I have one wish for Christmas. Stop celebrating it please! Every year the US fires up this billion dollar industry that spans 3 or 4 months. There are tons of traditions and ideas and novelties. There are countless TV specials all talking about wishes and meanings.
But you know what, it's a really simple holiday. It's really of no significance at all to anyone who isn't a Christian. But for Christians, like me, this is one of the two most important memorials of the year. But it isn't about snow, or lights, or gifts, or sharing, or a warm community feeling, or a dog finding his way home or some old man reuniting with his son. And it definitely has nothing to do with stupid cheap cups. It's a memorial of what we believe to be a pivotal moment in history. The event where THE GOD takes on human flesh. But if you don't beleive this, it's just the birth of some ancient guy, so why do you need to make such a fuss over it?
If you want to celebrate a mid-winter holiday, go right ahead! Just stop trying to coopt my Holy Day. What would you think if someone decided to have a barbecued pig for Ramadan? Or a kegger for Passover? Or ate all the food on the butsudan at Obon and covered it with cheap plastic balls? So why is it ok to trash this Christian holiday?
The answer probably has to do with so-called Christians themselves. Many don't understand the day either. Or have grown up in the midst of all the other crap so they actually associate all that with Christmas. Many I know may include some Bible reading or church service as the obligatory tradition, and then go right on with any other cultural event of the season. But they'll be hot to make sure you leave Christ in there!
Once again, I'm not knocking those events in themselves. I'm just saying that isn't Christmas! So just stop calling it that. Keep Santa Claus and snowflakes and trees and presents. Just don't keep Christ with that mess! Better to drop it altogether. If you did, I might actually be able to find some of it fun. But as it is, it's a season of painful disrespect of the single most important part of my life.
Leave Christmas for those of us who hold this to be a serious part of our lives to keep as we should.
Showing posts with label holiday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label holiday. Show all posts
Thursday, November 12, 2015
Thursday, January 1, 2015
Assimilation
This blog is about Truth. With a capital T because I mean it in the big sense, not the baser sense of "true story" or true/false. Science is also about Truth...at least it is at the heart, before media and corpocracy and fame have tainted it. The only reason science and religion conflict is because practitioners of one or both confuse the roll of each. See science can only tell us about observable reproducable things. As such, it can't talk at all about things that fall outside of the ability to observe and test. Conversely, religion isn't about empirical, observable, testable reality. Reality, yes, but not the physical world in the way science is interested. Anyway, I digress. My point is that I try to understand my world as a whole. And science informs things quite well. So it shouldn't be a surprise that this blog may also cover scientific matters from time to time as they engage in my brain.
So the concept of assimilation. This is the process of taking something in and making it a part of the entity, whether that is biological, social, spiritual, etc. Essentially, an assimilated thing ceases to be separate from the thing that assimilates it. We assimilate nutrients. Nations assimilate people. The US is known as the "melting pot", which refers to the quality of assimilating people from many backgrounds. We are not a nation based on genetic isolation or ancient tribal divides. Assimilation is a natural process that absolutely pervades every aspect of the function of the world. But I don't think many people understand it at all.
I was thinking of assimilation around the Christmas season for a couple reasons. First, because people get wound up about the various elements of the holiday. Regardless of what angle of that argument you might sit in, I think the concept of assimilation should help unwind that tension some.
No culture exists in a vacuum. Even the oldest cultures are influenced by those around them and evolve through time. The culture of a tribe 1000 years ago would not be the same now, even if that tribe were totally untouched by the outside, which none are. So there are going to be things that move from one to the other in both directions.
When Christianity first began to spread, it was spreading through existing cultures. Some of those celebrated Saturnalia, some celebrated Yule, and many other winter festivities. So when a few people began to see that this new faith had Truth, they didn't cease to live in the culture they were in. Others around them still celebrated the things they always did. Christianity, being a very assimilative type of faith, does not proscribe or prohibit much outright. The Apostle Paul (Saint Paul, depending on your tradition) who wrote most of the New Testament says all things are permissible, but not everything is beneficial. The individual has to determine what is good for themselves and their own. So many found what was good and true in the culture they occupied and kept those elements.
Where there were conflicts of conscience, people sometimes adapted the holiday to something that fit their new beliefs. Ok, so we aren't celebrating Thor any more, but as all powers and principalities are subject to the One God, then Father Christmas must also be subject to him...It's not a conscious happening, it's a slow and imperceptible shifting. Father Christmas, sounds much like the traditions of Saint Nicholas from southern Europe, so those gradually get merged as well.
