tenacity's blog

Christmas: To The Roots

Sun, 19 Dec 2004 14:00:45 -0800

To hear Bill O'Reilly (a jerk) speak about how "Christmas is under attack," and "liberals are trying to take the Christ out of Christmas," you'd think that Christ had something to do with Christmas in the first place. I don't want to spend a lot of time on this, but the barest minimum of research will teach you that early Christian missionaries had a choice in dealing with popular solstice celebrations. They could either suppress them or put a veneer of Christianity on top of them and let the celebration continue. Wisely (for them) they chose the latter. The perception of Christmas today reflects that thin veneer. Merely scratch the surface however, and it becomes apparent that most Christmas traditions are decidedly un-Christian. This holiday is a holiday celebrated with gluttony and excess in all forms. To be honest, that's pretty much it, and that's what has persisted. Just look at the mall for proof.

Going back to O'Reilly's comment, I think it's true that a lot of people are trying to take "Christ out of Christmas," but I think that people who are actively trying to do such a thing think of it more as "getting Christ back out of Christmas." At the same time, I think the growing and rapidly accelerating departure of Christmas, at least in America from Christianity is less an intentional agenda and more a natural progression of a holiday, which has been exceptionally hard for the Church to Christianize, back to its roots. Shoddy religion symbolism irritates me, particularly that which relies on an english sun/son pun. The fact that a lot of Christmas parades and Christmas paegents have become "winter festivals" under the guise of sensitivity to other religions screams their pagan origins openly.

We Americans are northern hemispheric people, and we feel the same undefined desire to celebrate the corner of the year as those who came before us in the dark, cold winters. Maybe the departure of Christ from Christmas has been inevitable ever since they slapped him on it in the first place. The fact of the matter is that Christmas is a not-so-important Christian holiday. Easter is far more important and compelling. Maybe Christ never really had anything to offer for Christmas in the first place.

I will even admit that O'Reilly is partly right about Christmas being under attack. It is, but that's because all religious expression is under attack from a source I didn't even think of until it hit me over the head. Atheists have their own fundamentalists, and I think that they're equally as dangerous as the Christian, Muslim and Jewish fundamentalists we're accustomed to dealing with.

Abstinence Now

Mon, 06 Dec 2004 19:43:35 -0800

The idea of abstinence-only education reminds me of the Simpsons episode where the Springfield cat-burglar leads the town on a false treasure hunt, using the diversion to escape prison. At the end of the episode, several characters have dug themselves into a hole looking for a buried treasure that's not there. Otto says, "how are we going to get out of here?" and Homer says "We'll dig our way out!"

Millions of dollars are thrown at abstinence-only education, and then it's proven, again and again and again, even when we already knew, that it doesn't work, and the response is to throw still more money into abstinence-only education.

"We'll dig our way out!"

Contraception and STI prevention are important things to learn, and I'll never understand the culture of people who deliberately misinform and ignore these issues. Abstinence-only education leads to teen pregnancy, and it leads to sexually transmitted infections. Supporting abstinence-only education means supporting unwanted pregnancies and STIs. How did that get to be so popular?

My parents didn't give me a lot of instruction in this area. Basically, they handed me a book and said, "RTFM." It's a good thing I was able to get everything I needed in school. Believe me, I was relieved, because having that conversation with my parents would have been mortifying.

I learned some important things. Sex can be a deadly weapon. I know because I've known people who died of AIDS. It can screw up your life. I've known people who dropped out of school, never to return because they got pregnant at 14. And I know why I've never had to deal with either of those, and it's because I know to get tested periodically. I know every kind of contraception and STI prevention method under the sun and I think I could proficiently use any one of them. I know that I should ask about a person's history, and I learned how to do it sensitively. But none of that knowledge has ever made any difference in when, where, how or why (although definitely 'with whom') to have sex.

I've never been a subscriber to the 'waiting' ideology (refer to The Onion article titled "Horribly Awkward First Sexual Encounter 'Worth The Wait' For Newlyweds"). Personally I think it blows the whole thing way out of proportion, and who needs that? But even those who think it is important can benefit from those tools. Why does the right-wing political climate support all kinds of weapons, except those that work?

Ghost For Sale

Sat, 04 Dec 2004 22:50:50 -0800

A woman is selling her father's "ghost" on eBay to alleviate her son's fears that the ghost is haunting their house.

