Christmas used to be my favorite holiday.  Nowadays, I think it’s so commercialized, it’s hard to enjoy it. So I find it strange that conservative Christians get upset that Christ isn’t in more stores, schools, and government offices. Every year around this time, the Spanish Inquisition is renewed. The Christian Right gets all upset about “the attack on Christmas,” and TV pundits, radio heads, bloggers and e-mailers start insisting that EVERYONE should celebrate Christmas and do it properly. Talk about insensitive ethnocentricity.

I’m a Christian, and I love my Christmas. But I have friends who aren’t Christians. I’m not going to shove my religion in their faces. I don’t want them to shove their religion in mine. They don’t anyway, so I’m not sure why my fellow Christians on the right get so upset. “The attack on Christmas” is fiction.

Still, the e-mails keep coming. Here is a poem I received this morning:

T’was the month before Christmas
When all through our land,
Not a Christian was praying
Nor taking a stand.
See the PC Police had taken away,
The reason for Christmas - no one could say.
The children were told by their schools not to sing,
About Shepherds and Wise Men and Angels and things.
It might hurt people’s feelings, the teachers would say
December 25th is just a ” Holiday “.

Yet the shoppers were ready with cash, checks and credit
Pushing folks down to the floor just to get it!
CDs from Madonna, an X BOX, an I-pod
Something was changing, something quite odd!
Retailers promoted Ramadan and Kwanzaa
In hopes to sell books by Franken & Fonda.
As Targets were hanging their trees upside down
At Lowe’s the word Christmas - was no where to be found.
At K-Mart and Staples and Penny’s and Sears
You won’t hear the word Christmas; it won’t touch your ears.

Inclusive, sensitive, Di-ver-si-ty
Are words that were used to intimidate me.
Now Daschle, Now Darden, Now Sharpton, Wolf Blitzen
On Boxer, on Rather, on Kerry, on Clinton!
At the top of the Senate, there arose such a clatter
To eliminate Jesus, in all public matter.
And we spoke not a word, as they took away our faith
Forbidden to speak of salvation and grace  

The true Gift of Christmas was exchanged and discarded
The reason for the season, stopped before it started.
So as you celebrate “Winter Break” under your “Dream Tree”
Sipping your Starbucks, listen to me.
Choose your words carefully, choose what you say

Shout MERRY CHRISTMAS, 

not  Happy  Holiday!

Argh!

·          Christmas is not in any danger. If anything, it’s taking over the world. Ramadan passed several weeks ago without much notice in the United States. Hanukkah’s going on right now. Did you know? Hard to tell around here, I assure you. But EVERYONE (Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus and atheists alike) knows that Christmas is coming in exactly 20 days. You can’t miss it.

·          The stores may not be using the word “Christmas” outright as much as they used to, although I don’t really see much difference from when I was a child. Still, is there any mistaking all those decorated trees, the big guy with the white beard and red clothes, and the shepherds gathered around a baby in a manger as anything other than Christmas décor?

·          I’m always amused by the conservatives who get irritated by what retailers do during the holidays anyway. Aren’t conservatives all about letting the “free market” regulate itself? Well, isn’t that what the retailers are doing? They’re just following the needs and wants of their customers. You want a free market, folks, this is what you get.

·          I still say “Merry Christmas” to lots of people. And I hear it back from a lot of people. There is no law against saying “Merry Christmas,” and there never should be; however, I would no sooner wish my Muslim students a “Merry Christmas” than they would have wished me a “Happy Ramadan.” To do so would be insensitive and rude, not to mention downright stupid. It has nothing to do with politics and everything to do with common courtesy.

·          Government offices have to be sensitive because they deal with ALL citizens. In addition, we have this pesky Constitution in the United States that is supposed to separate church and state. It was written by Christian men because they were worried about protecting Christianity. Christians seem to forget that, though, whenever the Constitution keeps them from getting what they want. Like a Nativity on the statehouse lawn. Can you imagine the uproar if someone tried to put a copy of the Koran or the Talmud on the statehouse lawn? To keep things fair, we just don’t allow any religious holiday décor in our government offices. Just like kindergarten, folks. If there’s not enough for everyone, no one should have any.

