Liking this song may make me a “bad” liberal, but whatever.

War itself is not bad in my book. It’s a tool and it can be used for both good (American Revolution) and bad (southern secession over slavery). We should never forget that.

Dec
28
2007

Nobody has to like you or your religion

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The Christian Anti-Defamation Commission has released a list of incidents that they claim are evidence of anti-Christian bigotry in America.

First, the list:

  1. Colorado church shootings.
  2. Federal Hate Crimes bill
  3. Violence on San Francisco Church
  4. Attack on Jerry Falwell
  5. God’s Warriors and Friends of God
  6. Bloggers for John Edwards
  7. Golden Compass being made into movie

Now the response:

This list is not about bashing Christians. It’s about the growing rebellion against fundamentalist Christians specifically. Don’t be fooled by number one. It’s a set up that’s meant to grab you by the guts. Number two exposes this fact.

The federal hate crime legislation, passed in 1969, includes religion. If you listen to the fundamentalists, the reason they oppose the inclusion of sexual orientation and gender into this law is that it’s just a hop, skip and a jump to arresting pastors for calling gay people abominations.

From the list itself:

The 2007 Federal Hate Crimes Bill threatens religious liberties and lays the groundwork for “thought crime,” which has no place in American law and violates the concept of equal protection under the law. As has occurred in other nations, these laws pave the way for Christians to be silenced and even arrested because they believe that homosexual acts are sinful. It is totalitarian regimes which punish thoughts, not free societies. Thomas Jefferson declares that “the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions.”

This can easily be turned around to state that the inclusion of religious groups as a protected class is just a hop, skip and a jump to arresting people for stating that fundamentalist Christianity is an abomination whose adherents are cerebrally challenged.

If they were about opposing “thought crimes”, they’d be up in arms about the entire concept of hate crimes. But, they’re not though. In fact, they set up a group that came up with a list that is dominated by “thought crimes” against predominantly fundamentalist Christians.

The organizers of the Folsom Street Festival mocked the Last Supper (item #3). Christopher Hitchens called Jerry Falwell a toad (video) (item #4). CNN and HBO produced videos showing real fundamentalists from the Great Monotheisms (item #5). Amanda Marcotte made a snarky comment about the conception of Jesus, Melissa McEwan happened to be in the area as far as I can tell (item #6). Phillip Pullman wrote a ‘godless’ series in response to the godly Chronicles of Narnia (item #7).

These are opinions – not actions. No Christians were harmed in the expression of these opinions. What makes these opinions “bashing” is the disrespectfulness and the rebellious gleam to all of them. Expressing these kinds of opinions used to get you tarred and feathered.

People still get upset about ‘em, but it’s become decently acceptable to mock not just religion – but the religion of the majority, Christianity. And that, my dear ones, is the crime or as the CAC likes to call it – the “bashing”.

Dec
22
2007

Gone Fishin’

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Okay, more like gone on a ten hour road trip with a five year old, but I’m sure you get the point.   Don’t know if I’ll have internet access, so happy whatever floats your boat and see you next week about this time.

One other thing:

Santa Died Laughing