This is A Relief! We Can Buy Christmas Presents This Year!

The world will NOT end on Dec. 12th as thought. And that movie was made for naught.

Transcending Christmas, Pt 3: Can OWS Help Save The Spirit of Christmas?

UPDATE: Brookfield will close Zuccotti Park for Christmas (see below)




In the past 2000 years, there have been opportunities for Christianity to shine and be true to its original purpose: to help man achieve his best self and in doing so, connecting with God, his creator. If that sounds a bit Gnostic, well, it is. The reality is that early Gnostic Christians were a lot closer to the original Christian communities than today's Catholics or Protestants, and while many Gnostics believed in two Gods (good-spiritual and evil-earthly), their goal of reaching God through knowledge and good works was less of a divergence than the developing orthodox (which prevailed).*


All divergence aside, Christianity still had opportunities to show humanity its stuff: sometimes it was when a disaster hit and the Golden Rule came out in full force. I'm not talking about God's Ambulance Chasers here, but the Christian groups who genuinely helped by mucking out homes and burying the dead. Other times, it was in one man's truly compassionate spirit, like Father Damien who ministered to the lepers on Molokai.


There were also times, of course, where some Christians blew it: one opportunity - the AIDS crisis - was given short shrift by the people who cast AIDS victims out of their homes while they were sick and dying (yeah, I'm talking about you, Southern Baptists!).


Compassion was in short supply in many Christian communities. It was a time when "progressives" began to emerge in spite of all the self-righteousness. They did what little they could to foster understanding and acceptance and hope. They realized, of course, that they were very late (by the time the Episcopal Archdiocese of Los Angeles opened the first faith-based AIDS agency outside of San Francisco, 65,000 had suffered and died), but they joined a growing chorus of compassionate people and continued to grow in compassion.**


So now Christians around the world are given another opportunity to present the best and brightest aspects of Christianity: the Occupy Wall Street movement. And yes, some of them are performing admirably with emotional and even physical support, but a loud cacophony of naysayers against the movement has formed, a group who are disgusted with the idea of any humane, equitable economics.


"The Pope Is Now Left Of Nancy Pelosi"


The Vatican issued a statement two months ago that leveled the Christian Right like a one-two punch. It was titled Towards Reforming The International Financial and Monetary Systems In The Context of Global Public Authority and sent shock waves throughout Christendom for its blatant support of movements like OWS. It called for MORE government and MORE financial oversight.

But most telling of all - it was for the poor and disenfranchised. It had a human spirit more than a spiritual one.  It embraced, in effect, the Spirit of Christmas.


The Vatican had seen its opportunity for a shining moment.


Zuccotti Park


The word is out that Zuccotti Park will be closed around Christmas for "renovations". The tree (as you can see) is already barricaded from the obscene 99%ers. So it seems Christmas is indeed locked up tight in the arms of the Christian Right - which is only right, since they feel they "own" Christmas and they can do whatever they want with it, wherever they want to do it. But as we have seen here and across the country, the Spirit of Christmas is now with 99% of the country (and around the world). 


OWS is giving Christianity another shining moment. Too bad the Christian Right won't take the hint - again.


NEXT: Transcending Christmas: The Final Chapter

*Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas has stated flatly that faith alone is necessary to get one to heaven, possibly negating the works of people like Clara Barton and Florence Nightgale. "Faith without works is dead," doesn't seem to be grasped by people like Jeffress.

** To date, there are still no AIDS agencies officially sanctioned by the Southern Baptist Convention - outside of Africa.

My First Christmas With God, Pat Robertson, and The Devil

I'm not really looking forward to Christmas this year. It's a day away, but I'm over it all: overweight, overworked, overdrawn and overwhelmed. Eight months ago we were forced to move to a smaller place, so despite the Christmas tree, the apartment looks as if it's going to explode, spewing boxes of nick-knacks and old bank statements over the rest of the apartment complex. If it does, "Christmas" will be somewhere in the rubble, but don't look to me to find it. Instead, I'll be dealing with other things, like the fact that there's no money for the usual presents, that I look like hell because I haven't been able to keep up my exercise regimen and that my former partner (for whom I'm a caregiver), has just been told that his liver cancer is inoperable and he will live only nine months.