·          As for the schools, I can’t speak for all of them. But my son’s school is doing all sorts of activities for the Christmas season. They’re going on a field trip to our Children’s Museum which is celebrating winter holidays. They’re having a party the day before the break. They didn’t do any of that during Ramadan. Hanukkah will be over by the time the school celebrates. Maybe they don’t call these events “Christmas” activities, but who’s fooling who? I like the approach our school system is taking. They are using the winter holidays as an opportunity to teach students about different cultures and traditions. They’re talking about all the holidays, and they’re studying the way people in other countries celebrate them. It is a school after all, not a church. I’ll teach my children the meaning of Christmas at home or in Sunday School, thank you very much!

·          These people who get all in a tizzy about what they perceive as an “attack on Christmas” seem to me to be extremely self-absorbed and negative. Have they really looked around? Christmas is everywhere. Maybe we don’t say the downtown monument is decorated in Christmas lights, but those lights would NOT be there if it weren’t for Christmas. The Jewish residents of Indianapolis aren’t complaining about the holly and tinsel and twinkle lights. What do Christians have to complain about? Do Christians have to advertise their faith as well as their holiday trappings? For me, faith is a personal thing. I don’t feel the need to run around shoving my personal religious convictions in other people’s faces. I have my nativities in my home. I read the scripture to my children in my home. We sing Christmas carols IN OUR HOME. Sense a theme? The true meaning of Christmas cannot and SHOULD NOT be institutionalized, commercialized, advertised. Personally, I don’t want to see it in a store window or on a courthouse lawn. In the words of Charles Dickens, keep Christmas in your heart.  That is its true place.

·          My favorite conservative Christian uproar, though, has to be over the use of “X-Mas.” The fact that they’re offended by it exposes their ignorance about the history of their own faith. X is the Greek letter chi. When early Christians wanted to celebrate Christmas, they had to be careful not to let the anti-Christian authorities know. They used X-mas as an abbreviation to disguise their holiday. In modern times, the English letter X has taken different meanings. Good Christians who know their history, though, should not be confused by the term.

·          According to the ultimate hardliner conservative Christian, Oliver Cromwell, Christmas should not be celebrated at all. It is a decadent, frivolous holiday with too many origins in Pagan celebrations. When he and his religious reformers took over England in the early 1600’s, they outlawed Christmas altogether (An Outlaw Christmas, history.com).

Christmas is a wonderful holiday, and I love it. Most of my family and friends celebrate it. Even my agnostic husband likes Christmas and does not object to our creches, the angel on our tree or the reading of the book of Luke. We keep Christ in Christmas in our home where He belongs. No, thanks, but I’d rather not see Him in Wal-Mart or at Starbucks. I prefer to keep Him close.

Senator Larry Craig (R-Id) is reconsidering his decision to resign his Senate seat after a telephone call from Senator Arlen Specter (R-Pa). If you’ve been living under a rock for the past couple weeks, Craig was arrested in Minneapolis for soliciting sexual favors from an undercover police officer in an airport men’s room (AP, 9/5/07). The arrest occurred in June, but Craig managed to keep it quiet for a couple months. In August, he pled guilty to a reduced charge of disorderly conduct. Under pressure from the Republican Party, Craig announced his resignation this week.

Maybe. Now he’s changed his mind. He says the only mistake he made was pleading guilty.

Whatever.

Despite the damage President Bush and his administration have inflicted on our Constitutional rights over the past six and a half years, an American is still considered innocent until proven guilty. So even if Craig did plead guilty, I allow that he may be an innocent citizen. Fine. His judgment, however, is lousy, and I see no reason to support his bid to remain a U.S. senator.

