Celebrate Christmas!
Stop by CatHouse Chat every day to celebrate the Meaning of the season.
Scroll down for the most recent postings here at Always On Watch.
posted by Always On Watch @ 12/27/2005 07:09:00 AM
36 comments
Always On Watch Archives
"Apparently there is nothing that cannot happen today." —Mark Twain
We have moved to Always On Watch Two
Please update your links.
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
Scroll down for the most recent postings here at Always On Watch.
Email: AlwaysOnWatch at aol-dot-com
Contributors
IMPORTANT NOTICE:
Patrons of this Blog are advised that they will be held responsible
for any unlawful, harassing, libelous, abusive, threatening, or
harmful material of any kind or nature posted by their respective ISP.
Patrons are cautioned not to transmit via comments, including links
to any material that encourages conduct that could constitute a
criminal offense, give rise to civil liability, or otherwise violate
any applicable local, state, national or international law or
regulation.
Previous Posts
- Merry Christmas!
- Cameo And The Christmas Tree
- Strife At The Washington Ballet
- Civil Liberties, National Security, And Presidenti...
- The Saudi Prince, The Universities, Fox News, and ...
- Coming Soon? Your Cell Phone As Your ATM!
- Hospitals Are Dangerous Places
- The Flight 93 Memorial
- Freaky Coincidences
- Pandamania Coming To Town
36 Comments:
And a merry Christmas to you AOW!
I could hardly believe that the seperation of Church and Brain crowd were actually celebrating the holiday from Seinfeld-Festivus!
What a bunch of dopes!
Further, Kwanzaa was made up by a professor from Detroit (or some such)and has as much merit as Festivus. You may as well celebrate Rube Goldbergh day, or Pass That Kidney Stone Day, or Ted Kennedy Sobriety Day. It is a purely arbitrary celebration.
Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to all!
And a merry Christmas to you AOW!
I could hardly believe that the seperation of Church and Brain crowd were actually celebrating the holiday from Seinfeld-Festivus!
What a bunch of dopes!
Further, Kwanzaa was made up by a professor from Detroit (or some such)and has as much merit as Festivus. You may as well celebrate Rube Goldbergh day, or Pass That Kidney Stone Day, or Ted Kennedy Sobriety Day. It is a purely arbitrary celebration.
Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to all!
Timothy,
Thank for stopping by and for wishing me a Merry Christmas.
My mother-in-law, a Christian, and her boyfriend, a militant atheist and a member of the ACLU (It MUST be love!), are coming for Christmas with us, for the first time ever; and my husband and I have been married over 30 years. But my family and I will be celebrating Christmas as a religious holiday, regardless of his presence. After all, we sat down to Thanksgiving dinner with him, at his place, without a blessing.
Of course, I don't celebrate Hanukkah, but I'll defend others' right to do so.
PS: You made a great point about arbitrary holidays. I won't be holding my breath for Ted Kennedy Sobriety Day. LOL.
But that Kwanzaaa holiday is an interesting matter. I remember a time when it didn't exist--at least, not in the public eye.
We all celebrate Christmas in our own unique way, what is important is the underpinning values that Christianity has blessed our society with.
Our countries and our inextricably
linked culture are a product of those values.
A person may be a devout athiest
or a devout Christian, both are a product of the same set of values.
Amen to that
so To everybody "MERRY CHRISTMAS"
I recently read that in Detroit, Target employees face immediate dismissal if they say "Merry Christmas" instead of "Happy Holidays". In a recent poll taken by Fox News stated that 95% of America celebrate Christmas regardless of their religious/nonreligious beliefs. So why the war on Christmas? Why do minority agendas control the majority of Americans. Why is the ACLU so quick to step forward every time some malcontent expresses their displeasure with seeing the word Christmas?
Oh well..AOW.. Merry Christmas to you!atpahbxn
haha..I printed my word verification to my comments. Not this time
Crusader,
When I saw those letters after your Merry Christmas wish, I immediately knew what had happened. How did I know? I, too, have accidentally entered word verification in a comment or two. LOL.
I wish merchants Merry Christmas if the situation warrants such a greeting (as at the Honey-Baked Ham store). Some answer back with Happy Holidays, but I refuse to harbor ill will during this season, though I have to admit such a response irks me a bit.
Gandalf,
Christmas can be celebrated culturally or religiously--or both. My own celebration is a hybrid, with an understanding of the true meaning. I like what CatHouse chat is doing because those posts speak to my soul.
Of course, many who don't celebrate Christmas have the same underlying values. In many ways, Westernism and Christianity are much the same.
Merry Christmas to you, Gandalf, however you celebrate it.
