My Confession

By Findalis
Monkey in the Middle

I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees, Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are, Christmas trees.

It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, “Merry Christmas” to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu. If people want a crib, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in G-d are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from, that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.

Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship celebrities and we aren't allowed to worship G-d? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where these celebrities came from and where the America we knew went to.

In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking.

Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her: “How could G-d let something like this happen?” (regarding Hurricane Katrina). Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said: “I believe G-d is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect G-d to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?”

In light of recent events... terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found a few years ago) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave, because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said okay.

Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.

Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with 'WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.'

Funny how simple it is for people to trash G-d and then wonder why the world's going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the L-rd, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of G-d is suppressed in the school and workplace.

Are you laughing yet?

Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it.

Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what G-d thinks of us.

Pass it on if you think it has merit.

If not, then just discard it.... no one will know you did. But if you discard this thought process, don't sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in.

My Best Regards, Honestly and respectfully,

Ben Stein

Merry Christmas!

The War on Christmas and Christianity Continues in 2009!

The War on Christmas and Christianity Continues in 2009!

A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

**************************

OK, let me make it as clear as I am able right up front! I am not interested in “multiculturalism” and I am even less interested in “inclusivity.” I am an Isolationist at heart, but a realist… out of practicality.

Having cleared the air, I can get on with these few comments.

It is time for America to celebrate Christmas. For those of the Christian community it is a grand time of celebrating the birth of the Savior, Jesus Christ, from whose name the word Christmas, or “Christ Mass,” is derived. I am of this community.

I care nothing for the celebration of anything else. I care that you have the right to celebrate Hanukkah, or that newly invented secular holiday for Afro-centric African Americans, Kwanzaa. You are guaranteed that right by the Constitution, which was, itself, guaranteed by Christians.

I know, I know! I can see the “comments box” filling up even as I write this. That’s OK. Just keep it clean.

In the year 2009 one would have to be a disconnected, isolated, idiot to believe that Christmas is not under attack in the western world, especially in the United States.

If you are a regular reader of my scribbling then you already know that I believe that Christians founded America as a Christian country. As a Christian country we are tolerant of other religions. That does not mean that individual American citizens must approve of any particular religion or practice thereof. In a Christian country a citizen is not compelled to be a Christian or a subscriber to any religion, for that matter. That right was guaranteed all Americans in that aforementioned Constitution. And that, Dear Reader, in my humble opinion, is where we mis-stepped. That “right” we celebrate, and hold so dear, has come back to bite us on our collective “Christian butts.”

Any antagonist, worth his salt, uses his opponent’s weakness against him. The opponents of Christianity, no slackers they, have learned to use our weakness of tolerance for other religions, or no religion, against the Christians of America, indeed, in much of the world.

Christian symbols are being relegated to the closets, and basements, of public buildings not to be displayed on the walls of, or grounds of, such public buildings such as, for instance, courthouses.

Put up a Crèche scene, in honor of Christmas, in the town square, and you’d better have a Menorah, a Christmas tree, A Santa Claus, a Kwanzaa something or other, and on and on. The idea is simply to dilute Christmas in a mass of other religious, and secular, celebrations and lessen its influence on the average American. The more timid among us are even afraid to utter that time honored “Merry Christmas.”

No more Christmas break for our public schools. It’s now the “Winter Break” a phrase reminiscent of the pagans of Western Europe. Gone is the Christmas tree in many of those same schools.

Now, I could go on, and on, citing example after example of the battles being waged all across America against Christmas and, collectively, Christians.

Currently, we are in a worldwide war with Islam. Oh, you may argue, we are at war with only the fundamentalist Islamic! I beg to differ. Again, in my opinion -- this is a war between Islam and Christianity. The Muslims know this. Only those of us of the Western Christian countries have deluded ourselves into believing we are in a war with some splinter group of Islam. Hopefully, we will awaken to this fact before it is to late to recover from our mistake and take the battle, for our very existence, to the enemies of Christianity.

Meanwhile, in America, we have our hands full dealing with our own internal enemies. “The War on Christmas” is just a symptom of the greater war on Christianity. Until we recognize that fact, and begin to fight back, we will continue to lose our Christian symbols, our Christian holidays, and eventually our practice of the Christian faith.

I was thinking, as I wrote these words, that there must have been some squinty-eyed old scribe hidden away in a semi-darkened “scriptorium”, somewhere beneath the streets of ancient Rome, scratching out similar words as these while Christians were being gored, and mauled, and torn limb from limb, in the amphitheatres such as The Coliseum above his lowly hovel.

