The War On Christmas

[CharleyH]

Green piping is the traditional navy symbol for a hospital ship. I suspect that's where the color comes from. As to a diamond I don't know of any symbolic reason it would be assossciated with medicine.

From a symbolic POV - I would suggest diamond is related to medicine for a very obvious reason? Strength being on top.

 

[LadyJeanne]

From a symbolic POV - I would suggest diamond is related to medicine for a very obvious reason? Strength being on top.

It's probably the least offensive symbol they could find. Red Circle...Japanese flag. Red Square...Moscow has one. Red Rectangle...maybe that would have been ok.

'Course, then there's also clubs, hearts, and spades.

*shrug*

 

[SEVERUSMAX]

I still think it's silly for the Christians to complain that someone else has "stolen" a holiday that THEY took from somebody else.

 

[Guest]

Green piping is the traditional navy symbol for a hospital ship. I suspect that's where the color comes from. As to a diamond I don't know of any symbolic reason it would be assossciated with medicine.

Colly, see my post above. The Red Crystal is the new politically and religiously neutral emblem...

It's a diamond shape, but 'they' are calling it a crystal. Still red, though.

Perdita

 

[Colleen Thomas]

Ya crack me up, Zoot.

But you did make me curious enough to google. It's NOT going to be green, and it's being called The Red Crystal! from Wikipedia:

The Red Crystal is the new politically and religiously neutral emblem approved by the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. This emblem clears a hurdle for the Israeli humanitarian society, the Magen David Adom, to join the International Committee of the Red Cross. Known as Protocol III, the amendment to the Geneva Conventions relating to the Adoption of an Additional Distinctive Emblem was adopted on 8 December 2005 and authorizes the use of the Red Crystal for use by national societies.

and get this: Other attempts for additional emblems included Sri Lanka in 1957 and India in 1977 who tried to establish a Red Swastika (What were they thinkin'!?)

this from a related Wiki article: The Red Lion and Sun Society was established by Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi of Iran. It was used in place of the Red Cross and Red Crescent emblems, but in 1980 the Islamic Republic of Iran gave up using the Red Lion and Sun and instead uses the Red Crescent in its place.

Note: Iran still retains the right to use the Red Lion and Sun, so it remains a recognized symbol of mercy.

I had no idea. I wonder what symbol they use in Yorkshire (ah ha ha, I crack myself up).

Perdita

link

The Swastika is actually a religious symbol. You can find it in many places, including mezzo american, Indian and far easetern religious symbology.

The red crystal? One begins to wonder just how far people will go to have something to be pissed about? Frankly, between the boxo in the SUV who cut me off and the clerk who can't subtract 2.75 from a five without calling the supervisor when her machine jammed, I don't need anythinbg else to vent on

 

[Colleen Thomas]

From a symbolic POV - I would suggest diamond is related to medicine for a very obvious reason? Strength being on top.

New one on me.

 

[Guest]

The Swastika is actually a religious symbol. You can find it in many places, including mezzo american, Indian and far easetern religious symbology.

I know about the swastika's ancient symbolism, but to propose it to represent an international rescue agency still strikes me as way beyond impractical.

You need venting, doll? Search out severusmax .

bessos, Perdita

 

[entitled]

Is it the OC that said Christmikah?

My friend and i have been using 'Birthmaskah' for years. Both our birthdays are in January, i used to celebrate Christmas, and she's Jewish.

 

[CharleyH]

Colly, see my post above. The Red Crystal is the new politically and religiously neutral emblem...

It's a diamond shape, but 'they' are calling it a crystal. Still red, though.

Perdita

New age politics?

 

[CharleyH]

New one on me.

Sarcastic! (sizzle ) It may also mean an affinity to Tiffany's

 

[Boota]

Not that you would want to read it, but the book Evidence that Demands a Verdict, by McDonald I believe presents historical and textural evidence of Jesus having lived. Before you start comparing Jesus to Paul Bunyan, you might want to give it a read.

I'd love to read that book. It's pretty much the sort of thing I usually read. Which is why I disbelieve in Jesus as a man who ever actually lived and believe in him only as a symbolic myth. The history doesn't line up in any of the other things I've ever read. I shy away from books like this with a specific agenda either way, though. The writer who tries to prove that Jesus did exist or the writer trying to prove that he didn't tend to stack the deck in favor of their own personal take on it. I like to read the things more along the lines of people looking for an answer no matter what it might be. Once I see a writer stacking the deck, either way, I disregard the remainder of the book.

I'd love to see some defining evidence on the subject. I'll have to check that book out and see if it has it. Chances are it doesn't, though. Seems like findling the long sought proof of Jesus Christ's existence would have been... newsworthy.

 

[cricketbug]

My friend and i have been using 'Birthmaskah' for years. Both our birthdays are in January, i used to celebrate Christmas, and she's Jewish.