But, you know, I can handle all of that. I've been through worse (I think).  The real reason I'm not looking forward to Christmas is because this will be my first Christmas as a minister (I just received my ordination papers  -along with a supply catalogue!) AND my first Christmas in a war with God. Oh, up until now, I've had a very good relationship with Him, but my being a minister changes that relationship. Notice that I said a "war with God," not a "war against God." I have to deal with Him as a comrade-in-arms.  It's now me and Him against His nemesis. Satan? No.

Pat Robertson.

You may think it an easy war, seeing that Pat has become so senile that even his proteges distance themselves from him whenever a natural disaster occurs, but war under any circumstance, as they say, is hell.  Of course, Robertson's old partners-in-crime have gone: Jerry Falwell, Jesse Helms and the old "Cadaver of Congress", Strom Thurmond; Oral Roberts, his University and his memory are fading away; the Crystal Cathedral will soon be a mass of glass shards and few people remember that alarmingly insipid little man, Rev. Lou Sheldon. But like weeds that Robertson so judiciously sewed into the nation's ground, new, vigorous, (and deadlier) strains of self-righteousness and hypocrisy have already taken their place: Tony Perkins, Bryan Fischer, Bill Donohue, Lou Engle, Cindy Jacobs to name but a few.

So I have to prepare for war - and on Christmas! I have to shine up my old verbal zingers and invent new ones. I have to research and catalog as many self-righteous hypocrites as possible (a daunting task seeing that there were so many this last year ala "Bishop" Eddie Long) while their hypocrisies keep pummeling us like giant hailstones. I have to build a barracade of educational references to use against falsehoods. I have to assure everyone (and God as well) that we will prevail. And I have to build alliances, maybe even with the Devil ("the enemy of my enemy is my friend"). See, I can rationalize anything just as well as they can.

Oh, there will be some wicked fun in store for me: the latest dimiwitted, hysterical rant is that gays "stole" the rainbow symbol from Christianity and now good Christians want it back! Coming up with barbs about that one will be delicious. Cream pie, anyone?

In the past, however, I've been able to juggle life's personal exigencies with the demands of an activist: this year, however, I will need to have more drive and stamina suited to a minister. This year, Christmas comes with a powerful caveat: the beautiful love and hope may only intensify the hypocrisies.  Will I  have the stamina to write/fight against not only Pat Robertson, but all the other televangelists, the lobbyists, politicians and frauds? I honestly don't know. My ministry goals are simple: help people survive by getting them back on the track of charity, compassion and social justice - those things that Glenn Beck is telling us to avoid at all costs. But the simplest of goals can require enormous effort, and placing a "Rev." in front of my name will put me in hostile, uncharted territory.

Christmas. Oh joy.

Have A Happy Transcendental Holiday, Everyone!

Why is the Christian Right so bent out of shape about Christmas? Of all the stories of the Bible, none has engendered as much worldwide peace and love as Christmas: many wars have been suspended for that one day. People are noticeably friendlier, happier, more compassionate. For at least one day out of the year, much of mankind becomes more human in being ... humanitarian. So why are Christian Right-wingers up in arms about it?

They don't own it anymore. It's one of the few good pieces of PR that they had left and they can't lay claim to it. Christmas transcended them when it morphed into "Happy Holidays" because the true Spirit of Christmas lay in sharing and including everyone, inviting people of all faiths, some with holy-days falling at about the same time, to celebrate mankind and his potential for good. Christmas has also become a time when Original Sin is all but forgotten: guilt does not play the role that it stars in at Easter time. And to many right-wing Christians, Original Sin is the bedrock of Christianity. Original Sin helps them to feel wonderful about themselves when they forgive someone. Yes, take away Original Sin and the label Christmas and they don't have anything left of the holiday to which they felt entitlement. Christmas, or rather the Holiday Spirit, isn't theirs anymore. Not exclusively theirs.

