December 03, 2007
'Twas the Month Before Christmas
Mark D. sent this poem along...it reflects my feelings quite adequately.
Twas the month before Christmas
When all through our land,
Not a Christian was praying
Nor taking a stand.
See the PC Police had taken away,
The reason for Christmas -- no one could say.
The children were told by their schools not to sing,
About Shepherds and Wise Men and Angels and things.
It might hurt people's feelings, the teachers would say,
December 25th is just a "Holiday."
Yet the shoppers were ready with cash, checks and credit
Pushing other folks down to the floor just to get it!
CDs from Madonna, an X-BOX, an I-pod
Something was changing, something quite odd!
Retailers promoted Ramadan and Kwanzaa
In hopes to sell books by Franken & Fonda.
As Target was hanging their trees upside down
At Lowe's the word Christmas was no where to be found.
At K-Mart and Staples and Penny's and Sears,
You won't hear the word Christmas; it won't touch your ears.
Inclusive, sensitive, Di-ver-si-ty
Are words that were used to intimidate me.
Now Daschle, Now Darden, Now Sharpton, Wolf Blitzen
On Boxer, on Rather, on Kerry, on Clinton
At the top of the Senate, there arose such a clatter
To eliminate Jesus, in all public matter.
And we spoke not a word, as they took away our faith
Forbidden to speak of salvation and grace
The true Gift of Christmas was exchanged and discarded
The reason for the season, stopped before it started.
So as you celebrate "Winter Break" under your "Dream Tree"
Sipping your Starbucks, listen to me.
Choose your words carefully, choose what you say:
Shout MERRY CHRISTMAS!
(Related: a list of "important days in December" as per the Spokane public schools.)
Show Comments »
if you really think there's a "war on christmas" then you're completely delusional. there's no argument to be had, christmas is everywhere, on everything.
Steve, Pam isn't the delusional one. There has been a war on Christmas, as well as anything at all that even remotely resembles the reason for the season for at least the past 10 years. Stores where employees are now forbidden to say Merry Christmas - even in reply to people who say it to them. Other stores that FORBID the use of the word Christmas in advertising. It's all part of the secularization of America by the leftwing elites whose only religion is global warming.
Pam is right and you are wrong.
Posted by: Gayle Miller at December 3, 2007 04:37 PMI cannot believe that you didn't get the memo, look who got killed. Christmas and all religions are hereby cancelled.
http://www.news-record.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071203/NRSTAFF/71203017
Posted by: Two Dogs at December 3, 2007 04:58 PMAnd, oh, goodness, what a violent "X-tian," that Gayle is. You, you, CHRISTIAN!
Posted by: Two Dogs at December 3, 2007 05:00 PMEven Jesus had his feisty moments - remember the moneychangers in the Temple?
I am just so weary of people feeling quite free to insult and demean and denigrate my belief system while paying overly zealous heed to the feelings of "the religion of peace" adherents whose only goal in life is to kill every Christian and Jew on Planet Earth.
These are days for "muscular" defense of our beliefs and our traditions or surely, they will be taken from us by force!
Posted by: Gayle Miller at December 4, 2007 09:45 AMSpeaking as a non-Christian, if some tried to quelch all mention of one of my holidays, I'd be pretty racked off.
Posted by: Charles at December 4, 2007 11:48 AMthe dominant holiday is still christmas. the christmas season still begins just after thanksgiving. stores still put up christmas decorations and christmas displays. they still offer christmas savings and christmas sales. businesses still display christmas decorations. they still give their employees christmas vacations.
if you're so offended by someone saying "happy holidays" and not "merry christmas" out of respect for someone who might celebrate hanukkah instead then maybe you shouldn't go out of doors. do us all a favor.
but enough of that.
happy holidays everyone.
Even though steve is wrong for his reasoning, he is right with his idea. The people who celebrate Christmas and like to say "Merry Christmas" should stay at home during the Christmas Holidays and not spend a cent. Celebrate the holiday the way that we should instead of spending money with the rest of the country that is worried about upsetting some dumbasses. Then the merchants would immediately stop this ridiculous pc thing when 95% of the population bankrupts the country because of the stupid people. Yes, it is 95% of this country that celebrates Christmas, steve, the Jooooos should stay home, instead.
