Posted on 12/23/2006 7:01:57 AM PST by Clive
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I like Christmas.
The profound intellectual failure of atheists lies in their fundamentalist-like aversion to the words, "We don't know."
I always thought the crutch of the religious is that they can't say "I don't know" and must attribute these unknowns to a god to give an answer. How did the universe begin? I don't know. It's that easy, but I'm not going to accept too-easy answers like "God did it."
Had this argument in a bar last night. The problem is that when many people become athiests, it becomes their new religion. They forget that there is a religious impulse that also drives them to seek conversions to their cause. For many (I cant say all) people I have met, their religion becomes "Christians are stupid".
Also tie in the ego-kick that many people get when they find somebody that they can claim to be stupider than themselves. Hence all the "Chimphitler" remarks and such. Its a quick way out for real losers.
That aside, I am reading Dawkin's "The God Delusion" right now and its fairly well written. Unfortunately, he himself is what we can call a "religious athiest".
This Christmas season, Best Buy has banned its employees from saying "Merry Christmas." I went to Circuit City last weekend and they were playing Christmas carols.
Nah - that's not it.
I mostly struggle with the person Jesus of Nazareth.
Best I can tell, he was either a liar, a lunatic, or - what he claimed to be...
Who made this decision at Best Buy? Do we know the identity of the person who banned "Merry Christmas" in this company? Someobdy who does such a drastic thing should have to publicly explain why. If he's not ashamed of his decision, then why shouldn't he be willing to step forward and take credit for it, and explain his reasoning?
Just say no to Best Buy
All that does is insert one more step before the inevitable "I don't know" anyway. After all, if you ask "How is it that there IS a God who has always existed, and why" the answer is going to be I Don't Know."
That said, the only thing about Christmas that makes me cranky is that wretched "Feed the World-Do they know it's Christmas Time" song (I can't even tell if it's all one song or two different ones.) There is nothing like a bunch of millionaires nagging ME to just give whatever I can to feed the world. They live in houses so big that their children get lost in them and a St Bernard has to lead them back, and they're nagging ME to feed the world? The day one of those SOBs lives in a normal sized house because he gave away his fortune to charity is the day I want him preaching to me. Till then, Bah Humbug.
I am a Christian, but it's as a traditionalist that I insist on saying "Merry Christmas" to everyone. People used to say it to one another all the time, and the world is less friendly, less hopeful, less unified when we all sullenly refuse to say it.
That said, I can understand why some stores have such a policy where I live. I live in the Washington DC area, which is trending toward being minority Christian. Some of the people from other cultural backgrounds get pretty fiesty here. You say "Merry Christmas" to the wrong person here and you can find yourself on the receiving end of hysterical shouting from someone from India or Arabia or even New York who chooses to feel offended. I don't mind saying a few brisk things to people who don't accept my heritage, but the store managers mind quite a bit.
Sorry, I'm not buying what you're saying. There are plenty of stores this year whose employees are saying Merry Christmas, and I haven't heard that they're suffering for it. Best Buy is an exception and has been told not to mention the name of this official federal holiday, and a day that is part of America's history and culture. I want to know who made that decision to banish the word Christmas from Best Buy, and hear his or her explanation. I suspect he or she is an anti-religious bigot, not someone who shares your (overly timid, PC) concern not to "offend" profession chip-on-shoulder jerks. (If they're so offended by Christmas - which is an official federal holiday, like Martin Luther King Day - do they skip the holiday and go to work? I doubt it) By the way, the more people who adopt your apologetic attitude toward our country's and our culture's heritage, the sooner it's all going to go down the drain.
Apologies. I re-read your post, and realize that you don't censor "Christmas" in your own conversation. Good for you. Bad for Best Buy. It's not a good business decision to imply that the word "Christmas" is a four-letter word, and denigrating our traditions is also not good for the country that allows Best Buy to prosper. So bah humbug to them
btt
"Atheists are arguing against a literalism that has never been accepted by anyone who is likely even to hear of Richard Dawkins."
LOL! Well put!
The funny (and not-so-funny) thing about it is: Dawkins and his ilk are more right than they know. The religious impulse is universal to the human condition and if you chase it out with a pitchfork it returns through the back door. The problem being is the forms it takes when it does that, re: Marxism, Nazism, "Gaia" worship, street gangs, and, of course, atheism.
Remember "Taliban Johnny"? His parents were/are exemplars of do-your-own-thing New Age freewheelers. That wasn't good enough for him and look at the star he wound up hitching his wagon to.
The reason you hate it is because the song isn't honest. It wasn't made to help anything but the sagging careers of those singing it.
That is the logical fallacy of the false dilemma, although three-way instead of the usual two-way. A fourth possibility is that Jesus is misrepresented by those writing about him.
I buy my smokes from a Bangladeshi fellow that runs a dollar store near my house. I loaded up for the holiday yesterday, and as I was leaving, I paused and said, "Happy Holidays" to him. He replied with, "And a Merry Christmas to you, my friend!" I sure felt stupid after that.
Not "believing in Christmas" is like not believing in Cinqo de Mayo. Christmas is one of those holidays, like Cinqo de Mayo, that so many people celebrate that it spills out into the public forum. Like Cinqo de Mayo, you can choose to celebrate it or not celebrate it, but to not "believe" in it in nonsense.
I lamented, "What's the use? Mankind's fate is sealed,
No one knows, and no one cares, what will be revealed.
We plunge into the darkness, dark thoughts and darker souls,
We will be trod asunder and be buried in dark holes."
and a Voice spake to me ... "Lighten up."
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