Somehow, every attack against Christians has served to strengthen The Christian Church and insure her survival. One doesn’t have to be a believer to acknowledge the work of a Supreme Being in the dissemination of what we Christians call “The Good News” or “The Gospel.” And yet, down through the ages, many Christians, liked this scribe, feel driven to denounce, in our writings, the evil forces at work against the Christian church.

As one who has studied the scriptures, I know the church will be whittled down until there will be only a remnant of the followers of Christ left upon his return. We witness the “whittling down” process everyday in reports of attacks upon the Christian faith in the news media of the world. And yet – I feel a force, deep within me, urging me to proclaim to all who read these words that no matter the size of the remaining remnant, the Christian Church WILL survive. No matter the odds, the ultimate force for good in this world will continue to feed the hungry, heal the sick, lift up the fallen, and spread the good news of the birth of a savior in a little Middle Eastern town called Bethlehem, some 2,000 years ago. Since that remarkable night, men and women have been unceasingly spreading the news of His arrival and the message He brought of “Peace, Good Will Toward Men.”

Men and women of the Christian faith, in the modern world, may again be relegated to “the catacombs” to practice their Christian faith. But just as their ancient counterparts, they WILL keep the faith. In the face of all odds they will not falter and they will not fail.

And so, from my own little scriptorium, as I write in the wee hours of the morning, please allow me to be among the first to wish you, and your family, a MERRY CHRISTMAS!

J. D. Longstreet

Send Your Favorite Scrooge a PC Holiday Greeting

The following was forwarded to me via e-mail. I don’t know the person (Roger S.) who first penned it, but it’s just wonderful.

Imagine the joy of sending this “Holiday” Greeting to every PC store that refuses to use the word “Christmas.” Imagine their customer service inboxes overloaded with this timely and “meaningful” greeting.

Copy and Past the following:

“Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all. I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2008, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great. Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere. Also, this wish is made without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishee.”

I’d add the following PS:

PS: May all of your “Holiday’ trees drop their needles!

Now just in case you think such an exercise is pointless, read about the unfortunate case of Patty Lewis, Human Resources Director in Diversifying Christmas from Ft. Hard Knox.

Just in case you want to spread the “Holiday” joy, here are a few places to start:

Christmas Unfriendly “Scrooge” Stores Contact Links:

Best Buy
Bed. Bath, and Beyond
Lowe’s
K-Mart Customer Service form, or help@customerservice.kmart.com, or customerservice@kmart.com
Kohl’s
Sears Customer Relations. For an earlier story on how Sears responded last week to inquiries about their “Holiday” trees read Give Sears and K-Mart a Holiday They Won’t Soon Forget

Ok now that we’ve had our fun it back to whining and complaining.

What the Right Bloggers Are Saying

Here’s my hat-tip to some of my favorite blogs today! Listed in no particular order.

America in Danger

The Golden State Fence Company, which built part of the border fence that is used to keep illegal immigrants out of the US, has been fined almost $5 million for hiring illegal workers. Two executives may face jail time. . .

Dumb OX News

War on Christmas . . . "ELF yourself?" Go Elf Yourself. "Elf your mother." "Elf your children." Quote unquote on the CBS's movie tonight for children!!! THAT is the lovely Christmas gift from OFFICE MAX and CBS. Oh, right, it's a cute website (elfyourself.com) where you can put your picture and message on an elf-o-gram, etc. BUT, duh! There's only one allusion intended here. Ha, ha. Hilarious. Go Elf Yourself for Christmas! Courtesy of OFFICE MAX and CBS. . . .Take Action . . .Click Here to Send an Email to CBS . . .

Our Eternal Struggle

Scotland's first contemporary feature film in Gaelic is in post-production. The BBC has begun broadcasting live sports coverage in Gaelic. A Gaelic-only high school has opened in Glasgow. A leading Scottish politician is seeking, via Brussels, to ensure Gaelic's place as a European language. . .

Wake Up America

Victory Over Defeat and Defeatists
The one thing I will never understand is the political need from the left and Democratic party to see this country defeated. Does it stem from their deep seated hatred of Bush and the republican party or are they incapable of seeing the United States of America win the war on terror? . . .

Coalition of the War of the War on Christmas

Talks about A new Christian video game for Christmas . . .Filed under War On Christmas Toy BoycottsBoy this is tough……what happens when secular Santa brings you a Christian video game….where your goal is to kill the secular non-believers…….

Freedom Folks

Quote of the Day – you can’t miss this one!!!

Talk Wisdom

Entertainment Industry Hostile to People of Fatih . . .The Parents Television Council revealed in a new study that religious content on television is shown less frequently and more negatively on television. The new study, "Faith in a Box 2005-2006," is a review of how religion is portrayed on prime time broadcast television. . .

