Not a Family Value: The "War on Christmas"

Christmas is not my favorite holiday. Growing up, I liked the idea of Christmas, but I usually dreaded the actual event, which usually included long car rides, family bickering, and visits to relatives who did not actually like all the members of my immediate family. My husband, however, loves Christmas, as do my children, so I have learned to love the holiday more as an adult.

Since my feelings about Christmas are already somewhat mixed, especially being a non-religious person, it's no surprise that I would also have strong, but mixed, feelings about the "War on Christmas" debate that frequently rages around this time of year. I usually see two different complaints about Christmas, which can be summed up as follows:

Complaint 1: Christmas is too commercial

This argument is one that I remember from my own childhood. It is frequently accompanied by laments that Christmas decorations appear earlier and earlier ever year. I have to say that I can sympathize with people who feel this way. As young parents, we were frequently caught up in the desire to make a big, impressive pile of presents under the tree for our daughter. We now wish we hadn't set such high standards for the holiday, as the current economy has taught us the importance of our non-material possessions. I was proud this year to see that while my kids had wish lists for Santa, they were relatively short. Overall, though, I'm a fan of Christmas commercialization. I like hearing the music and seeing the decorations in stores. I like the tinsel on the streetlights in my town. We're going to Disney the week before Christmas just to get our fill of twinkly lights. I can only imagine what this focus on glitz must feel like to a person who just wants to quietly commemorate the birth of their personal savior. This brings me to the second complaint:

Complaint 2: Everyone has forgotten the reason for the season

I'll just set aside for a moment the fact that pagans of all kinds were celebrating the winter solstice long before monotheism had been invented. In America, Christianity dominates, and many people feel it is only fair that Christians be catered to with Christmas displays in every store. What amazes me, though, is the way that people fail to see how this leads us directly back to Complaint 1. If you want every person you see this month to wish you a Merry Christmas, whether they share your belief in God, Jesus, and the Bible or not, then you are indeed contributing to the secularization of Christmas. Not everyone you see is a Christian, so if you want them to share your holiday with you, they are going to dilute it. Christmas can either be a holiday that Christians celebrate simply and devoutly, or it can be a holiday that all Americans share, regardless of belief, in our typical consumeristic excess. Indeed, it can even be one of these things at your house and the other at my house. It cannot, however, be both of these things at the same time all over the country.

When someone says "happy holidays," chances are they are not trying to wage war on anyone. They simply want to celebrate this festive time as humans have done for thousands of years, and they want to do it without any particular religious overtones. If you want to insist that they pretend to be religious, most Americans will acquiesce out of simple politeness. After all, they certainly don't want anyone to start "witnessing" to them in the middle of the mall. It's easier to give the kids "Christmas" presents than to explain to everyone why you do your gift exchanging about three days too soon every year. But maybe it's time for religious America to make up their collective mind about this holiday. Do you want to keep Christ in Christmas, or do you want to keep Christmas holy and let everyone else have their "holidays?"

Economist Defends Photoshopping Obama Cover (PHOTOS)

I wouldn't say I'm "outraged," but I have to side with Reuters and say that the photoshopping that was done changes the meaning of the image. In the original, it is obvious that Obama and Randolph are engaged in a conversation. She is tilted up toward him, and he is looking down toward her. His pose is one of someone listening intently. Without this context, we are left with a picture where Obama looks "contemplative," as CarterR99 said, but this wasn't actually the case. This is editorializing, not reporting.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Mike Huckabee 'Ick Factor' Comments Slammed By Gay Rights Groups

"We can get into the ick factor?" It's like he's begging to talk about it. I actually think it would have been better if he had said "I won't go into the ick factor," because that at least would have been consistent. As it is, it almost sounds like he's begging someone to ask him about where the pee-pees go when gay men do what mommies and daddies do in their bedrooms. Latent tendencies, much?
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Faisal Shahzad Arrest: Beck Versus McCain On Miranda Rights For Times Square Suspect (VIDEO)

I may choke on these words, but I have to say them: "I'm with Glenn Beck on this one." To think that I would even have to make a political statement of my support for mirandizing an American citizen just shows how far some elements in our society have sunk. The best support they can come up with for their position is "but still?" But still what? This is America. Americans have rights even if they don't deserve them, including the right to be considered innocent until proven guilty. Reading this man his miranda rights should in no way bar us from finding him guilty. Our justice system may have flaws, but are we saying that it doesn't work? If we ignore his Constitutional rights, we only open ourselves to letting this guy off on a technicality. Why take that risk?
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Arnold Schwarzenegger Wants To Be President

Meh, to be honest, I wouldn't mind this being amended. Not for Ah-nold's sake, but just because I don't really see the point. He's an American, right? What if Obama had been born in Kenya or Indonesia? Would that have made him any less capable of leading? What if McCain had been born off-base instead of in a military hospital? I think that if someone is not a natural-born citizen, they should be able to run 35 years after naturalization. I have to be a citizen for 35 years before I can run for president, so should anyone else.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Family Value: Paying It Forward

Happy Pay It Forward Day, everyone. What's that, you've never heard of this holiday? Neither had I until a few days ago when I noticed that one of my friends had marked themselves as "attending" this event on Facebook. I promptly did the same, as the concept of paying it forward is one of the guiding principles of our family.

As a matter of fact, when I mentioned the holiday to my husband this morning, we discussed it and realized that we were already participating without even knowing about the special date. Today is also the anniversary of the Make a Wish Foundations's first granted wish, and many local organizations, including ours, are having fundraising events today. Our daughter's dance team is scheduled to lead the warmup at our local Wish Walk, and our entire family was already signed up to participate.

In addition, as this is the last day of regular classes for most of the classes we teach, my husband was bringing in food for his students. I was unable to do something so nifty, since I'm administering state exit exams. However, for the most part, what we found is that we will be participating without even having to change our schedules.

For Progressive parents who are living their values with their children, probably every day, or nearly, is Pay It Forward Day. Granted, it's nice to have reminders like this, and we will probably make an effort to look for additional ways to make a difference to the people around us in honor of the day. How about you? What will you do today to make your community a better place? Is it pretty close to the things you do every day to teach your kids to be responsible citizens?

Not a Family Value: Racial Profiling

Arizona's new anti-immigration laws have me somewhat stunned. This law not only allows racial profiling, it will actually serve to require it of law enforcement.

I know that Arizona has had some serious issues with illegal immigration, and specifically with crime related to human trafficking. These are serious problems, and the citizens of AZ have been begging the federal government to assist for years, to no avail. However, policies of racial profiling are not the way to solve these problems. Much like torture in interrogation, racial profiling is the kind of thing that people may feel is distasteful, but necessary. In reality, both of these things actually serve to amplify the problems they purport to be solving.

Kendrick Meeks, the Democratic candidate for the Senate in FL, recently released a statement in which he said, in effect, that his experience in the highway patrol led him to believe that these kinds of policies are detrimental to law enforcement officers. The problem is that they erode the trust that officers need from the community in order to solve crimes and get witnesses to speak.

So, even if these policies weren't morally abhorrent, they remain ineffective. Still don't believe that they are, in fact, morally abhorrent? Think about the many, many people in AZ who are brown skinned, speak with an accent, and are legal immigrants or American citizens. How can it possibly be okay to hold these brown-skinned citizens to a different standard than their white-skinned counterparts? If it is just too hard for you to imagine what legal and government-enforced racism might look like when it applies to your ethnic group, try watching M.I.A.'s new video.

If you disagree with me, please tell me why in rational, non-vulgar, non-insulting language. If you agree, please take action. Color of Change has a petition going in conjunction with Presente.org. Please go check it out here.