Now if you are seriously conflicted by any pagan elements in your holiday, by all means, do what your conscience demands. Paul also says to bear with those who have weaker faith, so I for one won't be in your face about what gives you trouble, just like I won't drink alcohol around an alcoholic or a Baptist. But for your part, recognize the freedom of those of us who do not feel conflicted about it. We're not apostate because we let our kids enjoy a gift given in the name of a mythical character or a Saint. WE aren't worshipping a pagan God when we do it, despite the origin.
And if you're on the other side where you feel your holiday was stolen and perverted by us tyrannical Christians, please remember that you are still free to celebrate whatever you like. As I described above, most of the assimilation was a natural cultural process and not a decision to abolish or persecute your religion. I don't doubt that there were times where a state religion prohibited practices in an attempt to mandate what it felt was good. But that's not what's happening in the West right now. In fact, in today's world, you're more likely to live in a nation that mandates against Christianity, if it speaks to national religion at all. So it goes both ways. Individuals are not nations and nations are not individuals. Celebrate what you like in the way you like and allow others the same respect, even if you disagree. This is the definition of political and religious freedom.
Now on to the second topic of assimilation. Food. When you eat, your body assimilates the chemicals in that food: proteins, lipids, nutrients, synthetics, etc. Those things become a part of your body. Your body knows how to use a lot of those things. A good deal of them, your body can't use. Some of them actively break down the processes in your body as it tries to figure out what to do with them. But since assimilation is a great principle of life on Earth, a natural law, your body has an amazing capacity to take damage. It will assimilate and assimilate until it is overloaded. Even useful things can become a problem when there are too many of them.
Unfortunately, our bodies are so good at assimilating stuff we often don't take notice. The impacts, are virtually undetectable. But they are occurring. We only notice it once it's so far damaged that something actually breaks. It's the same process all over the natural world. I'm a water scientist and I see people seep junk into lakes and rivers for decades and then get utterly bewildered when the lake turns green and icky "all of a sudden". Truthfully, there are usually warning signs if you know what to look for, but people don't pay attention to them in their body or the world around them.
Even the government is not good at watching this. You see, most of the government employees want to do good, that's why we choose a lower paying career that comes with ample abuse from ignorant people. But a good deal of the job is about keeping the wheels turning. In the US especially, it's hard to just say, "whoa, change everything because this isn't working." So we operate by determining exactly how much we can mess something up before the impacts are too noticeable. I'm dead serious about this. It's how the laws are written and how the policies are structured. It's not a mindset of keeping things healthy, solvent, or sustainable. It's how much abuse can we take from all the pressures and not fall apart.
The same goes with individual health. Many people try to sneak just under the line where they crash rather than aim for the healthiest they can be. Fortunately for someone with a condition like me, my body reacts far more instantly to a bad element than most. So people say it's a problem with my body and those things don't affect them. But they DO affect you. They affect everyone. I'm like the canary in the coal mine. My reaction is the magnified and instant representation of what it's doing to you over the decades.
So why play with fire? If you, unlike me, have a good margin of safety, you won't fall out from a little bad stuff, but it's still bad! Imagine how healthy you could be if you didn't keep taking in that stuff that's pulling you apart at the cellular level.
Anyway, these have been my thoughts through this Christmas season as I've watched and listened to the world around me. As we start into a new year, I'd encourage you to take advantage of this marker in time to begin consciously assimilating these ideas about assimilation. Once you understand the concept, it explains so much of the world around you. You'll be more insightful, happier, and healthier for it.
So the concept of assimilation. This is the process of taking something in and making it a part of the entity, whether that is biological, social, spiritual, etc. Essentially, an assimilated thing ceases to be separate from the thing that assimilates it. We assimilate nutrients. Nations assimilate people. The US is known as the "melting pot", which refers to the quality of assimilating people from many backgrounds. We are not a nation based on genetic isolation or ancient tribal divides. Assimilation is a natural process that absolutely pervades every aspect of the function of the world. But I don't think many people understand it at all.
I was thinking of assimilation around the Christmas season for a couple reasons. First, because people get wound up about the various elements of the holiday. Regardless of what angle of that argument you might sit in, I think the concept of assimilation should help unwind that tension some.
