I wrote this on the day after Christmas.
‘Twas the day after Christmas, and all through the House
The leftovers were eaten, the fire was well doused.
The stockings had been stripped of their goodies and lost
While the pols at the Capitol dreamed of bribes of great cost.
I’ve been drawn into an interesting discussion on a few other blogs. It started 
the other day while watching the TODAY show as I dressed for work. Matt Lauer had his panel of “experts” addressing controversial topics of the day, and one of them involved “outsourcing” Christmas obligations, like shopping, card sending etc, and the propriety of doing so. In the course of the conversation, Nancy Snyderman said she didn’t like the religious element of Christmas, in effect, it’s what ruins it for her. It was a short exchange, not well fleshed out, but it was clear there was a disagreement between Star Jones, who felt “Jesus is the Reason for the Season” while Snyderman did not.
A friend sent this link to an article on HuffPo to me this week. I took me awhile to read it, then a little longer to reply to my friend. I thought that since my reply was lengthy, and I havent posted anything in awhile, I’d reproduce my response.
Read the article first, then my reply.
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Here’s something that’s been bugging me, so allow me a little rant.
It seems like every time an atheist makes a comment about some aspect of religion that bugs them, they are quite forcefully and specifically told to shut up. Religion is not a topic one is supposed to discuss in polite company (along with politics and sex, and we know how often that rule is broken). Atheists are made to feel like every time they criticize theism, they are stepping over some boundary of propriety. Due to my upbringing, I often find myself gauging the sensibilities of my listener to see if I might offend them, but I notice that never does a Christian (I don’t have much contacts with Hindus, Muslims and members of other religions) stop and think before they “thank god” or “god bless me” or otherwise inject their religious beliefs into a conversation.
If you like Tim Minchin, you’ll love this – and it’s Banned in Britain! Well, not really, but it was cut from the TV show it was recorded for, which is sorta like being banned.
But, he has a good attitude about it. I wish Americans had this kind of response.
It’s 2011. The appropriate reaction to people who think Jesus is a supernatural being is mild embarrassment, sighing tolerance and patient education.
And anger when they’re being bigots.
Oh, and satire. There’s always satire.
In the Kickin-A-Horse-When-He’s-Been-Dead-For-Weeks-And-Should-Be-Buried Department, you’ve probably already seen this gag-inducing ad put out by Perry, pandering to the bigoted, white Christian vote:
I’ve been thoroughly enjoying the video parodies, so I thought I’d accumulate some of the best of them and put them all in one place. Hope you enjoy them too.
I trust everyone had a wonderful, family-filled Christmas holiday, and that Santa was good to you. I was preoccupied with my family, so I didn’t post much, just an occasional comment here and there.
But I did hear the news over the weekend that the Pope, in his Christmas address, prayed for peace. It’s getting to be a cliché that the Pope prays for peace on the most solemn occasion of the 
Church’s most solemn ritual – Christmas Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica. As far back as I can remember, whoever the Pope happened to be at the moment seemed to always pray for world peace. It’s actually gotten to be a joke, because he prays ad infinitum, ad nausem for world peace, and yet it never happens.
Saw this over at The Friendly Atheist. This is the best and most comprehensive rebuttal of the nonsense they call the “War on Christmas” I’ve read. Enjoy it.
This is not about a prize fight between two mythical entities. More like a comparison. Let’s start with similarities:
Similarities
SPANISH INQUISITOR 