Some of my ramblings about Christmas and religion

Let me preface this post with this:  I am a Christian.  I believe in God and I believe that Jesus was the Messiah.  However, please let me continue.  I believe that our God is a loving and merciful God..  God doesn’t hate anything that God has made.  God sometimes doesn’t like what we might do.  However, God never punishes us by sending us to a place called “Hell”. I don’t believe that this place even exists!   Maybe your God is different than mine.  Maybe your God does do those things.  All I know is that my God equals love!!  (Also, my God is not a male or female, which is why I refuse to use pronouns when discussing God)

Now, I will begin:

This is a wonderful time of the year.  People are caroling, decorating trees, eating lot of sweets.  There are parties galore (where did the fascination with “Ugly Christmas Sweater Parties” even come from?”).  Everybody seems to be in a better mood than the rest of the year (that is, until they look at their checking accounts after Christmas shopping).  It is easily my favorite time of the year: Christmas!!    Now here are a few thoughts about this holiday.

   My 1^st thought:  

A lot of people think that Christmas has become too commercial, too secularized.  They think that we    forget why we even celebrate Christmas.  I disagree.  I believe that the combination of the religious aspect and the secular aspect is what makes Christmas such a great holiday.  Of course, I don’t think they should be combined too much.  Santa in a Nativity is a little too much.  But, I digress.  I love the commercial aspect of this holiday, starting with Santa and going right down to the tiniest gingerbread man.  I absolutely love it.  I also love the religious aspect of Christmas, starting with the birth of Christ right down to discussing how many wise men were actually there.  (I think that 4 were actually there.  One brought frankincense, one brought myrrh, and two went halvsies on the gold).  The fact that the wise men weren’t there at the birth of Jesus is completely lost on the nativity scenes, anyways.

My 2^nd thought:

There is one thing that I can always rely on at Christmas time.  That is this: “THE WAR ON CHRISTMAS”.  I would be willing to say that you didn’t read that as I read it when I typed it.  First, you need to work on your Boris Karloff impression.  Once you attained this ability, repeat the first two sentences of this paragraph.  Did you do it?  It sounds scarier that way. 

“The war on Christmas” is a mythical war that occurs every year.  It is led by Fox News where they are trying their best to “keep the ‘Christ’ in Christmas.  It must be hard with all of us liberal heathens running around.  If I have the ability to take “Christ” out of Christmas, then I am more powerful than I ever knew.  Next, I will use my powers to take “Fat” out of Father’s Day.  Please, wish me luck in this venture.  Seriously, though, what is people’s problem?  Why do people have such a prolem with people wishing them a “Happy Holidays”.  This is the holiday season: Christmas, New Years, Chanukah, etc.   The word “holiday” is derived from the notion “holy day” and evolved into its current form.   This is the definition of making a big deal out of nothing. 

This leads me to a discussion that doesn’t involve Christmas.

There is a question for which I have been dying to know the answer: “Why do so many Christians (mostly from the religious right) feel the need to act like they’re being persecuted f.  My friends: nobody’s religious freedom has been taken away.  When Rev. Billy Graham’s daughter was on CBS’s “Early Show” after 9/11, she said, “I would say also for several years now, Americans have shaken their fist at God, and said, ‘God, we want you out of our schools, our government, our business, we want you out of our marketplace”.  She then continued to say that we can’t turn our back to God but , then, ask God back when we need protection.  This quote proved to me that she might be as crazy as her old man. 
      Nobody has taken God out of any of these places.  Let’s take the schools for instance.  For some reason, so many people are up in arms about schools not allowing the students to pray.  That is absolute hogwash (yes, I said hogwash).  Students are allowed to pray.  Silent prayers work as well as prayers that are said aloud.  For those, who love to spout Bible verses out, please read Matthew 6:5-6.  It says, “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others.  Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.  But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen.  Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”  As far as I know, schools aren’t stopping people from praying silently.  A lot of schools have a moment of silence every day.  That is a perfect praying time. 
    Even if any of this could be remotely true, my God is a god of love, kindness, and compassion.  I wish that some of you Christians could get to know my God.  You would love it!!!

Fellow Christians, please don’t act like a victim because you aren’t one!