No culture exists in a vacuum. Even the oldest cultures are influenced by those around them and evolve through time. The culture of a tribe 1000 years ago would not be the same now, even if that tribe were totally untouched by the outside, which none are. So there are going to be things that move from one to the other in both directions.
When Christianity first began to spread, it was spreading through existing cultures. Some of those celebrated Saturnalia, some celebrated Yule, and many other winter festivities. So when a few people began to see that this new faith had Truth, they didn't cease to live in the culture they were in. Others around them still celebrated the things they always did. Christianity, being a very assimilative type of faith, does not proscribe or prohibit much outright. The Apostle Paul (Saint Paul, depending on your tradition) who wrote most of the New Testament says all things are permissible, but not everything is beneficial. The individual has to determine what is good for themselves and their own. So many found what was good and true in the culture they occupied and kept those elements.
Where there were conflicts of conscience, people sometimes adapted the holiday to something that fit their new beliefs. Ok, so we aren't celebrating Thor any more, but as all powers and principalities are subject to the One God, then Father Christmas must also be subject to him...It's not a conscious happening, it's a slow and imperceptible shifting. Father Christmas, sounds much like the traditions of Saint Nicholas from southern Europe, so those gradually get merged as well.
Now if you are seriously conflicted by any pagan elements in your holiday, by all means, do what your conscience demands. Paul also says to bear with those who have weaker faith, so I for one won't be in your face about what gives you trouble, just like I won't drink alcohol around an alcoholic or a Baptist. But for your part, recognize the freedom of those of us who do not feel conflicted about it. We're not apostate because we let our kids enjoy a gift given in the name of a mythical character or a Saint. WE aren't worshipping a pagan God when we do it, despite the origin.
And if you're on the other side where you feel your holiday was stolen and perverted by us tyrannical Christians, please remember that you are still free to celebrate whatever you like. As I described above, most of the assimilation was a natural cultural process and not a decision to abolish or persecute your religion. I don't doubt that there were times where a state religion prohibited practices in an attempt to mandate what it felt was good. But that's not what's happening in the West right now. In fact, in today's world, you're more likely to live in a nation that mandates against Christianity, if it speaks to national religion at all. So it goes both ways. Individuals are not nations and nations are not individuals. Celebrate what you like in the way you like and allow others the same respect, even if you disagree. This is the definition of political and religious freedom.
Now on to the second topic of assimilation. Food. When you eat, your body assimilates the chemicals in that food: proteins, lipids, nutrients, synthetics, etc. Those things become a part of your body. Your body knows how to use a lot of those things. A good deal of them, your body can't use. Some of them actively break down the processes in your body as it tries to figure out what to do with them. But since assimilation is a great principle of life on Earth, a natural law, your body has an amazing capacity to take damage. It will assimilate and assimilate until it is overloaded. Even useful things can become a problem when there are too many of them.
Unfortunately, our bodies are so good at assimilating stuff we often don't take notice. The impacts, are virtually undetectable. But they are occurring. We only notice it once it's so far damaged that something actually breaks. It's the same process all over the natural world. I'm a water scientist and I see people seep junk into lakes and rivers for decades and then get utterly bewildered when the lake turns green and icky "all of a sudden". Truthfully, there are usually warning signs if you know what to look for, but people don't pay attention to them in their body or the world around them.
Even the government is not good at watching this. You see, most of the government employees want to do good, that's why we choose a lower paying career that comes with ample abuse from ignorant people. But a good deal of the job is about keeping the wheels turning. In the US especially, it's hard to just say, "whoa, change everything because this isn't working." So we operate by determining exactly how much we can mess something up before the impacts are too noticeable. I'm dead serious about this. It's how the laws are written and how the policies are structured. It's not a mindset of keeping things healthy, solvent, or sustainable. It's how much abuse can we take from all the pressures and not fall apart.
The same goes with individual health. Many people try to sneak just under the line where they crash rather than aim for the healthiest they can be. Fortunately for someone with a condition like me, my body reacts far more instantly to a bad element than most. So people say it's a problem with my body and those things don't affect them. But they DO affect you. They affect everyone. I'm like the canary in the coal mine. My reaction is the magnified and instant representation of what it's doing to you over the decades.
So why play with fire? If you, unlike me, have a good margin of safety, you won't fall out from a little bad stuff, but it's still bad! Imagine how healthy you could be if you didn't keep taking in that stuff that's pulling you apart at the cellular level.