First, Craig’s supporters contend that he was just “in the wrong place at the wrong time” (AP, 9/5/07). I’m sure there were a lot of men in that airport restroom who were not arrested in that sex sting. The police were not just arresting every guy in there. He had to be doing SOMETHING to get their attention. Even if he wasn’t soliciting sex, he wasn’t behaving like all the other men who walked out of there without handcuffs. Poor judgment.

Second, if you’re a U.S. senator who has been a supporter of family views as well as a vocal opponent of pro-homosexual legislation and you get arrested for something like this, why on earth would plead guilty at all? Especially if you were innocent? This man’s supposed to be intelligent, politically-savvy and educated in the ways of the American legal system. Pleading guilty is obviously not the way to go if you’re innocent.

Finally, an American lawmaker should be a good decision-maker. After all, they are entrusted with many big decisions that affect the lives of millions of people in this nation, billions of people all over the world. After 27 years in office, I would think that Senator Craig would have a lot of experience in examining the facts, weighing the options, making the big decision and sticking with it. So when faced with this disastrous moment in his own little career, he flakes out? He announced his resignation Tuesday and just a day later, he changes his mind?

I find it sad that Senator Specter felt the need to make that phone call. Is Larry Craig really the best we can do? Is this the kind of person we need in our Senate? I know hundreds of people who have never been arrested, never had to plead guilty to anything. Even if they were in the wrong place at the wrong time, they had the good sense to keep their mouths shut. I also know many people who behave in ways that consistently uphold the values they espouse. If they say they support family values, they would always make decisions that support their claim. If they say they are innocent, they would behave innocently. And I know a lot of people who stand by their decisions, even when they’re difficult, complicated or challenged by others.

Basically, I know a lot of people who would make better senators than Larry Craig, people of whom the Republican Party could be quite proud.

Innocent or guilty, Craig is a flaky hypocrite with poor judgment. Surely we don’t need him in the Senate.

Some people tell me I shouldn’t get so worked up about what the federal government’s up to. After all, most of that stuff doesn’t really matter in our everyday lives. Hmm…

I lost my wallet last year. Luckily, I only kept a few things in it – frequent shopper cards, a little cash, pictures of my kids. Unfortunately, I also had my and my baby girl’s Social Security cards in it.  Since I don’t often need our cards, though, I didn’t worry too much about it.

Then my husband decided to refinance our house, and because of the Patriot Act, I have to show my Social Security card to close on the refi.

So I went to my “local” Social Security office. It’s a 30-minute drive to a neighborhood that I wouldn’t exactly call safe. I had to have my kids with me since the office closes at 4pm. I knew right away it’d be a disaster. There were big signs posted on the front door – no food, no cell phones, no guns. So I left the McDonald’s Happy Meals I had gotten to keep my children quiet in the car; I turned off my cell phone, and I tried to reassure my 6-year-old that he need not worry about guns. (He saw the picture on the door and freaked out a bit.)

Once inside, things just got worse. There were about 60 people packed into a 200-square-foot room. I took a number – A31 – and we sat down. That’s when I noticed yet another sign: Keep your children quiet and under control so we can conduct business privately and without interruption. Right. I’ll explain that to my 2-year-old who is already running around checking things out.

I started filling out my application only to discover that I needed my parents’ Social Security numbers. I have no idea what those are, and my parents are on vacation in the Cascades. Besides I can’t use my cell phone to try to get hold of them anyway, remember?

After ten minutes, the irritable clerk finally called a number – A26. Hurray, there were only five people in front of us. Another fifteen minutes and they called A27. By now, my son is whining about the wait and bouncing up and down in his chair, annoying the very large man next to him with lots of rather graphic tattoos and a bolt in his nose. I was trying to keep my daughter entertained, but she was not having it.  She kept wiggling out of my lap and taking off. Every time I would catch her, she’d shriek, and I’d get dirty looks from the clerk. So after waiting about thirty minutes, I gave up.

I bid farewell to the pictures of George W. and Dick Cheney that were looming over our chairs and walked out the door. I heard them call A28 just before the door swung shut. I’ll have to find a time to go back after we return from vacation and before we close on our mortgage. Needless to say, I won’t be taking the kids.