Christmas Watch

This Christmas letter to Democrats is just really too good. Go read and enjoy.

Woman Honor Thyself

The epic Second Vatican Council in the 1960s introduced many changes, the chief among them being the declaration Nostra Aetate.

Meaning: In Our Time, it officially rejected the charge of deicide, and criticized hatred, persecution, or displays of anti-Semitism directed against Jews at any time, under any circumstance and by any one. It calls out for mutual respect between Catholics and Jews. . .

Jihad Watch

Russia defies West and goes ahead with nuclear fuel sale to Iran RUSSIA is to begin supplying Iran with nuclear fuel early next year despite mounting concern in the West that this could accelerate Tehran’s plans to build a nuclear bomb . . .

Kingdom Advancing

An excellent reply to criticism of I finally went to see The Nativity Story

Gates of Vienna

The Government is Not Your Friend . . .The government is constrained by political reality, and political reality is conditioned (if not generated) by the MSM, so we are stuck with a useless government. Eventually the new media will supplant the old, and our viewpoints will become more like the norm. At that point elections might start to reflect what the majority of people really feel about Islam, multiculturalism, and illegal immigrants (a.k.a. “undocumented Democrats”). But we’ve got at least another ten years before that happens . .

My Weekly Thoughts

There are a few facts to be considered by those who think Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s Holocaust Conference was a great open forum. For starters, only those who believe the Holocaust is a hoax were invited to attend. (…still think it was a fair and open debate?...

Independent Conservative

I Think NYC Police Should Protest to Demand Better Treatment
It is the police that should be protesting for better treatment. They should protest that people they ask to stop their cars actually stop them. And that people not hit cops with their cars as well. . . . I’m Black and I’ve spent time in New York City. While there and every other place I’ve been in America I can never say I left a town with the feeling I was “treated like dirt”. . . . The fact of the matter is that Black kids don’t live to see 21 because of other Black kids that kill them. . . . Now given we know who really does the killing of Blacks in NYC, why won’t Sharpton and his followers shut down shopping in Harlem (Uptown), to remind Black New Yorkers that it should not be business as usual till Blacks commit less crime? . . .

World War III Began With the Culture Wars

(But then, of course, no such thing exists . . . or does it?)

If you don’t read anything else today, please read Dr. Michael D. Evans, blog post
“The First War of the Twenty-first Century.”

Best quote about Leftists: “Peddlers of Weapons of Mass Deception”

Read about “A new movement against "Islamofascism"

“I am all for new anti-jihad movements. The more the better. There is certainly a great deal of work to be done, and no one can say he is doing it all or can do it all himself. And now here is, possibly, a new attempt to put together a movement: "A new movement against radical Islam?: Modeled after anti-Communist efforts, activists plot strategy," from WorldNetDaily.com, with thanks to DC Watson:”

Read about it at the Discerning Texan.

910Group.com (Anti-Islamo-fascism Freedom Fighters)

Visit to Moonbattery to see what dreadful things the Pelosilanders are doing.

Learn about all the Leftist Socialists, Marxists, Communists etc. in Congress and Hollywood at New Zeal (the New Zealanders are watching us!)

Today’s feature is Dennis Kucinich. “My second "Socialists in Congress or Senate" profile deals with Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), the new chair of the US Congress' Government Reform Subcommittee.”

Read “New York Town Declares Santa a Religious Figure” at One Country Voice.

Note to all you Loose Bolts: Go have some green tea (be sure it's really Green), get Zenned out, and don't worry your little heads about this.

A Progressive God Responds to the War on Christmas

Yesterday I was forwarded a rather long e-mail letter from God, so I thought you just might be interested. If you are reading this, then you will most likely receive it too. I was really disappointed, however, that I wasn’t on God’s initial list of friends, but I guess I should be thankful that the e-mail finally made it into my inbox.

The letter starts out . . .

“Dear Children,

It has come to my attention that many of you are upset that folks are taking My name out of the season. Maybe you've forgotten that I wasn't actually born during this time of the year and that it was some of you're predecessors who decided to celebrate My birthday on what was actually a time of pagan festival. Although Ido appreciate being remembered anytime.

How I personally feel about this celebration can probably be most easily understood by those of you who have been blessed with children of your own. I don't care what you call the day. If you want to celebrate My birth just, GET ALONG AND LOVEONE ANOTHER. . . .”

The letter goes on to suggest that we all stop worrying about the War on Christmas, and start acting like real Christians by performing acts of Christian love and charity etc. Now who can argue with that? And more to the point, who would dare argue with God???

Well, for starters, how can I be sure that God actually wrote this e-mail? I did notice that there were a few grammatical errors, but perhaps God doesn’t really care much about grammar either or perhaps His secretary was off for the day?