Samwich,
You and I may not agree on certain theological matters, but I wish you a Merry Christmas anyway.
One day, all things will be made clear when we no longer see through a glass darkly.
I've been thinking. What would happen if I complained to the manager if a store clerk told me Happy Holidays or Seasons Greetings instead of Merry Christmas? I think I'll try it. Merry Christmas To All!!
God Bless America, God Save The Republic.
Samwich,
I cannot think of any man who walks this earth who should be more grateful for the sacrifice and atonement of the Savior, Jesus Christ than I should.
Beautiful, and thank you for that comment! The Babe was born to bring us that atonement.
With your permission, something on topic and on target.
A DIFFERENT CHRISTMAS POEM
The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.
The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know,
Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
a lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.
A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.
"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"
For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light.
Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."
"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at 'Pearl on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of 'Nam,'
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.
I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue... an American flag.
"I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."
"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?"
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."
Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us.
mr. ducky,
Let's not and say we did, from the finale to "So this is Xmas"...
A very Merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear
War is over, if you want it
War is over now
...it ain't quite that easy. John didn't "get it". Look what it "got him".
...methinks he imagined a little too much for someone who had to actually live in this world.
-FJ
ps - I like McCartney much more than Lennon. He didn't pretend to be anything more than he actually was.
I hope you and all your readers have a wonderful Christmas. I think we can do without "festivus".
John Lennon was a drug-sotted boob, and the Beatles were the pop song factories of their day.
If it weren't for George Harrison actually being a talented guitarist, no one would have listened to the Beatles' derivative drek.
I was never much of a Beatles fan, at least not in their early days.
Lennon got weirder and weirder as time went on. But nobody deserves to be gunned down the way he was 25 years ago. Of course, now that he's dead, he has a following just because of the circumstances of his death. Would he have gone onto other success in the music world or have continued on with his weirdness and become irrelevant?
McCartney has been quite successful, in the long term.
What was Lennon's last successful compostion, anyway? And I missed most of the news yesterday and today...Whatever happened to Chapman?
Beamish,
I would agree with pop song factories. And financially successful factories at that.
Harrison is oft underappreciated. He faced his death nobly, too. Brain cancer is a terrible way to do--so depersonalizing. My cousin-in-law died last summer from brain cancer, and I also had two friends who succumbed to primary-site brain cancer. Ugly!
I often get into heated arguments with my fiancee over the Beatles, but only because she has every Beatles album God allowed mankind to be cursed with loaded on my I-Pod Nano.
I think she does it to piss me off.
Duck
Creativity in Music does not portend wisdom in other areas. In fact with rare exception entertainers are often the least educated people on the planet.
There are places I'll remember
All my life though some have changed
Some forever not for better
Some have gone and some remain
All these places have their moments
With lovers and friends I still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life I've loved them all
-FJ
I'll agree, pretty damn good.
Let me take you down, 'cause I'm going to Strawberry Fields.
Nothing is real and nothing to get hungabout.
Strawberry Fields forever.
Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see.
It's getting hard to be someone but it all works out, it doesn't matter much to me.
Let me take you down, 'cause I'm going to Strawberry Fields.
Nothing is real and nothing to get hungabout.
Strawberry Fields forever.
-FJ
Not too bad... a "collaboration".
FJ,
I love those particular lyrics: There are places I'll remember...!
Those lyrice were used as background music for the opening credits of the TV series Providence.
To everyone,
Over @
www.socialsense.blogspot.com ,
an interesting discussion about the role of Christmas in government is going on. It's worth your while to stop by Mustang's site to see what's been said. Last time I checked, I noticed that Cubed had made some erudite cultural points.
Samwich, Thank you for pointing out you answer to my question. There must have been some interesting memories handed down in your family. I hope everyone remembers, Bill Of Rights Day is just 5 days away. Merry Christmas! to all.
God Bless America, God Save The Republic
As a non Christian I wish the far left would learn some of the tolerance they always scream at us.
I am not bothered or envious of Christmas. I am glad that no many of my fellow Americans can celebrate time with their family.
Now if only more Americans had the Christmas Spirit and tossed their copies of Chomsky in the fireplace.
It won't happen but what a thought.
Beak,
As I've said before, all the Jews I know have no problem with my celebrating Christmas. And I have no problem with their observing Hanukkah. First Amendment!
Christmas has both religious and cultural significance for me.
As a non Christian I wish the far left would learn some of the tolerance they always scream at us.
Agreed! With one notable exception, my liberal profs were a very intolerant bunch, but only one righty prof was intolerant. My fellow-students, both righties and lefties, noticed the same.
