Hilarity

You know, when it comes to making a political point, no one does it better than a group of intelligent assholes armed with a great message.

I think these folks qualify.

It seems the Young Conservatives of the University of Texas at Austin are creating an "ACLU nativity scene." Amongst the highlights are:

- Gary and Joseph
- No Jesus
- Stalin, Lenin and Marx as the Three Wise Men
- An Islamic Terrorist as the Shepard
- Nancy Pelosi as the Angel Gabriel.

Let's see, Gay Marriage, Separation of Jesus and State, Communism, the Religion of Peace and Nancy Pelosi - hey that could pass for the Democratic Party, not just the ACLU!! Indeed, it often seems that people on the left forget that the 1st Amendment actually doesn't guarantee every non-Christian faith special privileges. Religious Tolerance means that we put up with you - not treat you better than we do ourselves. Oh well, maybe at some point the friendly folks at the ACLU and on the left will realize that these wacky ideas of Religious freedom and tolerance include us Christians too.

In the meantime: Hook 'Em!

***Update***

Here's a Photo of the Actual Thing!!!

Stop Protesting the 'Da Vinci Code'

All over the globe, as the movie "The Da Vinci Code" premieres, Christian groups are going out to protest the film. Of course, this is hardly unexpected, as this is merely a continuation of the discontent they expressed with the novel written by Dan Brown. However, I really don't understand why these groups keep going out to protest the 'Da Vinci Code' phenomenon; and I really wish they would just stop.

First off, it's fiction. When someone writes a story that they admit isn't true, there's no need to get angry. It's not like Dan Brown started a revolution within the church; I don't recall seeing any mass streams of 'converts' to the, shall we say, 'Dan Brown form' of Christianity. If, for whatever reason, Dan Brown's outlandish (fictional) claims about Christianity offend you, don't watch the movie or read the book. Furthermore, if the movie does offend you, don't start a protest to tell those of us who want to enjoy it how awful it is. We're just trying to go watch a movie; and honestly, at this point, protesting the 'Da Vinci Code' isn't go to do much.

Additionally, how can all these people be so offended by such a great book? I absolutely loved it. So, lay your sensibilities aside and just enjoy the novel for what it is: a well-written thriller. I, for one, can't wait to see the movie, and if you don't agree with me -- I don't care. And you know why? Because, well, it's just a movie.

"In God Is Our Trust"

You're probably expecting this blog to be my take on the President's State of the Union Address last night, unfortunately, it's not. I didn't even watch it (I was watching My Deacs lose another ACC game.....). However, I found out something new today that I thought was rather interesting.
As you all (should) know, our National Anthem, the Star Spangled Banner, was written by Francis Scott Key during the War of 1812. It became the offical Anthem under Herbert Hoover. Contrarily, what you may not know is that nowadays, we only sing the first verse, and omit the last 3. If you wish to see all 3 verses you can check out this link here. I will however, reprint the 4th verse here, as I find it to be of extreme interest:

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Bles't with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the Star-Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Well that's quite a verse for everyone from James Madison to Herbert Hoover to be getting excited about isn't it? All that stuff about God, and all those references to Christian ideas. Geez, can you imagine what toady's liberals, who insist on omitting prayer, the Christian religion, and the J-word (Jesus for those of you in the dark) from public schools, would think if we sung that "In God is our trust" line every time we sang the National Anthem? Ted Kennedy's head would explode just listening to it!

As you can tell, here we have further proof that this is a Nation founded in Christian principles. They want us to omit 'Under God' from the Pledge of Allegiance, yet "In God is our trust" is part of the official National Anthem of our country. And this reference has been around since the Madison administration. Yet no one complained about it or held protests about this 'religious' reference, even the 'Father of the Constitution' seemed to give it his stamp of approval!

Furthermore, when it was adopted in 1931 as the official Anthem, there weren't complaints about how our new Anthem had Christian overtones. In fact, the reason it was adopted was because it had been continually gaining in popularity ever since it had first been performed. So, if all these Americans, from all these different eras, took so fondly to this obviously religious song that they adopted it as the National Anthem, why are we constantly told to ban Christianity from public places?

This Nation was founded on Christian principles, and it was hoped that future generations of Americans would follow these same ideals. That's why we don't need 'Under God' removed from the Pledge, or (non-Muslim) prayer banned in public schools, or 'In God We Trust' taken off our money or out of the National Anthem. The Founding Fathers intended for the United States to be one nation under God, complete with a people steeped in Judeo-Christian values.

To be perfectly honest, these atheistic lefties had better stop thier assult on this Nation's 'God' references or we might not have any patriotic songs left. The Star-Spangled Banner, Battle Hymn of the Republic, The Halls of Montezuma, My Country Tis of Thee, The Army Goes Rolling On........wow, every American song I can think of has some reference to God in it! Interestingly, this phenomenon of Heavenly overtones in National Anthems is not unique to the United States. For example, the Canadians ask God to keep their 'land glorious and free,' The Italians ask to have 'The way of the Lord' revealed to them, hell, the British have been asking God to 'Save the Queen' for centuries.

