Diversions for a Troubled Christmas Season.

The Houston Courant ^ | 12/23/2020 | B. Vasoli

[The Houston Courant]

Even at this year’s Christmastime, we may count some blessings. Vaccines to decimate the coronavirus are being manufactured and shipped. More Americans have seen their faith strengthened than weakened in 2020. Divorce and promiscuity are down. Frugality is up. Charitable giving has stayed fairly robust for an economically troubled time. Most readers of this webzine can rest assured they are spending Christmas in a calmer place than our brethren in southeast England, who now face a new, quick-spreading COVID strain and severe lockdown. Yet, as London’s plight underscores, all is far from well; and it behooves Christians to harbor not only gratitude but also vigilance. At this writing, almost 327,000 Americans and over 1.7 million people globally have lost their lives to COVID-19 while millions of their loved ones grieve for them. To prevent more death, many friends and relatives stay apart even when they they need each other most. Community cohesion has suffered and political rancor has intensified. Poverty has worsened. Family formation has gravely slowed.

All the while, across the Christian world, many of this season’s loveliest features—church services, holiday parties, caroling—are curtailed to varying degrees. And while few children are lining up anywhere to sit on Santa’s lap and request the objects of their consumerist affections, many of Christmastime’s ugliest secular hallmarks are still with us. With more Americans sitting in front of their screens, such items (e.g., kitschy cinema and banal TV specials) will get more attention than ever.

[webheart]

Decimate means decrease by a tenth. A vaccine is supposed to decrease the virus by way more than a tenth. I don’t know what the rest of the article says because I can’t read past the stupid part.