Now if only more Americans had the Christmas Spirit and tossed their copies of Chomsky in the fireplace.
It won't happen but what a thought.
Hold that thought!
CLINTON FIDELITY & TRUST
Bwahahahaha!
Always on watch, thank you for the comment, and I finished writing that post.
By the way, do Muslims celebrate Christmas? Jesus Christ is one of the important prophets in their religion. If they do...
Merry Christmas dear terrorists, as long as you don't attack anybody!!
By the way, do Muslims celebrate Christmas?
I'll try to answer Shah's question...
Muslims do not celebrate Christmas in the same religious sense because, as Shah mentioned, they see Jesus as a great prophet--not as divine. According to Sura 9:30, "Christians say: The Messiah is the son of Allah; these are the words of their mouths; they imitate the saying of those who disbelieved before; may Allah destroy them."
Beyond that, Muslims do not believe Jesus was born to be crucified and by His righteous sacrifice and resurrection to redeem mankind. According to Sura 4: 157, "...They killed him not for sure."
Because Muslims see Jesus as a prophet of Allah, they seem to have no objection to Christmas observances:
http://www.beliefnet.com/story/180/story_18045_1.html :
Jews, Muslims Join Fight for Christian Christmas
The movement defending Christmas as a Christian holiday has attracted some unlikely allies: religiously observant Jews and Muslims.
Their support bucks the assumption that religious minorities prefer a neutral approach to the season, desiring "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas" at retail checkout lines or "Frosty the Snowman" over "O Holy Night" at public school concerts.
Motivations differ, with Jewish leaders calling retailers' omission of "Christmas" an ominous sign for a country that used to consider itself "Judeo-Christian." Muslim leaders offer a more strategic reason: establishing firm ground on which to make their own holiday demands.
Scholars say the ballooning controversy and the unusual alliances taking shape illustrate the challenge an increasingly multicultural society faces trying to accommodate many religious expressions.
Islamic support for Christmas stems in part from religious doctrine. While observant Muslims can follow the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad in respecting Jewish and Christian holidays, they say they have little motivation to value Santa-based winter holiday celebrations.
When it comes to Christmas, "the more religious it is, the more acceptable it is to Muslims," said Ahmed Bedier, director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations' Central Florida office.
But there is also the issue of Islamic self-interest.
Bedier's organization recently requested that a school board near Tampa, Fla., include a one-day Muslim holiday alongside Christian and Jewish holidays. When the school board voted instead to scrap all religious holidays, Muslim groups -- along with their Christian counterparts -- protested. The holidays, at least the Christian and Jewish ones, were reinstated.
"We would like to see one standard applied in terms of recognizing religious holidays," said Ibrahim Hooper, national communications director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
Muslims, he said, would welcome religious Christmas displays -- for example at a public library -- as long as Eid al-Adha, the upcoming Muslim holiday marking the yearly pilgrimage to Mecca, was recognized in the same space.
At a Thursday (Dec. 1) Washington news conference, a small group of Jewish leaders spoke in defense of public Christmas celebrations, framing the issue as a struggle between a Bible-believing culture and the dark, potentially anti-Semitic, forces of secularism.
"Jews and other non-Christians have a stake in maintaining morality, based on a Judeo-Christian ethic. The disappearance of Christmas undercuts that ethic," said Don Feder, a former Boston Herald writer who founded Jews against Anti-Christian Defamation earlier this year.
While Jews once endorsed secularism as a safe alternative to Christian dominance, today they face a choice between "a sinister secular society on the one hand, and a society of benign Christianity on the other," said Daniel Lapin, an Orthodox rabbi and president of the Seattle-based Jewish group Toward Tradition.
Abraham Foxman, head of the Anti-Defamation League, dismissed the group's effort as part of a "conservative political agenda."
"The overwhelming majority of Jews are wedded to the separation of church and state," said Foxman. Jewish leaders lining up to advocate for Christmas "want religion in government, setting morals."
That some Jewish leaders are aligning with Christians, many of them evangelicals, is not surprising, said Keith Seamus Hasson, founder and chairman of the Washington-based Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. "Observant Jews tend to be more open to religious expression in the public square, just like Christians in 'red states,"' said Hasson. "Religious America breaks down along lines of fervency of belief, more than lines of theological content."
Christmas is a contentious time because the secular idea that religion should be kept private collides head-on with "an essential human drive to celebrate in public," said Hasson, author of the 2005 book, "The Right to Be Wrong: Ending the Culture War Over Religion in America."
"The question is: how do you celebrate your own beliefs, while allowing others to celebrate conflicting beliefs?"