Anyway, these have been my thoughts through this Christmas season as I've watched and listened to the world around me. As we start into a new year, I'd encourage you to take advantage of this marker in time to begin consciously assimilating these ideas about assimilation. Once you understand the concept, it explains so much of the world around you. You'll be more insightful, happier, and healthier for it.
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Charlie
Here we are at holiday season again in the U.S. It starts with Thanksgiving. Which is a day to give thanks for all that we have through the year. It is based in our earliest history as a nation. Really, one of the founding events for Americans as a people...the merging of Native American and European cultures.
But in reality, it has become nothing more than a day to party. Just like every other popular holiday here. And American party means noise, alcohol, and a general excuse to act rude and slightly debauched in the name of "good cheer". People have already started buying enough food to feed a developing village for a week. Some are having dinners tonight. Tomorrow the real feasting will occur. Some people going to 3 or 4 feasts.
Then Friday following has become a day to consume yet even more as people flock to stores and fight to buy all the bait and switch deals. I have never been to a store on "Black Friday" but I did go to one on Sunday after, last year. Things were literally thrown around like a riot had occurred. This is "celebrating".
And I'll have to go to some obligatory feast of my own (I'll only do one)...deciding which family group will feel most slighted if I don't go. I'll see people I don't know and don't have anything in common with, other than some tenuous genetic connections. I'll smile and be cordial and make polite excuses for not eating foods I can't eat and probably get sick from eating some things just to shut people up.
Christmas specials have already started in stores, on TV, everywhere telling me what I am supposed to do and feel and most having no concept of what the holiday really is...or rather no concept of what that means...I'm sure most actually know what it is about.
So now starts my least favorite time of year. I wish I could just not participate at all. The favorite holiday season of my life was the one I spent in Japan where most didn't know about my holidays and fewer cared. I was able to keep them in my own way, sharing peaceful and enjoyable time with my family and a few friends we shared our traditions with. But unfortunately, here that is impossible.
I'll try not to be obviously negative so as not to ruin it for others...but maybe it's worth ruining. Am I doing those I care for a disservice by not expressing what is hollow and wrong?
I have made certain stands, but they are to little avail against the tide of prescribed consumption and obligatory "cheer".
So if you see me through this season, give me a little nod that you understand. I know I'm not alone. And if you disagree, that's fine. You keep it your way and leave me to keep it mine. You've got the whole culture with you. The least you could do is give me a little space to salvage what good I can scrounge out of it without judgement or pressure.
But in reality, it has become nothing more than a day to party. Just like every other popular holiday here. And American party means noise, alcohol, and a general excuse to act rude and slightly debauched in the name of "good cheer". People have already started buying enough food to feed a developing village for a week. Some are having dinners tonight. Tomorrow the real feasting will occur. Some people going to 3 or 4 feasts.
Then Friday following has become a day to consume yet even more as people flock to stores and fight to buy all the bait and switch deals. I have never been to a store on "Black Friday" but I did go to one on Sunday after, last year. Things were literally thrown around like a riot had occurred. This is "celebrating".
And I'll have to go to some obligatory feast of my own (I'll only do one)...deciding which family group will feel most slighted if I don't go. I'll see people I don't know and don't have anything in common with, other than some tenuous genetic connections. I'll smile and be cordial and make polite excuses for not eating foods I can't eat and probably get sick from eating some things just to shut people up.
Christmas specials have already started in stores, on TV, everywhere telling me what I am supposed to do and feel and most having no concept of what the holiday really is...or rather no concept of what that means...I'm sure most actually know what it is about.
So now starts my least favorite time of year. I wish I could just not participate at all. The favorite holiday season of my life was the one I spent in Japan where most didn't know about my holidays and fewer cared. I was able to keep them in my own way, sharing peaceful and enjoyable time with my family and a few friends we shared our traditions with. But unfortunately, here that is impossible.
I'll try not to be obviously negative so as not to ruin it for others...but maybe it's worth ruining. Am I doing those I care for a disservice by not expressing what is hollow and wrong?
I have made certain stands, but they are to little avail against the tide of prescribed consumption and obligatory "cheer".
So if you see me through this season, give me a little nod that you understand. I know I'm not alone. And if you disagree, that's fine. You keep it your way and leave me to keep it mine. You've got the whole culture with you. The least you could do is give me a little space to salvage what good I can scrounge out of it without judgement or pressure.
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