A Simple Gift For Christmas
Dec 24, 2008 Political
Some time ago I was told a story by a friend who said he wished a fellow worker a Merry Christmas. The other worker was Jewish and flew off the handle saying that not everyone celebrated Christmas and that it was presumptuous for someone to give such a greeting.
In this fast paced world it is very easy to lose sight of the true meaning of Christmas. The holiday celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ, the man Christians believe to be the son of God. Christians are not the only ones who believe in Christ, only that he is the son of God. Jews and Muslims believe Jesus was a prophet of God. Jesus is mentioned in the Koran as such a prophet.
So why would a Jew, or any other non Christian be irate at the celebration of the birth of a man that many acknowledge existed but only view as a prophet?
The reality is that as we move farther from the birth of Christ we lose sight of the true meaning of Christmas. Christmas is a time of renewed hope and for giving. Unfortunately, the over commercialization of the holiday has taken away from the concept of giving. One does not need to buy or receive the latest gee whiz item to honor the holiday. Certainly one does not need to spend himself into poverty to uphold the concept of giving.
Giving comes in many forms. There are those who give of their time to those less fortunate by donating to or serving in food centers that help feed the needy. There are those who take in abandoned or drug addicted children and give them love and hope for a better future. Any simple act of kindness is a gift that is given and that includes the kindness of wishing one a Merry Christmas. It would be considered bad manners to berate a person over a material gift so why would we allow one to get away with berating a person over a simple wish?
Christmas is a time to celebrate a new beginning and the idea that each of us is capable of freely giving to others. There is no greater feeling than one gets after giving a gift without precondition, no matter how small the gift might seem. A smile directed at someone can brighten his day and it takes little effort to give.
It is unfortunate that we have lost sight of the meaning of this sacred time. Regardless of whether one believes Jesus Christ was a prophet or the son of God we celebrate His birth because, in part, He was a kind and gentle soul who did good for his fellow man. He preached the value of giving and of leading a wholesome life, something we should aspire to.
Certainly we have the decency to accept a “Merry Christmas” as a greeting intended to wish one well and convey desire for peace and good tidings.
During this season that we have allowed to morph into a chaotic time of year please take the time to count your blessings and remember the true meaning of Christmas Day.
Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a healthy, prosperous New Year. Consider that my gift to you, as simple as it might seem.
This post is my submission to the Carnival of Christmas hosted by my blog sister Kat of Cathouse Chat. Please stop by and rad the great entries by bloggers from around the country. I believe there are around 60 entries this year!
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Tags: Christmas, giving, holiday, jesus christ
Gay Supporters Mock Religion In Opposing Prop 8 Results
Dec 4, 2008 Political
A group of actors has put together a 3 minute video that mocks religion and the religious right (but they did not mock the black community that overwhelmingly voted for Proposition 8!) for its opposition to homosexual marriage. The video features Jack Black as Jesus Christ and he seems fine with homosexuality by using the tired argument that the Bible calls shellfish an abomination and restricts eating it.
It is a clever little video but it distorts why Prop 8 was defeated and it distorts religious views. The voters of California voted for Prop 8 and it was passed. Not everyone who voted for it is a religious Zealot. Many people in the black community voted against it because they oppose gay marriage. I am sure that many of them are religious people but if religion was their major motivation they would never have voted for Barack Obama since he believes in murdering innocent children. They were selective in their votes in that they voted for Obama despite his anti religious history (his church and his stance on abortion and babies born after failed abortions) and they voted for Prop 8 because they feel marriage should be between a man and a woman. These are suppositions on my part but certainly they make as much sense as assuming religious zealots defeated Prop 8 (and are probably pretty accurate).
Jack Black Jesus listens as the religious right explains that the Bible says homosexuality is an abomination. He then produces shrimp cocktail and says that this shrimp is an abomination as the fanatics salivate over it. The New Testament and Jesus Christ removed the restrictions on food placed in Leviticus and other texts of the Old Testament. This has been shown in a number of discussions on the Bible though I believe devout Jews still live under the rules of the OT (they are not Christians). Many of the restrictions placed in the OT (on Jews) were removed and we live under the new law established when Jesus died for our sins. The New Testament does, however, state that homosexuality is wrong. As my friend Kat so eloquently and clearly explains:
“The shrimp restriction was part of the ceremonial/purity laws which were designed to make a very clear and distinct difference between the Jews and the Gentiles. Those laws were to point up the holiness God required, as well as the fact that – since no one could meet those standards – they needed a Savior.
The prohibition against homosexuality (found most clearly in the NT in the last verses of Romans 1) is not just for ceremonial purity, but also because it is against God’s design of and plan for the use of our bodies. Therefore, comparing the abomination of shrimp and homosexuality is a bit like apples and oranges”
The other thing to consider is that a lot of people who oppose homosexual marriage are not very religious people. They oppose it for personal reasons like homosexuality is unnatural. It was classified as a mental disorder in an earlier version of the DSM but was removed after fierce lobbying by the homosexual community. The purpose of a man and woman getting together is to procreate. We are designed to work together in order to repopulate the species or we will perish. Engaging in an activity that will eventually cause the demise a species (or a part of it) is unnatural and not mentally sound. The plumbing is different for a reason. If God (or nature for the secularists) wanted men to have sex with men and women to have sex with women then these combinations would be able to reproduce.