Posted by: Two Dogs at December 4, 2007 04:04 PMThe "Jooooos"? Yikes. Maybe there is a reason minority religions feel, erm, less than comfortable. Also, isn't it just as silly to be offended by someone saying "Happy Holidays" as "Merry Christmas"? Why must we all get our panties into a bunch over this? Besides, of course, I'm pressed to think of a Christmas tradition that doesn't have pagan roots anyway, so unless your "reason for the season" is the Pagan winter festival of Yule, the whole argument seems a little off-kilter.
Posted by: Ro at December 4, 2007 06:21 PMUh, Ro? My comment was tongue in cheek. Humor? Remember? I am a severe smartass, read my blog. And yes, "CHRISTmas" is a pagan holiday, because the HOLIday celebrates the birth of CHRIST Jesus.
That giving of gifts certainly was a pagan ritual started by the three wise men offering gifts to CHRIST Jesus in that manger, on that day that CHRIST Jesus was born, which we now celebrate on December 25th each year on a HOLIday that we call CHRISTmas.
Yes, the decorated tree thing is a pagan ritual that was asimilated in with CHRISTmas, the celebration of CHRIST Jesus.
Dense people crack me up with their urban legends.....
Posted by: Two Dogs at December 5, 2007 11:18 PMSorry, Ro. I am not a religious bigot at all, but I am a severe smartass. I cannot help it, but I do try. As far as Yule is concerned, the pagans changed the date of THEIR festival to coincide with Christmas, the celebration of the birth of Christ our Lord after Christianity became the prominent religion, but you already knew that, you just skewed the facts about the celebration for your own benefit and point.
And I don't hate Jews, they are my absolute favorite religious minority. Some of my best friends are Jews.
Posted by: Two Dogs at December 5, 2007 11:25 PM*sigh*
If only Jesus had been aborted... Sure would have saved us from a hell of a lot of your pathetic whining!
Posted by: aa at December 6, 2007 09:25 AMWe have a winner in the race to Hell, congrats aa!
Posted by: Two Dogs at December 6, 2007 09:39 AMyou know you're a bigot when you have to point out that "some of your best friends are jews."
Posted by: steve at December 6, 2007 12:44 PMOk, Two Dogs, I'll totally buy that you are not a religious biggot. Groovy. However, MY favorite religious minority is the pagans, and your statement that the pagan midwinter holiday changed their time of year to be in late December is pretty much, well, totally not true. Yule is the winter festival. The one celebrating midwinter. Like, the same midwinter that falls sometime near mid-to-late December. Longest night of the year. Every year since the beginning of time. Pretty hard to change the date of that one without changing the position of the Earth around the sun. And I'm the dense one? Most Christian holidays do, in fact, have traditions steeped in paganism, and Christmas is almost as rife with it as Easter (almost). The tree, the "faery" lights people put on their homes, the yule log(of course), ringing bells, mistletoe kissing.
Posted by: Ro at December 6, 2007 01:00 PMSorry, Ro, you are absolutely incorrect about the pagans NOT changing the date of the festival as well as the near dates of the seasons, which most fourth grade students could tell you, if you would ask them for that commonly held knowledge. If yule WAS a mid-winter festival, according to you, I would assume that it would not be celebrated on December 25, seeing how that is at the VERY beginning of winter, since the beginning of time, I might add. However according to Wikipedia, which is notorious for its bad information, granted, (I really don't care enough about this topic to search further) Yule generally was celebrated on December 22 and then was moved after the popularity of Christianity, so, I'm right yet again on both counts. According to your statements, Yule was mid-winter festival, Winter which begins this year on December 22 and runs to March 22 and which generally runs in the Northern hemisphere from late December to late March, again since the beginning of time. If you would like knowledge instead of ignorance and lipping about something that you made up or completely misunderstand, I suggest the download of this tome, free! from Project Gutenberg: http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/598 Therein lies the TRUTH about your pagan Yule Festival. You say that paganism is your favorite "religious" minority, yet know nothing about your favorite "religious" minority's celebrations or the fact that paganism is actually defined as ritualistic behavior that is not generally regarded as religious. Way to go, Ro.