To whoever wins this auction I would like to ask you to write a letter after you've received the cane (and the ghost) to my son letting him know that he's there with you and you're getting along great. I will give details at the end of the auction to the winner.

The bid price at the moment is $14,935.66.

Predictably, there are now numerous imitators listed on eBay, just like the virgin Mary grilled cheese. Suddenly everyone has a ghost to sell.

I'm All For Freedom Of Speech, But...

Wed, 01 Dec 2004 16:26:11 -0800

Ever notice that people who begin a sentence with "I'm all for freedom of speech..." seldom are for freedom of speech? They're just using the phrase as a shield. It's like saying 'I can't be a hateful bigot, I have some gay friends.' As an experiment, I did a Google search for "i'm all for freedom of speech but." My search turned up 729 hits including the following:

I'm all for freedom of speech, but...

...this is the wrong time to be having those antiwar demonstrations, with the troops over there.

...I don't want to pay for it.

Oh Dear God

Tue, 30 Nov 2004 20:32:33 -0800

Optimists club calling it quits due to declining interest.

Controlled Substances vs. Compassionate Use

Wed, 01 Dec 2004 07:44:28 -0800

Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Washington: Watch Ashcroft v. Raich carefully. The government is upset that your citizens are finding relief for terminal and chronic conditions without lining the pockets of Pfizer, Merck and their co-conspirators.

What's the deal with drug laws anyway? They're so arbitrary, they don't even make any sense. "Uhh, tobacco, yeah that's legal because it's just a plant. It grows naturally. Marijuana on the other hand, well, yeah it's a plant too -- but it's an EVIL plant. You can tell because it's pointy."

Other ridiculousness:
-The TV ad that claims marijuana use is bad because it "often involves criminal activity." Well, no fucking shit. It's illegal. Would it often involve criminal activity if it weren't illegal? Is murder bad because it involves criminal activity, or is there another reason? This is like the poll after the election that showed 51% of the country satisfied with the results. I could have told you that, and I didn't need to conduct a poll to do it.

-The radio ad which claims that marijuana use is bad because "all teens who use cocaine also used marijuana." Therefore (the ad claims) marijuana use leads to cocaine use. Following the same logic train, all people who have been to the moon are men. Therefore, all men have been to the moon. More seriously, it seems much more likely that the kind of person who uses cocaine isn't likely to say to themselves: "Yeah, I do coke, but I draw the line there. That marrajoowanna is some wack shit."

Given the efficacy of the war on drugs, the war on poverty and the war on terror, I'm glad that the government and the 51-ers have declared war on science and logic. Things are looking up for the results-oriented, reality-based community.

(Incidentally, while searching Google for a picture of a tobacco leaf, I came across this picture. I think it's supposed to illustrate something about smoking, but I came away with a different impression.)

Weather The Weather

Thu, 02 Dec 2004 10:11:42 -0800

Well, I am 2 for 2 when it comes to conjuring up exceedingly improbable thunderstorms for running events. I ran the Green Mountain Turkey Trot 5K with my folks this Thanksgiving morning. The weather at 6:30am was bright, sunny and 60 degrees. By 8:30am, rain had moved in. As we were walking out to the starting line of the race around 10:45am, we saw lightning in the distance. Temp -- 55. While this thunderstorm was not as...exhilarating as the one before the MDI Marathon, it didn't clear before the race began and so the entire race was in the pouring rain (at least a 5K is a short run). There's also nothing like a good nearby lightning strike to get you to kick in the afterburners. Oh, and by 4:00pm it was 30 degrees and snowing.

Sunday Hike And Meditation

Sun, 21 Nov 2004 14:52:26 -0800

"The aircraft at this site is an F-101B "Voodoo" Interceptor of the 75th Fighter Interceptor Squandron at Dow AFB, Bangor [ME].
In the early morning hours of Tuesday, April 11, 1961, Capt. Vernal Johnson and Lt. Edward Masaitis were returning from an active air defense intercept off the coast in a freezing rain storm with zero visibility. The aircraft got too low on approach and struck this mountain."
Let it remain as a memorial to these two officers and all those who gave their lives in the service of their country in the Cold War era.

Apparently, aircraft hulks such as this one aren't even that rare around active Cold War air bases. It was the beginning of the jet era and the limits of men and machines were in the early stages of discovery.