It is my most sincere hope that, to put a spin on a line from the Battle Hymn of the Republic, despite these atheistic liberals, in America, 'God Keeps Marching On.'

Is Discrimination Against Christians Ok?

As you've probably seen on the news, there has been quite a lot of nitpicking about religion during this annual Christmas Season. The scenarios have included everything from Rep. Hastert renaming Capitol Hill's 'Holiday Tree' a Christmas Tree, to the ACLU threatening lawsuits against schools that have Christmas Carols as a part of their 'holiday' performances. If you haven't seen the pattern yet, allow me to state the obvious. It all involves discrimination against Christians.

Yes, that's right, all over the United States it is now Politically Incorrect to be a Christian on public property. You can't set up a Christmas tree, or a Manger scene, and God forbid you say the C-word (Christ). Of course, the problem here is the double standard. The ACLU is suing the same schools for inappropriate uses of 'Christmas' that it sued for not allowing Muslims a special place for prayer during Ramadan. And oddly enough, no one seems to mind it when Jews discuss Hanukah. But please, don't ever even mention 'Joy to the World'.

The worst thing about this is that these anti-Christians don't see the double standard that they have. They don't think of it as discrimination. Although it most certainly is. It's perfectly fine for anyone to criticize religion in schools: as long as it's Christianity that they're criticizing. However, once we cross that PC line and start discussing Judaism or Islam or any other religion, the multiculturalists come swooping down; 'Don't discriminate', 'It's just their culture', 'You have to respect their religion', and the list, of course, goes on. These are the same people who, despite not believing in a universal right and wrong or truth, find some way to make the claim that having a Christmas float in the town 'holiday' parade is 'wrong'.

When are we going to stop pretending we don't know the roots of our country? When is someone finally going to say that toleration specifically for Muslims just won't cut it? So far this month, the Christian populace in this country has shown signs that it will at least put up a fight; and that's good. The Christian establishment in this country has stood by and watched as one of its 2 most important holidays has taken a theoretical beating from the media and the multiculturalists. Hopefully, we can find a way to put a stop the blatant and unnecesary discrimination against Christmas.

A Good Old-Fashion..... Hindu Christmas?

Just yesterday, I attended the University's 'Lighting of the Quad' ceremony, where students gathered to celebrate the 'spirit of the season' and light up a tall fir tree with ornaments on it (certainly not a Christmas tree though). In the middle of the whole ceremony, amidst all the hymns about some strange 'Messiah' person, a senior female student got up and spoke about how she loved the 'spirit of the season' and the 'time of year'. Only problem was, she practiced the hajik religion or something or other; I couldn't even make out what she called her religion, much less tell you what it entailed. But that made me wonder, why was she there? If she loves the discounts and excessive shopping, well that may work for her, but that’s not exactly the 'spirit of the season'.

Unfortunately for this girl, and all the other agnostics, atheists, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and Jews present, the 'Spirit of the Season' pertains to something very specific. Something this, admittedly, non-Christian student couldn't quite put her finger on. Oh, there was a lot of talk about the 'feeling of peace' and the 'unity of mankind' that all these non-Christians feel, but no one seemed to wonder where all those feelings came from. The answer, of course, is extraordinarily simple: Jesus Christ. That's right, the 'Spirit of the Season' is all about celebrating the fact that God loved us enough to send his only Son, to save all mankind. That's powerful stuff, in fact, that’s powerful enough to induce all of those feelings of 'unity' and 'brotherhood' that everyone at the Lighting Ceremony was talking so much about.

But this brought me to a new question, the thing that was truly bugging me as I stood there and listened to this student drone on, how can non-Christians celebrate Christmas? The whole reason we have the 'Season' in the first place is because of traditions that started under the Roman Catholic Church and the Pope hundreds of years ago. And the reason that we have the Season and all these traditions, reasons non-Christians can never explain very precisely, is because of a baby that was born a little over 2,000 years ago.

If you want to celebrate Kwanza or Haunakah, that’s fine, but c'mon. When you have a Christmas tree, or are singing Christmas Carols, or are discussing Peace on Earth and goodwill towards men (hmmmm, I wonder where we got those quotes from....), its not the 'Holiday Season', it's Christmas! So please, spare me your phrases about good spirit and such, I’ve heard (read) them all before, in the New Testament. And please, if you don't believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the One true Son of God who came to save our sins, stop celebrating Christmas!! It's not your holiday! By not being Christian, you have admitted you don’t believe in Christmas!

So for all the Hindus, Pagans etc. out there, enjoy the time off from school or work, and have a happy New Year, but please, stop wishing me 'Happy Holidays'.