As an aside, I willingly bet money that you did not know that "pagan" loosely translated means "hillbilly." That is damn funny to me.
Damn, steve, it was a joke. You leftists really have no sense of humor at all, except in Presidential candidates. I actually think that I know two Jews personally, I live in Mississippi and our Jewish population is rather small. I know quite a few from blogging, though, and they seem to be okay except for that murder of Christ. (Just for steve: That's a joke.)
Just to clear up the confusion about me, like it matters, I am Catholic and my fiance is Seventh Day Adventist, which to me is pretty close to Judiasm, oh with the Christ thing thrown in. (Just for steve: That's another joke.)
Posted by: Two Dogs at December 6, 2007 01:43 PMUm...wow. Just wow. Don't even know where to start with that one. How about here: Yule is not celebrated on December 25. It's celebrated on the longest night of the year, the solstice. I'm still not sure how you think that anything was changed to fit Christianity, especially considering the total lack of documentation on the actual, real birthdate of Jesus. Since we don't know when he was born, I think it's awesome that they chose a day on which to celebrate his birth -- great thing to celebrate, certainly. But, again, most of the modern trappings of the holiday have their roots in paganism.
And holy cow yes, paganism is a religion. Obsessive hand-washing is defined as "ritualistic behavior". Paganism is defined as a polytheistic, nature-based religion that follows many rich mythological traditions going back millenia -- much like Christianity. Also like Christianity, the religion sets certain guidelines for proper behavior, there are sacraments, churches, community gatherings, community outreach and charity programs, and it's even based on a holy trinity. It's a government-recognized religion. And I don't have to go to Wikipedia to look this up, so let's not pretend that you know more about it than me, k?
Oh, and Jesus WAS a Jew. Born a Jew, died a Jew.
None of this, though, is the point, right? I celebrate Christmas, and it doesn't ruin my day to hear "happy holidays". Why in the world does it ruin your? Why do Target and Walmart need to reaffirm you in your faith?
Posted by: Ro at December 6, 2007 03:52 PMThis is my final comment on this topic and probably my final response to anything that Ro may submit, Pam. I shall ignore her from this point forward, she is dead to me.
Ro, I thought you were just being silly and I enjoyed the banter, but now I realize that you actually believe the nonsense that you are typing, I don't know whether or not to be afraid of you. Ah Hell, you're just a girl, I think that I could whup you. And I can't tell if you are just overwhelmingly misinformed or actually ding-dong nuts, honestly it does seem like the latter. You really should download that FREE! book, it will correct your overwhelming wrongness regarding your favorite minority "religion."
That said, I have a problem whenever someone decides to use a certain word and has no idea what it means. Call it an obsession or whatever, I like to call it "words actually have a meaning." "Pagan" is derived from the Latin word pāgānus, which means dweller from the country, hence my terminology "hillbilly." Since you have obviously been named Keeper of the Linguistic Flame and are commissioned with the determination of the meanings of words all by yourself, I shall submit to your daffynition, ma'am. Paganism is a religion, even though forever it has been regarded as the exact opposite, a synonym is "heathen" and I will NOT try to debate the meaning of that word with you, either, I know better. But, I am just going on what is in the dictionary, and you ARE Keeper of the Linguistic Flame, remember?
