What annoys me the most are people who are intolerant of others. I deal with this fact everyday and for the most part I ignore them. But the whole "Merry Christmas" deal has really ruffled my feathers so to speak. Listen, I could give a flying rats ass if you are a christian and this is the holiday where you celebrate the birth of your "savior" regardless of the fact he (if he was really born) would have been born during the summer. That is your right! You have the right to believe what ever it may be that you want to believe. I, personally, refuse to think that this is purely a christian time of year. My Jewish friends just celebrated their holiday and my pagan friends will celebrate theirs on the 21. I will celebrate right along with them and on December 25 will celebrate with my christian friends too. Why does this have to be a fight? And why does it bother you that I choose to wish somebody a Happy Holiday? Isn't it my right as an American to have whatever religious belief that I choose to have? How is wishing somebody a good thing such as having a happy celebration considered such a horrible idea? I don't understand this way of thinking and I've become so frustrated with the whole mentality of "I'm tired of people taking Christ out of Christmas." Well I have news for you. Nobody can take Christ out of Christmas for you unless you allow it. If you choose to celebrate the birth of Jesus...well, dammit, celebrate for christs sakes! Not everybody in this country is a christian and for that I am truly thankful. That is what makes this country so diverse. That is what our ancestors came over here for. A country where they were free to do as they pleased. I know that's why my paternal ancestors came here. My maternal ancestors were displaced from their native lands and forced to accept this country as was told to them (but that's a different story all together).
I have decided that those who complain that this "Happy Holidays" thing is so bad would benefit from a short history lesson. Since I love history so much I felt it to be in my best interest to put together this little lesson.
Lesson 1) Xmas is not deleting Christ out of Christmas. X is the greek term for Christ therefore Xmas is Christmas but in another language. No mean atheist is taking anything away from you here.
Lesson 2) Holidays- according to the dictionary the word "holiday" comes from the Old English word "hāligdæg." The word originally referred only to special religious days. In modern use, it means any special day of rest or relaxation, as opposed to normal days away from work or school. The word derived from the notion of "Holy Day," and gradually evolved to its current form.
Lesson 3) Many different holidays from many different religions occur in December.
Hanukkah starts on the 25th day of Kislev according to the Hebrew calendar, which may occur at any time from late November to late December in the Gregorian calendar.
Kwanzaa is a weeklong celebration held in the United States honoring universal Africa heritage and culture, observed from December 26 to January 1 each year. It features activities such as the lighting of a kinara and libations, and culminates in a feast and gift giving.
Christmas is from December 24 to December 25 unless you celebrate the 12 days of Christmas. The Twelve Days of Christmas are the festive days beginning Christmas Day (25 December). This period is also known as Christmastide. The Twelfth Day of Christmas is 5 January, with the celebrations of Christmas traditionally ending on Twelfth Night and is followed by the Feast of the Epiphany on 6 January. In some traditions the first day of Epiphany and the twelfth day of Christmas overlap.
The winter solstice has many, many origins. For my Pagan/Wiccan friends....In Wicca, a form of the holiday is observed as one of the eight solar holidays, or Sabbat. In most Wiccan groups, or covens, this holiday is celebrated as the rebirth of the Great God, who is viewed as the newborn solstice sun. Although the name Yule has been appropriated from Germanic and Norse paganism, elements of the celebration itself are of modern origin. Yule or Yule-tide ("Yule-time") is a winter festival that was initially celebrated by the historical Germanic people as a pagan religious festival, though it was later absorbed into, and equated with, the Christian festival of Christmas. The festival was originally celebrated from late December to early January on a date determined by the lunar Germanic calendar. The festival was placed on December 25 when the Christian calendar (Julian calendar) was adopted. Scholars have connected the celebration to the Wild Hunt. Look for yourself how many religions celebrate winter solstice. (yes, even Christian, celebrate the winter solstice)... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_solstice
It's all right there for you. I just don't feel like typing it all out.
Please prove me wrong but the only buddhist holiday I found that sometimes occurs in December is Loi Krathong. Loi Krathong takes place on the evening of the full moon of the 12th month in the traditional Thai lunar calendar. In the western calendar this usually falls in November.
I am still learning about Buddhism so I am not completely accurate yet.
So my point being is to just learn about your beliefs before you judge. In the famous words of Rodney King....Why can't we all just get along?
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Saturday, December 11, 2010
A Human Analysis From Behind Three Feet Of Wood
**I really should be doing my homework but I have this blog in my head that just wont go away no matter how hard I kick it, so here goes nothing.**
We've all seen nature shows on television. Animals in the wild doing what mother nature intended. Some of what is filmed makes a person go all googly with doe-eyed cuteness, other parts makes you cringe and fear for the poor beast about to be eaten. I've come to realize that, after my numerous years observing from behind my safety barrier, humans have not come that far from their wild, instinctive nature. We are all still connected to our uncivilized beginnings.
Tonight there was a party at work. Just your typical office party that involved both sexes and an enormous amount of alcohol. I was bartending this party and suddenly envisioned myself as a film producer of nature shows. I saw the show run through it's entirety. Let's start at the beginning after the title sequence.
The party started at 6 pm and shortly thereafter the first customers arrived. I am going to refer to them as a lion pride as there were a couple of males and mostly women. The lion pride entered the building cautiously, scanning the rooms and making a beeline for the den (bar). Once in the den, they settled down and put claim on the area. Some even marked their territory with scent or fur. They socialized with each other, drank, and was happily co-inhabiting the den. Then another pride entered the building. This second pride also entered in the same fashion as the first but this was different! They could sense the first pride was already there but they had not seen them yet. The second pride lingered in the entry area nervous about entering the den. Suddenly the first pride caught wind of the intruders and sent a scout out to investigate. The scout apprehensively rounded the corner and when the second pride was spotted, the scout puffed up his chest. It reminded me of the rutting process in deer- puff up chest, raise head, lower eyes, and try your damnest to intimidate the other. Then when the other pride essentially rolled on their backs in submission the scout relented and allowed the second pride to join the first. Both prides greeted each other with the typical pouncing, and butt sniffing, and circling. This process happened repeatedly until all the customers had arrived.