For you Darwinists, survival of the fittest means that a man and a woman have to get together to reproduce (in order to survive a species has to reproduce). Those who engage in acts that prevent it are, by Darwin’s definition, not the fittest.
The reality is, the Proposition passed and the gay community did not like that so they are causing problems. The gays have an agenda and they want to push it through no matter what. They are not happy with the rule of law or the will of the majority unless that will aligns with their beliefs.
I have received several emails and I have read at different sites a few words that Obama supporters have written to conservatives who are unhappy with the Obama win and I will use those words for the gay community in California (and across the country for that matter).
Get over it.
As an aside, the gay community supported Obama/Biden and they are not in favor of gay marriage. The gays voted for the ticket even though that ticket opposes what the gays want. Now, for some reason, we are supposed to understand their position when they voted in a manner that was against their best interests. To be sure, McCain/Palin were no different on that issue.
In any event, the gay community does itself no good when it attacks the religious community and conservatives in this manner. No more Mr. Nice Gay might be their theme but the blowback (I had to use that term) might not be to their liking. Funny how when a person attacks homosexuality he is a homophobe but when homosexuals attack their opponents they are just activists standing up for their “rights”.
Perhaps instead of putting on a rendition of Brokeback Shoutin’ they could accept the loss and move on.
Now, if you will excuse me, I have some shrimp salad to finish…
Bushwack has an interesting point of view
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Tags: gay marriage, jesus christ, misinterpretation, prop 8, video
Muslims Set Christians Straight on Jesus
Jan 14, 2008 General, Religion of Peace
A new movie is being released in Iran. The movie, Jesus, The Spirit of God, was directed by Nader Talebzadeh who is kind enough to spell out the real story about Jesus Christ. Talebzadeh said that Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ was a good movie but that Gibson had it all wrong and his movie sets it straight for us. Talebzadeh tells us that Muslims do not believe Jesus was the son of God and that he was not crucified. Thank God we have the Muslims to tell us the truth so we can stop believing what is written in that pesky book, The Bible.
“It is frankly said in the Koran that the person who was crucified was not Jesus” but Judas, one of the 12 Apostles and the one the Bible holds betrayed Jesus to the Romans, he said. In his film, it is Judas who is crucified.
Islam sees Jesus as one of five great prophets — others being Noah, Moses and Abraham — sent to earth to announce the coming of Mohammad, the final prophet who spread the religion of Islam. It respects Jesus’ followers as “people of the book”. Breitbart
I don’t recall reading in the Bible where these folks were here to announce the coming of Mohammad. I do remember this; “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves” [Matthew 7:15]. Mohammad was one of the false prophets.
The movie follows the New Testament story of Jesus with a difference. He was not crucified and he was pulled straight to heaven by God. The Muslims say the Koran says that Judas, Jesus’ betrayer, was the one crucified. Once again, I am glad the Muslims cleared that up by correcting what is written in The Bible.
Since the last book of the Bible was written between 70 and 95 AD and Mohammad did not get his visions from Allah until around 610 it is easy to see the Koran was written many centuries after the Bible. The Koran does mention Jesus as a prophet and the Muslims are free to view Jesus this way as do the Jews who also do not believe he was the son of God. However, just because the Koran says that Jesus was not crucified does not make it so. None of the people who wrote the Koran were even around when the events took place. The Koran is a book written by a war mongering pedophile named Mohammad and his followers who is no more of a prophet than Ron Paul is.
This guy Talebzadeh is trying to rewrite the history of the Bible and Christianity by denying its basic tenets. Given that Mohammad is not a real prophet and was nothing more than a child molester, let me make it clear. Nader Talebzadeh has it all wrong.
Imagine how the Muslim world would react if Mel Gibson had done a movie that said the tenets of Islam were incorrect and that Mohammad was not a prophet and that the Mahdi never existed. The Muslims would be banging their heads on a wall and killing each other in riots. Amazingly, we don’t see Christians all over the world rioting or issuing death threats to Nader Talebzadeh for his blasphemy and insult of Christianity.
That is the difference between a civilized religion and a backwards one that follows the rantings of a crazed so called prophet who had sex with a prepubescent girl because Allah told him it was OK to do so.
Maybe we can make our own movie about religion and show Mohammad for the brutal, false prophet pedophile that he was. As for the Mahdi, he is fictional and will not be coming back. When Jesus returns he will not be running around with any Muslims.
Others with similar posts:
Outside the Beltway, The Virtuous Republic, Mark My Words, Rosemary’s Thoughts, A Blog For All, Right Truth, Adam’s Blog, Shadowscope, Cao’s Blog, Conservative Cat, Pursuing Holiness, Allie is Wired, third world county, DragonLady’s World, , The World According to Carl, Pirate’s Cove, Blue Star Chronicles, The Pink Flamingo, Celebrity Smack, Right Voices, and Stageleft, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.
Tags: false prophet, jesus christ, mohammad, muslim move