Also, you first said that Yule was a mid-winter festival, but since the soltice does generally fall at the onset of winter, since the beginning of time, that IS why the seasons were set up that way, you were obviously mistaken that yule was celebrated during mid-winter or simply made a typo when you typed "midwinter" instead of "at the very beginning of winter." My keyboard kinda sets up like that, too, if I close my eyes, take a bunch of LSD, and continually hit myself in the face with a hammer while driving a Hum-Vee cross-country through the desert and getting a tattoo at the same time. I just took you at YOUR word, I don't know you, so I read what YOU typed and went from YOUR words. However, the FACT, which you totally ignore, is that yule was generally celebrated on December 22 and it was moved to coincide with Christmas after Christmas moved from around January 6. That is FACT, ma'am and it is available every single place that has a single reference to Yule on the entire Interwebs, but that is not the database that IS RO! KEEPER OF THE LINGUISTIC FLAME!. Maybe you have also been named Keeper of the Historical Timeline, then again I shall defer to your expertise. As a matter of fact, I just called YOUR office at Keeper of the Historical Timeline, Inc. and your secretary informed me that YOU have decided to celebrate yule on December 24 or 25 or maybe the even 22nd or YOU might even wait until NEXT YEAR on June 21. She also said that YOU as Keeper of the Historical Timeline, as well as Keeper of the Linguistic Flame, had a bit of a problem digging your head outta your ass long enough to catch a breath. I think that YOU as Keeper of the Historical Timeline and Keeper of the Linguistic Flame might want to talk to your office staff about their insubordination.
Anyhoo, Merry Christmas, doo-doo head.
Posted by: Two Dogs at December 6, 2007 05:00 PMVery cute. I'm so going to miss our little talks, TD, although I'm a little unsure as to how I offended you so much as to be "dead" to you. I was, actually, enjoying the banter. I hope you're not afraid of me, although I'm not sure how you came to the conclusion that I'm a girl. So be it. I couldn't actually get through your last paragraph, as it didn't seem to make much sense. Something about a timeline and a flame...anyway, Merry Christmas to you as well, fart-face.
Posted by: Ro at December 6, 2007 05:13 PMSince this is not that asinine yule/pagan topic, my assumption that you were female was based on the absolute lack of logic in your argument which was based solely on ideas pulled straight from your nether regions. I'm a sexist, too. And I figured you were not a gay man because since the total homosexual population of the entire world is less than one percent and all of them are flouncing around together right now, because they are completely unemployable, the odds were obviously in the favor of you being a girl. That's called logic. Try it sometime, but wear a helmet, your head may explode.
Posted by: Two Dogs at December 6, 2007 05:55 PMOh good, so were talking again. Neat-o. Overt sexism aside, I'm very curious as to your "lack of logic" statement, as nothing about the "asinine" pagan/yule discussion requires any logic, just a small knowledge of the subject itself. Purely factual, not an argument at all. You didn't read the Wikipedia article too well, because most of what I said is there. Including calling Yule "midwinter". But whatever, you think what you think, and I guess the more words you can capitalize the more you think you're right. So, super-duper. Just curious -- what pissed you off so much about my post? Was it the Jesus was a Jew thing? Or just the info on a rather obscure religion?
Posted by: Ro at December 6, 2007 06:23 PMRo, I am not pissed off in the least. It's just that a debate requires some ground rules, much like the game of Scrabble. Again, I must say that words mean something. That is a pet peeve of mine. For instance, you may say "reverse discrimination" all you want, but it still means hating someone that is just like yourself. Pagan has a definition and it has an origin. Much like the term "midwinter." If you do not want to accept definitions and fact, you might as well call eveything the same thing and I hereby nominate every word to immediately be changed to "premblememblemation." Your turn.
Posted by: Two Dogs at December 6, 2007 07:01 PMWell, good, I'm glad you're not angry -- it sure did look like it from your post.
To your point re: meaning of words. Obviously our separate experiences infuse different meanings to words, as they will do for everyone, and starting from a common lexicon will ensure complete communication. That does not, however, mean that I am uninformedly making up non-existent meanings for words (although it happens often, but not in this case); it simply means you do not have the background for the lexicon I was using in this particular area -- not to insult your intelligence (although you seem pretty eager to insult mine). I don't need to argue with you over the meaning of the word "pagan" -- you have it exactly right, along with the word "heathen". The history of how it came to mean something close to "heretic" or "without religion", and then was reclaimed to mean those who practiced a religion of those in the "outskirts" who were uninfluenced by (or simply ignorant of) the rising popularity of Christianity is actually a pretty cool story. The fact that you don't know that bit of history is totally fine and cool -- most people don't -- but maybe it's not entirely appropriate to call me illogical and scary and egotistical because I do. And whether or not the pagan midwinter festival is actually in the middle of what we call winter doesn't change the date when the festival actually takes place, or the fact that it's called the midwinter festival. I didn't decide on the name, or the date, I'm just relating facts.