Cocktail hour finally over and it was time for dinner. At this point the crowd had turned into one big pack but the alpha leaders of each separate pride were still evident. Each pride member knew their place and waited until the alpha's had entered the dining area before they did. Each member took to their seats and began to feast. But soon there was discontent amongst the prides. Lower members of the pride headed back into the den (bar) to voice their disapproval of the alpha leaders. These low ranking pride members started to band together and start a pride of their own. Occasionally others from the original prides appeared and pleaded with them to come back. Some took heed to their companions pleas and returned to their original prides. The others turned their backs to their former pride mates and embraced their new "family". This new pride had no leader, no direction, no way to survive. A few tried their hand at being the alpha leader but anarchy soon followed.
At this point the new pride lost a few members as they went running with their tails tucked between their legs back to their old pride to beg forgiveness in a hope to be re accepted. Some were not so lucky and these soon became the outsiders. The outsiders were rogue lions that would infiltrate pride groups in the hopes to break away pride members. The rogue lions took control over their new subjects and dictated their actions. Mostly this was just to drink more or to dance to a certain song the dj was playing but the similarities to animal behavior in the wild had me laughing my ass off.
The night ended with the alpha leaders and their prides leaving shortly after the dinner. All that was left were a few rogue lions and their subjects. This is when the mating rituals began. You can imagine how that went. Alot of show and pomp with some snarling and snapping thrown in there for good measure. A few relented and that was quite an uncomfortable situation for me. It's like a car wreck....you don't want to look but you just can't help yourself. Plus I was stuck behind my safety barrier that consisted of three feet of wood and not much more.
In the end all the lions returned to their home dens and I was left with the clean-up. And this blog stuck in my head. Funny...These people were all doctors and nurses with massive amounts of education behind them but they just cannot deny nature. I only wish I actually had a camera with me.
We've all seen nature shows on television. Animals in the wild doing what mother nature intended. Some of what is filmed makes a person go all googly with doe-eyed cuteness, other parts makes you cringe and fear for the poor beast about to be eaten. I've come to realize that, after my numerous years observing from behind my safety barrier, humans have not come that far from their wild, instinctive nature. We are all still connected to our uncivilized beginnings.
Tonight there was a party at work. Just your typical office party that involved both sexes and an enormous amount of alcohol. I was bartending this party and suddenly envisioned myself as a film producer of nature shows. I saw the show run through it's entirety. Let's start at the beginning after the title sequence.
The party started at 6 pm and shortly thereafter the first customers arrived. I am going to refer to them as a lion pride as there were a couple of males and mostly women. The lion pride entered the building cautiously, scanning the rooms and making a beeline for the den (bar). Once in the den, they settled down and put claim on the area. Some even marked their territory with scent or fur. They socialized with each other, drank, and was happily co-inhabiting the den. Then another pride entered the building. This second pride also entered in the same fashion as the first but this was different! They could sense the first pride was already there but they had not seen them yet. The second pride lingered in the entry area nervous about entering the den. Suddenly the first pride caught wind of the intruders and sent a scout out to investigate. The scout apprehensively rounded the corner and when the second pride was spotted, the scout puffed up his chest. It reminded me of the rutting process in deer- puff up chest, raise head, lower eyes, and try your damnest to intimidate the other. Then when the other pride essentially rolled on their backs in submission the scout relented and allowed the second pride to join the first. Both prides greeted each other with the typical pouncing, and butt sniffing, and circling. This process happened repeatedly until all the customers had arrived.
Cocktail hour finally over and it was time for dinner. At this point the crowd had turned into one big pack but the alpha leaders of each separate pride were still evident. Each pride member knew their place and waited until the alpha's had entered the dining area before they did. Each member took to their seats and began to feast. But soon there was discontent amongst the prides. Lower members of the pride headed back into the den (bar) to voice their disapproval of the alpha leaders. These low ranking pride members started to band together and start a pride of their own. Occasionally others from the original prides appeared and pleaded with them to come back. Some took heed to their companions pleas and returned to their original prides. The others turned their backs to their former pride mates and embraced their new "family". This new pride had no leader, no direction, no way to survive. A few tried their hand at being the alpha leader but anarchy soon followed.
At this point the new pride lost a few members as they went running with their tails tucked between their legs back to their old pride to beg forgiveness in a hope to be re accepted. Some were not so lucky and these soon became the outsiders. The outsiders were rogue lions that would infiltrate pride groups in the hopes to break away pride members. The rogue lions took control over their new subjects and dictated their actions. Mostly this was just to drink more or to dance to a certain song the dj was playing but the similarities to animal behavior in the wild had me laughing my ass off.
The night ended with the alpha leaders and their prides leaving shortly after the dinner. All that was left were a few rogue lions and their subjects. This is when the mating rituals began. You can imagine how that went. Alot of show and pomp with some snarling and snapping thrown in there for good measure. A few relented and that was quite an uncomfortable situation for me. It's like a car wreck....you don't want to look but you just can't help yourself. Plus I was stuck behind my safety barrier that consisted of three feet of wood and not much more.
In the end all the lions returned to their home dens and I was left with the clean-up. And this blog stuck in my head. Funny...These people were all doctors and nurses with massive amounts of education behind them but they just cannot deny nature. I only wish I actually had a camera with me.
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