 ***

Does anyone out there remember the Transcendental Meditation craze of the mid 70s? I practiced it for a while in order to deal with stress. I should take it up again. I remember it now not only because of the meaning of the word "transcend" but because I vividly remember the times I actually did transcend from my world to another plane. And whenever I transcended to that plane, it was a jolt, a breakthrough as it were. And after the breakthrough there was a feeling of freedom.

The Holiday Spirit is like that, isn't it? It frees us of the burden of hatred, for even though hatred is easier to achieve than love, it comes with emotional baggage we need to lug around forever. So once we've achieved the Holiday Spirit, we go beyond it and don't think of it in terms of  gifts, Santas, old-time carols or even a babe in a manger. We think of it as freedom and the peace freedom brings with it. 

The Christian Right, however, is still lugging its baggage of intolerance and won't let itself appreciate the wonderful feeling of transcendence. Oh, they think they feel it and crow with a superior sense of entitlement that they above everyone else should know what Christmas feels like. But with their self-righteousness they have built a wall that hinders them from feeling truly free.  And they can't join their brethren who enjoy unconstrained, unqualified love and acceptance.

I guess I should feel sorry for those who are truly "Left Behind" (ala Tim LaHaye), but ... I can't. You see, I'm hindered by memories of "Age of AIDS" Christmases here in San Francisco, when thousands of volunteers - strangers, really - strove to bring as much comfort as they could to people who had been evicted from their homes while they were sick and dying under the guise of "righteousness." It saddens me that I can neither forgive nor forget. Perhaps someday...

"We want Christmas back, it's OURS!"

Sorry, but the Spirit of Christmas, the Holiday Spirit they lay claim to is no longer theirs: it's gone beyond them and is traveling through the hearts and minds of ... everyone else.

Have a Happy Transcendental Holiday, Everyone!

Pushing Us Over The Edge: Holy Evil Lurches Towards Christmas

Can One Act Of Evil Kill The "Season Of Sharing"?

(CNN) -- A [former] Catholic priest, facing criminal charges and a lawsuit alleging that he sexually abused a teenage boy, is now charged with attempting to hire someone to kill the youth, authorities said Tuesday.

It's enough to make you lose all faith in humanity. 

The Christmas Season has settled upon us, feverishly puking its guts out into the aisles of WalMart and Walgreens, Saks and Macy's. The Christian Right is gearing up for its annual "War on Christmas": The Catholic League's Bill Donohue has shipped 50 Holy Nativity scenes to every state capitol with the hopes of snagging at least a dozen or so "atheist states" that might refuse to display them alongside "holiday trees." Retailers are hopeful but nervous: the great economic barometer of Christmass Season ales might not show signs of recovery. 

Elsewhere: the War in Afghanistan drones on; Uganda keeps up its witch-hunting of homosexuals;  cholera snakes its way from Haiti to the U.S.; France and Germany prepare for terrorism; President Obama tries to garner good will from foreign countries, while battling a disgruntled and polarized homeland; the Vatican allows for condoms as use for protection against HIV - twenty years after their use was proved to be effective.

Not a beautiful picture, to be sure, but the glimmer of hope that contains the essence of humanity, that trite-but-necessary, warm-and-fuzzy feeling of comfort the season always manages to bring us will be there, won't it? 

This year, I'm not so sure.

[Rev. John M.] Fiala, 52, of Dallas, was out on bond on other sexual assault charges involving the youth, now 18, when he allegedly attempted to negotiate the boy's murder, said Tom Rhodes, the teen's attorney. He was arrested last week after he offered an undercover agent with the Texas Department of Public Safety $5,000 to kill the teen, according to department spokeswoman Lisa Block.

"This guy," Edwards County Sheriff Don Letsinger said, "is an evil man."

While I've been writing about the extreme hypocrisy of the Christian Right for years, some things never cease to amaze and terrify me: the calumny of clergy like "Bishop" Eddie Long, the stupidity of proselytizers like Lou Engel, or the viciousness of people like the American Family Association's Bryan Fischer. Yet as frustrating as these self-righteous idiots may be, I have always been able to maintain a basic faith in humanity. 