I guess my point is: yes, it is helpful to have a consistent use of language, but the fact that it's your pet peeve doesn't make you the Grand Decider of what the correct, culturally relevant definition of a word is. I'm not saying that I am, but I do have a much stronger background in history of world religions than just looking up something in the dictionary.
Ro, I did not write the dictionary and my life experience doesn't allow me to change the meanings of words. It must be liberating to you to be able to make up anything that you want and make it be fact. That means that you can never be wrong in your insulated, albeit padded world. Like now.
Posted by: Two Dogs at December 6, 2007 07:58 PMDidja read my last post, or are you being purposely obtuse? Just because you don't know something does not mean it was made up or untrue. Let me repeat that so you get it (read it s l o w l y): just because you don't know something does not mean it was made up or untrue. Sorry if that's a rough concept. I tried to be civil, I made no personal insults (except "farty-face"), I can scarcely remember what our original topic was, but I guess there's no talking with a self-professed sexist who cannot grasp easily-verifiable facts or maintain civilized discourse when being confronted with a word or concept he doesn't know. I think your earlier declaration that you're a "smartass" needs be shortened to simply "ass."
I'm out, but my my my Pam, the poem sure did shake up just about as many comments as I've ever seen posted here. Good on ya.
Posted by: Ro at December 6, 2007 08:34 PMForgive me, Ro, I did not realize that this "debate" was still ongoing. I offered you a link to the online text Heimskringla, which would have hopefully cleared up your confusion regarding the history of your "religion" which I have studied extensively, albeit, in a roundabout way. It seems that I produced a thesis upon which I received a thirty thousand dollar research grant from your Federal government for further study, along with a two year stay in Norway with a archaeological team that I sponsored with that money and a good portion of my own personal wealth at that time.
Portions of this research have been published in Sir Banister Fletcher's A History of Architecture, since the 19th edition. Ro, we will have to agree to disagree on the matter, you know best. I would like you to understand that every single living human in the world that has any knowledge at all regarding ancient Norway and its history, along with its customs, knows that you are extremely confroooosed. We do not begrudge you that. I also want you to know that anyone that has ever experienced confusion over the meaning of a word or the meaning of anything for that matter has usually consulted a dictionary or some type of reference book. I like your way better in all honesty. It is very liberating to me to simply slide through life never understanding anything and arguing to your dying breath about something which you have no clue. You are obviously a genius and I respect that. Openmindedness is cetainly a bad thing, especially when you are clueless on a topic.
In honor of the Ro Method of defining words, customs, traditions and anything else that strikes my fancy: I hereby proclaim the word "progressive" to mean someone who wishes to return to the sand-poundingly stupid political ideas that were monumental failures from forty years ago!
Am I done? Yeah, I think so.
Posted by: Two Dogs at December 6, 2007 11:48 PMHoly cow, it's Christmas miracle! Two Dogs has gone in one day from "I really don't care enough about this topic to search further" [than Wikipedia] to having developed an expertise by sponsering a 2 year Federal research program into the "non" religion of Paganism (which, of course, doesn't exsist)! That's truly miraculous, my friend, and I commend you for it. Go on with your bad self.
Posted by: Ro at December 7, 2007 01:09 AMThe topic to which I was referring as irrelevent to me, the world, as well as history, was Yule. And in my prior post, simply to solidify the fact that you have no clue about the subject to which you have professed an undying love, I stated quite clearly, "I offered you a link to the online text Heimskringla, which would have hopefully cleared up your confusion regarding the history of your 'religion' which I have studied extensively, albeit, in a roundabout way." This means that the study of any local custom was NOT the primary focus of our studies, we were much more interested in techniques and skills that actually have withstood the test of time, much unlike Yule.