Who says federal government doesn’t affect our daily lives? It just helped ruin a day for me.

What do conservatives have against gays and lesbians? Really? What has a gay man or homosexual woman ever done to them to deserve the uproar that surrounds them? I know a lot of gay men and a few lesbians, and I have to tell you, they really are not scary. Most of my friends and family are, however, hetero and conservative. This is what they tell me:

1. Homosexuals choose to be homosexual.
2. Homosexuals are dangerous freaks who will turn decent heterosexuals to the dark side if we allow them to get close to us.
3. Homosexuals are perverts and deviants out to molest and/or rape our children.
4. Homosexuals, unlike heterosexuals, parade their sexuality and try to get special rights because of it.
5. Homosexuality is condemned by the Bible.
6. Homosexuals should just be celibate rather than commit sin by sleeping with same-sex partners.

So let me look at these one by one.

The first two points really fascinate me. The idea that you can choose your sexuality is bizarre. I can no more choose to be a lesbian than I can choose to sprout horns out my head. I like men. It’s not a choice I made; I’ve just never been attracted to women in a sexual way, and I cannot imagine suddenly choosing to, even if a gorgeous lesbian came up to me and begged me to be her girlfriend. I have several gay and lesbian friends. Their homosexuality has not rubbed off on me. The notion that accepting them into my society will somehow endanger my heterosexuality is ludicrous. To anyone that spouts such silliness, I must ask, “Is your heterosexuality so tenuous that you cannot resist the lure of a gay person in your near vicinity?”

Point number three begs the question, “Are heterosexuals exempt from perversion and sexual deviance?” On the contrary, most of the truly horrific sexual criminals - Marquis de Sade, Charles Manson, Ted Bundy - were quite straight. Two of my gay male friends were molested as children by married men who were supposedly heterosexual. I don’t have any statistics on it, but I’d be willing to bet that heterosexuals are just as likely, if not more so, to be criminally deviant as homosexuals.

I hear number four quite a bit from my conservative friends: “They chose to be gay, and now they want special rights? I don’t go around asking for special privileges because I’m straight!” Nope, because you don’t have to. Heterosexuals don’t have to beg for equality or decent treatment. We get it automatically. We can marry whom we want in a church with all our friends and even get tax breaks and benefits. We can wear our wedding rings proudly and not worry about getting beaten up for being married to someone we love. As far as homosexuals parading their sexuality, heterosexuals do it all the time. Turn on the TV. Go to a popular movie. Look at a billboard or a mainstream magazine. You’ll see scantily clad women and men kissing, groping and writhing all over one another. Heaven forbid we should see a gay couple now and then.

Point five is an intriguing one. People often point to verses in Leviticus or in the writings of Paul as condemning homosexuality. I’m not a biblical scholar, so I can’t dispute the point definitively. I am a language expert, though, and I know that translating the Bible is like playing the child’s game of telephone. What starts out as God’s word, goes through the initial writer, then a translator, then another translator, then another and another. As it is converted from language to language, modified from man to man, and evolved from age to age, the meaning is inevitably altered. No one can say for certain what the terms occasionally translated as “homosexual” actually meant in the original language. Plus, a Christian knows that the Old Testament was revised by Jesus. He overturned many of the old laws. Since he never mentions homosexuality, can we not assume he was disregarding the old Jewish traditions against it?

There really is no hierarchy of sin. According to Jesus, all sins are equal. If homosexuality is a sin, it is no worse than lying, stealing or cheating. Those sins are redeemed by Christ. Homosexuality would be too. Of course, some people argue that if you must be gay, you should just be celibate as Paul suggested. If celibacy is the proper way to avoid the sin of homosexual sex, than it must also be the proper way to avoid the sin of sex with someone other than your first partner. After all, Jesus specifically told us to avoid divorce because remarriage is actually adultery; therefore, all divorcees should just be celibate too. Hmm…

The point is that gay people deserve respect and consideration like anyone else. No one has the right to discriminate against them or be unkind to them just because they are gay. If homosexuality is a sin, it’s not up to us to punish those who practice it. As Jesus said, “Let those among you without sin cast the first stone.” Let’s just let God handle it, shall we?

