Xmas Already?

Once again I have been a bad blogger and have neglected my floundering little blog here. But what can you expect -- I've been slightly overworked lately, I apparently have terrible time management skills (otherwise I'd be able to find the time to visit here now and again), and now Xmas is almost here with all its attendant responsibilities.

That's right - xmas . . . I'm not using that shortcut because I don't care about Christmas (hello, if I used the american spelling of my name, christ would be a part of it), I'm using it because time is money people and it's just way easier to type, write, etc. "xmas." So everyone just stop bitching. Its fucking xmas. Dammit. Where's your xmas spirit? And as far as saying happy holidays instead of merry xmas, well, my guess is that people (and places like Target) use happy holidays instead of merry xmas because . . . well . . . shocker . . . not everyone celebrates xmas. Some people actually celebrate other winter-time holidays, like Hannukah (sorry, not sure of the spelling on that one -- is it supposed to start with a C or not?), Kwanza, and Solstice. And, according to the Daily Show, even Zoroastrians have a holiday this time of year. Saying Happy Holidays is just a way of respecting the fact that not everyone is Christian. Besides, the whole idea that the "Christians" in America are somehow being demoralized or whatever the fuck their bitch is this week because people don't say Merry Christmas (happy -- that took a whole millisecond longer to type than xmas) is simply ludicrous. Poor you, yeah right. You people are the majority. You have your man in the white house. Your "God" can be found on our money, in our national songs, and (gasp) in our courthouses. What is your problem? Can you please, for pete's sake, give the rest of a break?

Speaking of Christians, I recently learned that my brother has "become" a Christian. I say "become" because we were born Catholic but weren't really a 'churchgoing' family. He recently started going to new church. And really enjoys it. Of course, that scared the bejesus out of my pagan ass (what the fuck is a bejesus anyway?). I was way paranoid that he was going to become a bible-thumping asshole who stopped talking to me because I didn't think like him, or worse, tried every minute of every day to "convert" me. We've had serious conversations about it. And arguments (although afterwards he said he was mostly just playing devil's advocate to get a rise out of me -- I like to argue, obviously). But those "talks" taught me a very important lesson -- or rather retaught me and highlighted something I already knew. I should not let the radical right, neo-con, fundamentalist wackos speak for all Christians. Those people, who preach hate, and intolerance, and bomb abortion clinics, and beat up gay people, etc. etc., may call themselves Christians, but they're no more Christian than I am. Hell, they're less Christian than I am, in my humble pagan opinion. I may not believe Jesus is my savior (although I do believe he was a real person), or that Jesus is the one and only son of God (sorry, but doesn't the bible say we are all children of god?), but I believe you can't go wrong following his teachings (love thy neighbor, do unto others, and all that). As my brother explains it, true Christians seek to spread the word of God, but allow people to make their own decisions whether or not to listen. They do not judge or condemn people for differing viewpoints or behaviors, because that is not man's job, only God can do that. And they certainly do not use their own religious beliefs to oppress or harm others. And yet, the people who do these things are precisely the kinds of "Christians" I see in the news every single fucking day. It is these type of "Christians" who complain when people write xmas, or say happy holidays. And it is these type of Christians who are giving the "true" Christians a bad name. It is these type of Christians that caused me to be nervous when I heard my brother was going to church instead of happy that he has found something important to him. So all you non-psychos out there -- maybe you should speak up and stop letting the neo-con bunch let the rest of the world think that their brand of Christianity is the only brand out there.

OK -- well, I didn't intend on going off on a religious tangent, but with xmas around the corner, I suppose it could have been expected. All I really wanted to do was stop in, say hi, and maybe recap the past couple of weeks. But since I've already rambled for long enough, I'll save the recap for later.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS! (and screw you if you have a problem with that!)