One of the main things that you will develop as you enter your teen years, Ro, will be a little character trait known to most learned people as "reading comprehension." That trait was what allowed me to completely dismantle your "facts" and inform you of your mistakes regarding every single tidbit of your ideas. Do not fret, it will come, but if you maintain the Little Miss Know-It-All routine without knowing the person that you are debating, it will be much more difficult, and just like what happened in this thread, you will appear to be a fool.
Posted by: Two Dogs at December 7, 2007 01:16 PMJust a comment or two and I'll be off of here. I agree with most of what Two Dogs is saying. However there are a couple of points that most people don't know.
One is as early as 98 AD Christmas was celebrated on Dec. 25th. NOT January 6th. As a matter of fact in most of the Christian world it never has been celebrated on January 6th LET ME EXPLAIN that. Also just so you know under the Bishop of Roman Pope Julius I, Christmas was officially set not just a tradition as it had been but now officially set on Dec. 25th in 350 AD. However in the 1500's the calender changed.. you can check this all out.. From the Julian 2 calendar used at the time of Christ until the 1500's to the Georgian or Christian Calendar. What that meant was Dec 25th on the Julian calendar was now January 6th on the Georgian Calendar.. The Greek and Russian Orthodox churches kept the Julian 2 calendar while the rest of Christendom was now on the Georgian Calendar. Both however were celebrating the birth of Christ on Dec. 25th, on each Calendar. There was just a 12 days difference between the two. Thus most of the Christian Churches now had 12 days of Christmas which also honored the 12 apostles and also the 12 tribes of Israel. Starting with day one as Christmas day Dec. 25 and ending on Jan.6. Since, as it was pointed out by Ro, that Christ was a Jew indeed He was. Never did He ever suggest downing Jewish tradition. So in most Christian Churches the 6th of January is celebrated as epiphany when the wise men (pagans) came to worship and bring their gifts to baby Jesus the King of the Jews. Remember Christ died and went to hell for all of us: Pagans, Jews, Gentiles,Rich, Poor, Beggar, Thief, etc. Then on the third day He conquered death, for everyone as well if we just believe it, and rose from the dead. Simple plain and free.
I might point out in 98 A.D. that there indeed would have been some living that would have known exactly when Christ was born. So very likely He was born on Dec.25. The reason why most of the Christian world decided to celebrate it on Dec. 25 under the new calendar was to keep confusion down to a minimum when they switched calendars to the much more accurate Georgian Calendar. Likely everyone kept their birthday's they had been celebrating rather than figuring the difference. But again although Christ was born in the time of the Julian 2 calendar (under Caesar Augustus) .. which was more accurate than the Julian 1 calendar..Both the Greek's, Roman's and the rest of Christendom celebrated Christmas on Dec. 25 on both calendars. There now. Holiday as it looked very much like someone knew it meant "Holy Day". I don't mind Happy Holidays since there are a bunch of Christian religious holidays near the same time, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years..Seasons Greetings though, hey come on what is that? I personally love to say Merry Christmas and I am personally seeing much more of it this year than in the last two years and that is good to know. Also depending on which one you read there are somewhere between 86 to 90% of the people in the USA claim to be Christian that is a lot of offending going on here. My Jewish Friends .. all celebrate Christmas and have Christmas Trees and wow even call them Christmas Trees.. and say Merry Christmas So there you go. This is America! So for nearly 2,000 years we have been Celebrating Christmas on Dec. 25 more than any other pagan heathen group has.
The Winter Solstice is not DEC 25 and it, as far as I can tell, never was on Dec. 25. But if it were Christ wouldn't care. He would not hold it against them that they shared that date.. But the fact is there is just no proof of that. So back to the poem it is good. I like it and thank you so much for putting it on your website.
Merry Christmas to all and to all a very good night.
joyful226