A World Of Coat-Hangers and Baseball Bats?

Sat, 20 Nov 2004 21:57:54 -0800

I think it'd be a great idea to outlaw abortion so we can make sure that this becomes much more widespread:

Two Michigan teens may face charges after they allegedly used a baseball bat in an attempt to abort a fetus.

"Without getting graphic, it involved a baseball bat and at some point the child was miscarried and that brings us to where we're at now," said Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith.

No charges have been filed, but Smith said the two teens may face charges as serious as manslaughter.

Hey PETA Members, Quit Wasting Your Lives

Fri, 19 Nov 2004 20:36:43 -0800

"No one would ever put a hook through a dog's or cat's mouth," said Bruce Friedrich, PETA's director of vegan outreach. "Once people start to understand that fish, although they come in different packaging, are just as intelligent, they'll stop eating them." (Yahoo! News)

They'll stop eating fish? I guess since PETA has been such a wild success in the past, and nobody eats chicken or beef anymore, it's only logical to turn their focus to fish.

This seems as good a place as any for my environmental diatribe. I cannot, for the life of me, understand how groups like PETA and other "environmental" fringe-radicals can reject the human place in the biosphere so absolutely. Opinions like these; that the planet is a big china shop and people should tip-toe around and for-God's-sake not touch anything, are in the same ballpark as the opinions that everything out there is ours for the taking -- consequences be damned. Both positions are a complete abdication of responsibility and judgement.

A Government-Religion Parallel

Thu, 18 Nov 2004 15:03:43 -0800

As I've said before, I find that the signal/noise ratio on DailyKos is getting rather low. However, there are still gems to be found:

For someone who has no concept of government of, by and for the people, the Constitution of the United States appears to be an incomprehensible jumble of competing powers. To read it, one wonders how anything could ever be accomplished under such an unwieldy system: One group makes the laws that the other is required to execute, while a third determines what is true to the original intent in modern context, yet each is constantly pushing to expand it's powers, while the others push back. It is not until we put it into the context of the time and place that we understand how the document came into being, and why it says what it does. Fortunately we have and "Oral Tradition" to guide our understanding: The Federalist Papers. We also have the Declaration of Independence as well as the many letters and other writings of the people who wrote the Constitution. Without them, it would be easy to misconstrue the Constitution.

Humorless

Wed, 17 Nov 2004 14:54:46 -0800

It's possible that I'm becoming humorless. The only reason I don't find this amusing:

President Bush has spared the life of the nation's Thanksgiving turkey after an election to name the bird which he reports was "neck and neck."
...
Bush reports it was a nasty campaign, with attack ads from a group called "Barnyard Animals for Truth" and what he says was a scurrilous film called "Fahrenheit 375 Degrees at Ten Minutes Per Pound."

Is because Bush said it. Even though I know someone else wrote it first. I think I may be suffering from outrage fatigue.

And I've had the music from Bubble Bobble (NES) stuck in my head all day. It even serenaded me on my evening run.

Destroying Wal-Mart

Tue, 16 Nov 2004 20:34:42 -0800

I'm always glad when I see that there are other people who hate Wal-Mart as much as I do.

Personally, nothing would make me happier than driving the world's largest corporation bankrupt and ruining every last executive and every last shareholder. They're all complicit in this great corporate evil. It's not business to me; it's personal.

Unfortunately, they haven't seemed to care yet that I don't shop there.

The Honeymoon is OVER

Sun, 14 Nov 2004 17:03:09 -0800

Shortly after the election, I wrote the following:

Bush's myriad failures over the past four years have hurt this country greatly. But I can't sit around for the next four years watching him continue to fail just so I can continue to say "I told you so." There are parts of his agenda that I will bitterly oppose. Many of these are social issues that the government has no place attempting to legislate. Many of these are foreign policy issues that I consider arrogant and unwise. However, there are also things that I believe he must be successful at. If his failures are harming us, then we must find ways to be successful and I'll come right out and say that it is unpatriotic to wish for failure in Iraq, or on the economy, or anything else just to sit there feeling schadenfreude.

I now wish to put extreme distance between myself and that statement because the honeymoon is over.

...

Sat, 13 Nov 2004 21:00:21 -0800

Today's "I Got The News..." is unacceptably long.

44 names.