The next question I had was that if God really did write this e-mail, which person of the Trinity was actually involved in the writing? The implication is that it must be Jesus because God is talking about “MY birthday.” We Christians all know that God the Father “Is, Was, and Always Will Be.” God the Father never had a birth date. If Jesus is writing about “My name” and “My birthday”, why didn’t He even once mention His name??? He could have at least signed the letter but HE didn’t.

Perhaps God was avoiding any mention of Jesus in order to keep Christians and Non-Christians alike from Christmas-time divisiveness? But that doesn’t ring true. It’s really hard to imagine a God “who sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him” (John 4:19), not even wanting to mention that fact on his only son’s birthday.

But this letter is hard to figure out, kind of like trying to figure out God. So I’m just not sure. Isn’t it funny that God would remind folks to read John 15: 1 – 8 ("I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. . .), tell folks to pray, and to send money to missionaries who would spread his name, but fail to spread His name in this very letter???

And why wouldn’t God want folks to heed Jesus’ own words?

“And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.” (John 14:13)

God made several good suggestions in his e-mail but I was struck by the fact that God had little interest in keeping alive the Christian tradition of Christmas. I would assume from reading this e-mail from God that He’s not at all opposed to secularizing the day.

“Stop worrying about the fact that people are calling the tree a holiday tree, instead of a Christmas tree. It was I who made all trees.”

That got me to thinking about the importance of tradition – to humans at least. Why should protecting our cherished religious traditions be important to all Americans regardless of our differing faith perspectives?

Oddly enough I found the answer from an Australian – Professor Mark Cooray. Dr. Cooray was once a socialist/progressive activist but he turned from socialism because, “I have come to believe that socialism and progressivism are in practice, as far as human development is concerned, retrogressive philosophies.”

Here’s a quote from a very interesting chapter on Tradition from the book, The Australian Achievement: From Bondage To Freedom by Dr. Mark Cooray.

"The Internationale contains a line "No more tradition's chains shall bind us." This is one of the fundamental ideas of socialist/progressivist thinking. Man must be freed from tradition. Reason is to be the guiding light. The devil can cite scripture for his purposes. Reason can often be used to support any position. If men and women are freed from tradition, the experiences of history and the family environment, they can be manipulated and used by ideological and religious leaders, eccentrics and maniacs. If tradition declines, ideologues can mould and influence individuals."
Source: http://ourcivilisation.com/cooray/btof/chap11.htm

Note: The Internationale is the international song of both Marxist and non-Marxist socialist parties. It was written in French by Eugene Pottier, a woodworker from Lille, after the fall of the Paris Commune of 1871, and set to music by P. Degeyter.
Source: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/INTERNAT.html

Now it’s just possible, even plausible, that perhaps God didn’t really write this e-mail letter. And if the devil can cite scripture for his purposes, then who is to say who really wrote the letter? That got me to thinking about “inversion” – the turning of faith or any philosophy inside out.

Now anyone can be susceptible to ideologues who would manipulate faith, and those who are only too willing to overthrow tradition for political correctness are often the most susceptible. The clever part about the inversion of faith is that it is often very subtle. The primary rule of inversion is that the big lie is usually hidden amid much truth. And that big lie is often hidden through the process of expanding definitions and redefining commonly accepted theological truths. We usually call it "revisionism".

I don’t know who wrote the letter and most likely it was written by someone who has the best of Christian humanistic intentions. I do know that the letter was forwarded to me from one of my liberal/ progressive friends who is a member of a very liberal/progressive Christian denomination. I won’t mention the particular denomination’s name but you can usually tell which Christian denominations have a liberal/progressive bias. They are the denominations with well known old names that are rapidly losing membership due in no small part to the fact that they subtly promote moral equivalency with any faith perspective, and they avoid, at all costs, the mention of sin. The easiest way to spot them is that they quote every Biblical verse devoted to Love but recoil from any passage having to do with the cost of sin. And if you read any of their literature you will find that they have quite neutered the language by never referring to God as "He". The most extreme of the progressives refer to God as "He/She".

My friend sent the e-mail on to all of her many church friends and to me because she was afraid that we Americans are “politicizing our God.” But somehow this letter from God feels just like a politicized message especially when God tells us to pray for George.

I do not doubt the sincerity and devout faith of my friend and of most liberal/progressive Christians. But what I do know is that, as Dr. Cooray aptly pointed out concerning the progressives, “they can be manipulated and used by ideological and religious leaders, eccentrics and maniacs.”

If anyone would like me to send them the entire e-mail from “God”, please e-mail me.