No Nativity Display in Washington, DC

[Uncle Al]

This is OLD, but I HAD to share this anyway.

WARNING -> -> Do not have any food or drink
in your mouth as you're reading this





Uncle Al

[Fred in Skirts]

[stevelous]

Same could br said of London, UK.

[crfriend]

Same could be said of London, UK.

Yes, the cancer seems to have metastasised. Sad. It would seem that folks never learn from history -- which, too, is sad; one avoids so many problems by paying attention to the past and knowing what stupid experiments just plain don't work.

[john62]

Australia is unfortunately no different in this regard.

John

[Ralph]

Well played! Every once in a while one of my conservative friends will post some meme or other claiming that federal law really has forbidden the White House, or all of DC, or schools, or even privately owned stores, from saying "Merry Christmas" or putting up any kind of Christmas display, and I waste a great deal of time and effort linking them to Snopes articles that disprove their claim.

The effort is wasted because of course all the facts in the world won't dislodge their self-righteous anger at having their values and traditions questioned. Besides, everybody knows that Snopes is operated by Satan-worshiping Communists so we can be sure anything they debunk must actually be true.

Sorry, it's been a rough week and it's only just started. Thanks for the laugh

[moonshadow]

Well played! Every once in a while one of my conservative friends will post some meme or other claiming that federal law really has forbidden the White House, or all of DC, or schools, or even privately owned stores, from saying "Merry Christmas" or putting up any kind of Christmas display, and I waste a great deal of time and effort linking them to Snopes articles that disprove their claim.

The effort is wasted because of course all the facts in the world won't dislodge their self-righteous anger at having their values and traditions questioned. Besides, everybody knows that Snopes is operated by Satan-worshiping Communists so we can be sure anything they debunk must actually be true.

I remember getting into an argument with Dad over the "war on Christmas" a few years back... He was all pissed off because some government building somewhere was calling a Christmas tree a "Holiday tree".

Okay... whatever, I'm heathen and I still call it a Christmas tree, but all the same I had to ask dad.. "do you even know where the custom of the Christmas tree comes from?" Regardless of that, people like Dad just can't fathom that there might actually be other cultures and customs in the world and *gasp* OTHER religious holidays that are also celebrated in December.... Yes Dad, there is life beyond Bedford County Virginia....

An no, nobody is going to get hauled off or fined for saying "Merry Christmas". My all time favorite Christmas song is O Holy Night. Wanna confuse the hell out of the neighbors?? Sing that in the sacred Yule-tide circle!

Actually in my humble opinion, the usual "secular" Christmas songs (the Santa Claus, reindeer, elves, sees you when you're sleeping... stuff) is kind of corny.... I find the deeper Christian hymns much more beautiful and soothing to the ear.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

[renesm1]

Hi,

I've heard those very same stories in the UK. Funny how the stories are almost word-for-word the same except for a few changes to make it sound local. It's almost as if someone was just making this sh!t up and it never actually happened!!!!

[crfriend]

[...]. "do you even know where the custom of the Christmas tree comes from?" [...]

While we're "asking 'hard questions'", why not ask, "Why is Christmas celebrated just after the Winter Solstice when as far as the Biblical scholars and archaeologists have been able to ascertain the baby Jesus was born in mid-Spring?" And, "What's with all the Pagan symbolism doing in Christian holidays (e.g. Christmas and Easter)?" Finally, "Why is Jesus always portrayed as a white guy with long straight hair when Middle-Easterners don't look like that?"

I think we've been being lied to...

[Kirbstone]

In order to 'popularize' the Christian Birth celebration they plonked the date right on top of the traditional pagan Saturnalia date, which was what we now describe as the 25th December, a few days after the Winter Solstice.
With the updating of the Jovian Calendar the Eastern Orthodox Churches didn't come on board, hence their relevant dates are some 13 days behind, I think. For instance, the Ukrainian Christmas Day is January 7th.
The 'shepherds watching their flocks by night' occurs in March, early Spring. Also, the supernova, otherwise presumed to have been the 'Bethlehem Star' appeared in Spring of the year 4BC, the actual date of Christ's birth.

We populate nativity displays here with ordinary people like you & me.

Tom

[Judah14]

Here in the Philippines it is common to celebrate Christmas as both a secular and religious celebration, even in government offices. Christmas songs from the Philippines also tend to mix secular and religious themes as well.

[Kirbstone]

Right now we, MOH & I, have joined a local choir called the Big C. Initially for Cancer survivors, but in later times they have invited people in who haven't been ill. We like the choirmistress, herself a Cancer survivor and tonight most of our rehearsal was that old chestnut....Oh Holy Night. Many of the members are not note-readers, so learning the parts by rote is the thing. A bit trying for me personally, but by the end we had well & truly thrashed that particular number to death!

Once again I've been railroaded into doing the local U3A Christmas Party, which means accompanying a variety of individual contributory acts, not all directly Christmas-related. Not being confident at performing unseen stuff straight off the page, I require those who have music to let me have a copy well in advance, so I don't make a fool of myself. It ends with a sing-along, which in previous years I have sought to keep Secular, i.e. no carols, but not a bit of it....They want a carol or two in there.

My own personal few minutes will be a jazzy intro starting with the 'Then one foggy Christmas-Eve..' bit from Rudolf in A flat, which leads seamlessly straight into Leroy Anderson's original version of his Sleigh Ride in B flat, which goes like the clappers, as we all know.

Tom

[moonshadow]

More caroling, less fighting over flat screen televisions at 80% off list.

Religious Christmas scenes do not offend me at all... the over-commercialism nature of what the holidays has become has become quite an offense in my book.

I mean really... who the hell gets a car for Christmas?? I know it happens, but is it really that common??


That's quite a manufacturing facility old Santa has up there... wonder if those elves are union??

Dear Santa,

I won't ask for much... if I could just get a year out of my old Dodge without it busting a hose, or a brake line, of the muffler coming loose again... that would be sufficient.

Your Pal,

Moon
* * *

Dear Santa,

The story goes that your elves make all the toys at your toy shop at the North Pole, if that's so, why do they all say "MADE IN CHINA"?

Yours,

Susie
* * *

Dear Susie,

As you know, my elves work for free, yet somehow the Chinese still beat me on labor cost.... see if you can explain that...

Yours,

Santa.

[Caultron]

...I mean really... who the hell gets a car for Christmas?? I know it happens, but is it really that common??...

I suppose that depends on what you call common, but I've had a car salesman tell me the dealers do sell a fair number of car that way, including the giant ribbon.

i suspect that most often it's within a family and that the decision to buy a car had already been discussed but not finalized.

Or maybe sometimes it's, "Honey, I bought you that new car you've been wanting, so now can I wear my skirts?"