Hasson's answer is that Christians should assert their right to celebrate in public, while acknowledging that other groups have the same right -- the very argument that Muslim leaders advance.
When it comes to public schools, where disputes over religion often go to court, administrators and other decision-makers haven't gotten the balance right, said Charles Haynes, a senior scholar at the Freedom Forum's First Amendment Center.
"There is a trend in public schools to move away from the assumption that everyone celebrates Christmas. But sometimes the move goes too far and becomes an overreaction," said Haynes, describing schools where nativity pageants are cancelled or Christmas carols eliminated. "The irony is that by trying to avoid controversy, (educators) have often created it."
The same might be said of the retail arena, where marketing experts say corporations don't want to alienate non-Christian or non-religious holiday shoppers.
Many department stores have dropped explicit references to Christmas because "it was considered safer to be neutral so as not to offend any particular customer group," said Irene Dickey, a lecturer in the management and marketing department at the University of Dayton's School of Business in Dayton, Ohio.
Some conservative Christian groups have gone beyond voicing complaints.
The American Family Association in Tupelo, Miss., said it has rallied 600,000 supporters to boycott Target, because the retailer doesn't use "Christmas" in advertising and in-store promotions. The group has similar complaints to make against a number of other popular nationwide retailers, ranging from OfficeMax to Sears.
"When it comes to affinity marketing, there is no greater affinity than faith," said Mike Paul, a reputation management expert and evangelical Christian. "The answer is not to censor one group, but add others."
"Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Muslim holidays -- everybody should get their own aisles (of merchandise). `Happy holidays,' that means nothing."
The Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca, falls this year the second week in January. Right now, many Muslims are putting emphasis on that aspect of Islam, and today the information about Hajj is the lead article on CAIR's web site.
"By the way, do Muslims celebrate Christmas? Jesus Christ is one of the important prophets in their religion. If they do..."
Shah...Jesus and Mary are both mentioned throughout the Koran. Muslims will point this out at every possible moment, but if you take the time to read the verses in which they are mentioned, you will see that they are anything but complementary. Jesus is called the "Son of Mary" and not the son of God. Allah questions Jesus about being the son of God and Jesus says that he never claimed that because "how could I,verily it isn't true". The main reason Jesus and Mary are mentioned is to repudiate the Christian faith.
Camerinus,
Thank you for stopping by.
I have no problem with any group celebrating what ever holidays they care to, the only restrictions is that it isn't detrimental to any other group.
Of course, defining those lines can be difficult, particularly with regard to government property. Hence, all the flap this year. All the non-Christians whom I personally know have no problem with Nativity displays on private property, but certain secularists are a different matter, aren't they? "Detrimental" these days takes on a hugely broad meaning.
Our country was founded on Judeo-Christian beliefs and to deny this is to deny our own heritage.
I've been pointing this out for several years. In this age of mulitculturalism, there seems to be a bias against the Judeo-Christian culture. This bias has become anti-American, IMO, or maybe this bias is anti-American in and of itself.
Anyway, I am celebrating Christmas in an obviously religious way. Those in my neighborhood can take it or leave it. If they don't like what they see, they can just not look at it.
PS: Verification letters for this comment = ulrfdel. Hmmm...
Crusader,
Excellent points! I should have brought those out myself, but I was pressed for time.
Thanks!
If the Wiccan doesn't like the message, too bad.
Whenever companies are closed and are gracious enough to enable a message, I'm grateful--no matter the holiday, the emergency, etc.
I'll watch for your posting as to the results of this message dispute.
Bassizzzt,
About your Question #2...Have you seen the recent interviews of comedian Jackie Mason and the site Jews Against Anti-Christian Defamation? The link for that organization is
http://www.jews4fairness.org/
It's an interesting site.
And you know I agree with you: It ain't nuthin' else but Christmas! LOL.
The site you mentioned is very interesting. Observant Muslims have their own right to enjoy their Christmas. But many people in the United States and abroad enjoy non-religous Christmas. I sincerely request them to respect this Christmas as well.
Nobody knows Jesus Christ's birthday. The 12/25 Christmas is based on ancient Germanic festival of the winter solstice.
The photo you sent by e-mail is impressive. I hope people change their negative view to US soldiers in Iraq, when they see the photo.
Shah,
Thank you for stopping by.
Our right to Freedom of Religion should allow for Christians to celebrate the Season AND for secularists to celebrate, or not celebrate, as they see fit. And while December 25 as Christmas was based on the winter solstice, we Christians now ignore that aspect and celebrate the day as a Christian-religion one.
The last time I checked, that photo was far ahead in the poll. I hope that it has won!
Post a Comment
<< Home