That, however, might change: the machinations of  Reverend John Fiala and his ilk have become so blatant, so intense this past week, that I have trouble seeing any spark of humanity at the end of this dark, dark tunnel. 

CONSIDER THESE ASPECTS OF EVIL:

SEX and GREED

Indicted: Pastor Johnny William “Bill” Cabe, of Rock Hill, South Carolina, on felony charges of sexual abuse of an 11-year-old boy. "Pastor Bill" had already served seven years in prison for conning $8 million from his congregation's "investors." (While guarding their money, somebody forgot to guard their kid.) 

SARAH PALIN'S ALASKA

Guilty: Pastor Carl  Ekamrank, of a Moravian Church (Alaska) of one count of second-degree sexual abuse of a 12-year-old girl. This plea, however, enabled him to reduce the counts from five down to one. He faces five years in prison with ten years probation. (Is sexual abuse now doled out in degrees?)

FUN AND GAMES

Convicted: Former coach of Riverside Christian School (Lost Creek, KY), Dennis Jackson, of nine counts of sexual abuse against a number of boys 11-years-old and older. Jackson, by the way, committed the crimes while he was in his sixties. (Proves he hadn't lost his athletic charm.)

BAD SPIRITS

Sentenced: Pastor Marcus Ondiegi of Nyakwatha, Kenya, sentenced to 50 years in prison for repeatedly raping an 11-year-old orphan and infecting her with HIV. Ondiegi had told the girl's grandmother that he needed to pray over the girl to ward off "bad spirits." He raped her for six consecutive days until she escaped. (His conviction, however, put him in "bad spirits.")

TELEVANGELICAL BUSINESS AS USUAL

Sentenced: Pastor Samuel Salanky of Bethany Mission Center (NYC) to 57 months in prison plus restitution for conning "investors" out of approximately $3 million. Salanky was a televangelist who broadcast a program on a Gospel network. (The program was broadcast in the Far East -  obviously not too far for him to get caught.)

SMOTHERING WITH LOVE

Appeal filed: Pastor Matt Baker of  Crossroads Baptist Church (Waco, TX). Baker was found guilty of murdering his wife (administering sedatives, suffocating her with a pillow) and is currently serving a sentence of 65 years. (What the hell is this guy appealing?)

UNDER GOD'S ROOF

Convicted: Former Pastor Marvin James Lowe of Arbeka Indian Baptist Church (Weleetka, OK) on six misdemeanor counts of domestic abuse. He was originally charge with six counts of sexual abuse of girls under 14 in his church. (He knew somebody who knew somebody.)

SPREADING THE LOVE

Charged: Former Pastor David Love of New Hope Baptist Church (Independence, MO), with the first-degree murder of his insurance agent Randy Stone, who was the husband of Love's lover,  Teresa Stone.  He topped the crime by giving the eulogy at his victim's funeral. (A rather twisted take on "Double Indemnity," but Teresa Stone doesn't look as good as Barbara Stanwyck.)

ALL IN THE FAMILY

Sentenced: Pastor Steven G. Welty of Glory House Fellowship (Sequim, WA) to 26-1/2 years to life. Pastor Welty was convicted of six counts of child rape, six counts of child molestation and six counts of incest occurring with the same girl from the time she was 4-years-old until she was 11. (He may have been sorry during those seven years, but relatives are always the last to know.)

Crawling Back To That Spark Of Humanity

Yes, my asides were flippant: the human mind provides safeguards against acute depression. The fact is the list of crimes was longer than I had ever imagined: besides these cases, dozens more were reported - ALL WITHIN THE LAST TWO WEEKS. So while "Silent Night" was droning on during the morning's grocery shopping, I was dealing with hypocrisy overload. "There must be some good ones out there" was trying to tap into my brain, but it was far too numb. Hours later, I'm still trying to fathom it all. 

Yes, there are good-spirited people out there. But they're not to be found on our screens or heard through our airwaves. They're not to be found attending Values Voter Summits. They're not to be found bloviating over microphones during rallies to "protect" marriage. They're not to be found praying in front of the Capitol, beseeching God to make us a Christian-Only Nation. They're not to be found preaching "love the sinner, hate the sin." 

