About Stupid Ducks and Christmas Things
‘Mallard Fillmore’ creator arrested for DUI — Hoosier Edward Bruce Tinsley, creator of the conservative comic strip Mallard Fillmore, was arrested in Columbus Dec. 4 and charged with operating a vehicle under the influence — his second alcohol-related arrest in less that four months, according to the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department.
Pardon me while I laugh gleefully at another’s misfortune (and idiocy). I hate Mallard Fillmore. Really, even conservatives should be offended by this asinine comic.
War on Christmas?, from Atrios — Look, it’s very simple. There are two Christmas holidays. One is the secular holiday, decreed by the federal government to be a national holiday, which is celebrated and marked with festive displays of trees, lights, fat guys with beards, and elves, along with lots of shopping and the giving of gifts. The other holiday involves a celebration of the birth of the Messiah, and is celebrated with religious rituals and displays of nativity scenes and other religious imagery.
Some fundy nutjob sitting at my coffee counter the other day was going on about how people who don’t believe in god shouldn’t be allowed to have Christmas trees, or have the day off work, etc. I’m not going to bash on the lady too hard, because most of her problem is that she’s clinically mentally ill, and her doctors can’t seem to get her meds tweaked right. So despite the fact that she regularly — and innocently — comes out with this incredibly hateful crap against non-Christians, terrorists, gays, etc, I try not to hold it against her. Religious mania seems to be a symptom. Also, she just gave me a free humidifier for my house, because I mentioned that my Grimmy dog was suffering from dry skin and it was making him itchy and cranky and he was chewing raw spots in his skin and so forth, so she just went out and found me a humidifier. I try to remember that she used to be a really nice, normal lady before the crazy got a hold of her.
But, anyways — I suspect that most people celebrate Christmas because that’s what they grew up celebrating, not particularly because they have deep religious beliefs. I kind of suspect that’s why most folks identify themselves as Christian, at all. I celebrate Christmas, because, you know, pretty trees and lights, family and togetherness and peace, love and joy, and . . . well, presents. Yeah.
Maybe Christians should give up some of the pagan and/or consumerist trappings of Christmas, and get back to celebrating it as a religious holiday. Much of what is involved in your average Christian Christmas celebration is derived from previous pagan holidays. The decorated tree is descended from the traditions of Germanic tribes, and the date comes from the Romans, who worshiped the birth of their sun god, as well as various other things, on that date or right close to it. In fact, how do actual Christians celebrate the birth of Christ? I mean, I think they get a special Mass if they’re Catholic, but after that, it’s all gotten muddled up in various winter solstice celebrations. The way Christmas is celebrated in America today is just about as Christian as I am.
It’s a secular winter holiday.
And there’s nothing wrong with that. There’s plenty of reasons to have a good time at the end of December. For a lot of us, the weather is crap, and that’s reason enough all by itself to whip around a good celebration. Especially one involving colorful decorations and bright lights and evergreens and plenty of good food and candy, and gift-giving and whatnot.
I think Christmas has gotten beyond the idea of the birth of Christ. I think a lot of us tend to see it as a reminder of the joy of being a child, and the magic of Santa and the surprise presents. It’s a way to remember what it felt like to be a kid. It’s a time to be together as friends and family, and do nice things for one another, and give things away to folks who need them. It’s a time to remember why we strive to be better people, which, I think, is why so many folks wax poetic about keeping the spirit of Christmas in your heart all year long.
And also, there are cookies. Any holiday that comes with special cookies rates high in my book, no matter what idea gets attached to them.
And, along with the theme: Festive trees back at US airport — Christmas trees are being returned at Seattle’s international airport after a row over religious decorations. A dozen holiday trees had been removed over the weekend after a local rabbi complained the decorations did not include a giant Jewish menorah.
Maybe public places should just start sticking to basic “winter festival” sorts of decorations. Strings of pretty, sparkly lights would be okay, as would snowflakes and cardinals. Silver, blue, and white could be the color scheme. It would also make decorating my restaurant a hell of a lot easier.