The other day, Senator John McCain was a guest on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. The interview was remarkable for a couple reasons, not the least of which was the dynamic between Stewart and McCain. Although they disagree on most issues, they seem to have a genuine respect and admiration for each other’s work that shines through even when they’re having heated discussions.

For me, McCain is a problematic figure. I have admired him for years. When he was running for president, I probably would have voted for him. His recent support for the Iraq War, however, has left me scratching my head. I don’t seem to be the only one either.

One of the most telling moments of his Daily Show appearance occurred when Stewart challenged the Bush administration’s definition of “supporting our troops.” McCain said that he had talked to many soldiers who believe in the president and what they’re doing in Iraq. Even before the Stewart’s young audience started booing, I was frowning and shaking my head at the television. “What soldiers is he talking to?” I wondered.

I teach college, and many of my students are in the armed forces. Last semester, I had a total of 14 former and/or active military personnel IN ONE CLASS! This semester, I had two students who had to drop my class because they were called up for active duty - again. One of them brought me a newspaper article last week. He pointed to a headline that said Bush was going to veto Congress’s Iraq War budget/timeline bill. “How many votes does it take to override a veto?” he asked. “I really don’t want to go back over there.”

Evidently, Senator McCain isn’t hearing the same things from soldiers that I am. Is he lying? No, I don’t think so. He seems like a very good man. He is a decorated war veteran himself, a former POW. I cannot imagine any decent man with such horrific war experiences lying about his fellow soldiers’ feelings.

So last night, I was watching President Bush addressing soldiers at US Central Command Headquarters in Florida just a few hours before he was to veto the Congress bill. The military personnel were all standing around their Commander-in-Chief, smiling and shaking his hand. Then it hit me.

Catherine the Great.

According to legend, Russian empress Catherine the Great went on a tour of her country in the 18^th century. One of her favorite courtiers, Potemkin, ran ahead of Catherine’s entourage, “cleaning up” the rundown villages and even building facades over the more dilapidated buildings. When Catherine came through, she found scrubbed, smiling serfs and quaint, country cottages. She had no idea of the squalid misery in which her people lived because the people around her made sure she never saw it.

I believe something similar is happening to John McCain, George Bush, Condoleeza Rice, Dick Cheney and many other members of the conservative elite. Whenever these folks walk into a military installation, they get the Potemkin Village effect. All their advisors and peons have run ahead to make sure only the good little soldiers with their nodding heads and smiling faces get to meet the big honcho who has come to visit.

I’m not blaming the soldiers, of course. I’m as vehemently opposed to most of President Bush’s policies as anyone I know. If I got the change to meet him, though, would I walk up and start telling him everything he was doing to bring down our nation? Uh, no. First, I’d probably get a full-body tackle from any number of Secret Service agents. Second, I get star-struck and tongue-tied around the bass player for Duran Duran. Can you imagine how I’d get around the leader of the free world? Even if he is one of my least favorite people on the planet?

Plus, soldiers are immersed in military culture. To survive in combat, they have to be trained a certain way, and that includes following orders in the chain of command. If their commanding officer tells them to shut up and smile at the nice senator, that is what they have to do. If their Commander-in-Chief walks in, they are not going to tell him to drop dead unless they want an immediate ticket to a court martial.

So who is to blame for the misinformation, the misleading experiences being fed to our nation’s leaders about how our soldiers feel about the Iraq War? We certainly can’t blame our folks in uniform. We can’t really blame the leaders themselves. They can really only believe what they see and hear. Still, they are seeing and hearing what they want to see and hear. They have made their opinions so unquestionable as to make it impossible for anyone to tell them otherwise.

All in all, I wish Senator John McCain had been at my side yesterday. “How many votes does it take to override a veto?” And I always thought that U.S. government stuff I learned in high school would never really make much difference to me.