No, the people with that spark of humanity, that basic goodness, cannot be found even amongst the rabble preaching about it. It can simply be found in the person standing next to you on the bus. In the person in front of you in the check-out line at the grocery. In the person you call brother, sister, son, daughter, husband, wife, lover, partner, or friend. In you.I guess the thing I hate most about the crimes committed by the "Reverend" John Fialas, the Bryan Fischers and the Lou Engles of our world is that they make it harder and harder to discover the spark of humanity in everyone else. They’re piling up, like some godawful pile of hypocritical manure.

Yes, the pile of hypocrisy is getting bigger and bigger and the needle of humanity is getting smaller. It’s there, of course, and there’s the entire Christmas season to find it.

Oh joy.

"Christians Should Be Rewarded For Killing." Is Bryan Fischer Taking Christian Privilege Too Far?

When I was in the military, they gave me a medal for killing two men and a discharge for loving one.

 - Leonard Matlovich

While the culture war is heating up for Christmas, Bryan Fischer of American Family Association is branching out into the war in Afghanistan and dissing heroes who have saved lives. He had this to say about the awarding of the Medal of Honor to men who protected their comrades:

Christianity is not a religion of pacifism. Remember that John the Baptist did not tell the soldiers who came to him to lay down their arms, even when they asked him directly, “what shall we do?” (Luke 3:14).


War is certainly a terrible thing, and should only be waged for the highest and most just of causes. But if the cause is just, then there is great honor in achieving military success, success which should be celebrated and rewarded.

One of the few people who outwardly mocked a man for not paying a subscription fee to the fire department, (then witnessing his house burning down along with his beloved pets) and has Glenn Beck's aversion to the words "compassion" and "social justice," Bryan Fischer is still a force to be reckoned with since he broadcasts without censure from the network sponsored by the American Family Association. His last notable public appearance was at Tony Perkins' Values Voter Summit - that appearance becoming the imprimatur of sorts to his tasteless and violent rhetoric: he thinks all muslims should be deported because they all pose a threat to the US. He thinks all gays should be put in prison and has defended Uganda's infamous "kill-the-gays" bill. And now he thinks that good Christians should be rewarded for killing as many people as possible.

It goes without saying that Bryan Fischer should be considered "fringe" or "wingnut" because of his penchant for depicting a "Rambo Jesus" totally at odds with the conventional Jesus. But in recent years, the revision of the image of Jesus Christ has spilled onto more mainstream Christianity. In a time when terrorists are supposedly hiding behind every tree, people don't feel safe when they see their God dying ignominiously on a cross or holding a warm-and-fuzzy lamb. Bryan Fischer points out the valor of the knights of the Crusasdes lliberating Jerusalem from the "heathen." Muslims remember the Crusades differently. 

Fischer could also be accused of pushing the envelope regarding Christianity itself. What many people do not know is that the envelope had been on the table for a long time in the form of Christian privilege.

Christian privilege is the overarching system of advantages bestowed on Christians. ... At times overt and at other times subtle, Christian privilege is oppression by purpose and design, as well as by neglect, omission, erasure, and distortion.*

We're currently engaged in a comparatively mild annual skirmish brought on by Christian privilege: the "war on Christmas: the Christ Right has declared Christmas to be their exclusive holiday and to pay it proper respect we all MUST say "Merry Christmas" or be branded as atheists. Churches are also forcing government officials to display nativity scenes. 

But in his Right Wing militaristic stance, is Fischer going too far? Has he taken the image of Christianity and turned it on its side? To uneducated and naive people, he has done just that:  studies have shown that Christians are relutant to wage war (unless pressured by their Christian leaders). Unfortunately, they have no knowledge of history: Bryan Fischer's Crusades ushered in the concept of  a "just war," almost 1000 years ago, but before that Christians refrained from warfare and most of Rome's legions (after Constantine) were pagans. The early Christians (read: Peter and Paul and Mary Magdalene) were indeed pacifists.

There has also been a progression in Fischer's view that, if not stopped at the image of a "Rambo" Jesus, seems to be leading to even more deadly scenario: first, the protestation of the Ground Zero Mosque, then the recommendation of deportation of all Muslims, and the latest rant about "feminizing" the Medal of Honor. 

It all begs the question: what's next, concentration camps a la Manzanar?

*(Investigating Christian Privilege, by Warren Blumenfeld, 2006)

There Is NO War On Christmas! Jesus Told Me So!

Actually, He said:

"Huh? What War On Christmas?
Are Limbaugh And O'Reilly At It AGAIN?"

I decorated the Christmas tree tonight. Like a cartoon character, I got tangled in lights, needed a new power strip, and had to race to Walgreens to get more white lights. As with most American households, I wanted my Christmas tree to look perfect: it was not going to look as if it had swallowed all the colored lights first. I was organized and resourceful last year, so there were no real surprises when I opened all of the other Christmas Crud boxes. It had me feeling a little gypped, to tell you the truth. What's Christmas like without sifting through bad ornaments to look for good ones? Moreover, what's Christmas like without all of the beautiful, tacky, cheap, glitzy, poignant, crass decorations we've acquired through the years?

Christmas trees and their decorations can be the mirrors of our true selves: we prominently display the best ornaments in the front while we place the crappy ones (or, just not as beautiful) in the back. I remember one particular ornament that never made it to the front: a flat, brown teddy bear dressed as a nurse. And it was sticking its red tongue out. It took a change of partners for me to get rid of the strange thing. But that's the thing about Christmas - the sentiment is so strong that you never throw out even the worst, most threadbare, tarnished, half-broken ornaments. Why?

Because at Christmastime, even the battered and ugly ornaments seem to have souls.

Today I read another article about the "War On Christmas" instigated by the sacred cows of the Christian Right. Is saying "Merry Christmas" so important that today's right-wing talk show bloviators and pulpit pimps have taken to ostracizing those who say "Happy Holidays?" Over the years, the concept of Christmas has transcended the birthday celebration of a religious icon. Perhaps that's why the Christian Right is furious over the inclusion of everyone into the "season of giving": the ideology of "Peace On Earth, Good Will Towards Men" has overshadowed the babe in the manger and they feel slighted. After all, they are a self-righteously arrogant lot that keeps reminding us that they have cornered the market on goodness ("It's the Christian thing to do!").

And they certainly don't want other holidays to be mixed in with theirs! "Why, saying 'Happy Holidays' instead of 'Merry Christmas' is downright sacrilegious! It's positively un-American! Christmas is a Christians Only holiday! Exclusivity is our right!

But who knew that such an exclusive holiday would become a worldwide peacekeeper (if only for one day)? Who knew that one day out of the year would garner hosts of goodwill and, most important of all, compassion? Can't the Christian Right be a bit more generous with one of their core philosophies? Then again, they seem to be a people fixated with their own persecution: "War on Christmas" "War against Marriage" "War against the Unborn." But who's going to tell them that there is no "War" except for the one they themselves are waging against inclusion?

Are they the only ones who discard old, unwanted Christmas tree decorations?

Yes, there is a war: on inclusion, on open-mindedness, on universal acceptance. Today's family values include more people in the family than any Christian Right family reunion picnic. "Extended" families are just that: strongly bonded extensions of the core, whatever that core may be. And today's Christmas recognizes the love between individuals more than ever before. That, of course, makes the Christian Right seethe in rage. To them, the meaning of Christmas is only about their ideals and the way they want to see those ideals performed.

So if The Christian Right is involved in a war, the only war it is fighting is the "War on Universal Love."

Thanks for reading.

Dan Vojir

PS:
For all my friends and readers I have a small, homemade Holiday gift created with the help of my late love of gardening. It's a series of photos I pasted together for several of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker melodies. The last one is performed for you by the San Francisco Faerie Portal. It depicts how the faeries magically celebrate Christmas Eve.

All the flowers of our home
and the faeries of the portal wish you all
the Happiest of Holidays!