**stalk** boo!

You talkin' about me again? Good!

If the baby arrives "on time", there'll be another 'Birthmaskah' person to help celebrate

 

[entitled]

**stalk** boo!

You talkin' about me again? Good!

If the baby arrives "on time", there'll be another 'Birthmaskah' person to help celebrate

Pfft... The first one never arrives on time.

When's due date again?

 

[Colleen Thomas]

I know about the swastika's ancient symbolism, but to propose it to represent an international rescue agency still strikes me as way beyond impractical.

You need venting, doll? Search out severusmax .

bessos, Perdita

I agree it would, considering it's recent usage seem strange, but I can see where people who still hold to its older symbolism might hope it would help to redeem the symbol if it were used to represent something pure and noble in the modern conciousness.

 

[Colleen Thomas]

I'd love to read that book. It's pretty much the sort of thing I usually read. Which is why I disbelieve in Jesus as a man who ever actually lived and believe in him only as a symbolic myth. The history doesn't line up in any of the other things I've ever read. I shy away from books like this with a specific agenda either way, though. The writer who tries to prove that Jesus did exist or the writer trying to prove that he didn't tend to stack the deck in favor of their own personal take on it. I like to read the things more along the lines of people looking for an answer no matter what it might be. Once I see a writer stacking the deck, either way, I disregard the remainder of the book.

I'd love to see some defining evidence on the subject. I'll have to check that book out and see if it has it. Chances are it doesn't, though. Seems like findling the long sought proof of Jesus Christ's existence would have been... newsworthy.

It's a good book. I hesitate to reccomend it because it has a very evangelical bent, but for all that, it's a very respectable scholarly work. In the main, the author dosen't set out to prove Jesus exists, he sets out to prove the biblical record is reliable. In doing so, he lists other primary sources that correlate on many bibilical accounts. Some of these, iirc, are non partisan references to events in the life of Jesus.

While it by no means prooves Jesus was an actual historical figure, it does a good job of presenting evidence that he probably existed. Primarily, bibilographical evidence as opposed to a strict historical or theological bent.

 

[Roxanne Appleby]

Not that you would want to read it, but the book Evidence that Demands a Verdict, by McDonald I believe presents historical and textural evidence of Jesus having lived. Before you start comparing Jesus to Paul Bunyan, you might want to give it a read.

I am pretty much an atheist, and certainly no expert on religion, but I am kind of a lay-expert on history, having read widely and deeply on the subject, and from what I know about history I have little doubt that Jesus was a real person for this reason, an analogy: If you look at a pond and see a series of ripples emanating cocentrically from a certain point, it is reasonable to assume that some event disturbed the surface at that point.

Edit PS. I did not invent that analogy, and forget where I read it. And it does not suggest any details of the story are true or not true, just that there was an individual whose existance had a strong effect on the world.

 

[Boota]

It's reasonable to assume that the idea came from somewhere, but there should be ways to trace these things back if they were really of such importance. There absolutely was a man named Jesus walking around Jerusalem back then. There were hundreds of them, actually. There is no historical figure that all of his supposed miracles and events of his life are linked to. It doesn't mean that he didn't exist, it just means that there is no evidence that he did.

One of the many things that leads me to lean towards thinking that he didn't exist is the history of forgery in the supposed documents that are most often used to prove his existence. In proving historical accuracy the Gospels are completely irrelevant and worthless, so you have to go to extra-biblical sources, and they are universally rife with inaccuracies, and in some cases outright lies.

I wouldn't set out to prove that Jesus never existed as a historical figure. I just wouldn't put a lot of stock in his true existence without considerably more than evidence than there is right now.

 

[Liar]

I had no idea. I wonder what symbol they use in Yorkshire (ah ha ha, I crack myself up).

The red pint?

 

[cricketbug]

Pfft... The first one never arrives on time.

When's due date again?

Ironically, Christmas Eve

 

[entitled]

Ironically, Christmas Eve

Nah. Be right around my birthday.

 

[cricketbug]

Nah. Be right around my birthday.

'

Okay. If you say so!

btw - nice tootsies

 

[entitled]

'

Okay. If you say so!

btw - nice tootsies

How many times have i been wrong? Hmm?

Tanks. Gots red n green toenails now.

 

[cricketbug]

How many times have i been wrong? Hmm?

How 'bout this time... she was born Sunday at 9:32 p.m.

 

[Bizkit_Writer]

I've been hearing the phrase "War On Christmas" for a while now. It's a big subject for Fox News and a lot of neo-conservatives here in the U.S. trying to scare people to their side. But the tricky thing is this: There is no war on Christmas. No such thing exists.

I know. If there were I'd enlist.

John Gibson, the shyster used car salesman looking guy from Fox News, has a book out called "The War On Christmas", which likely explains the reason this is a "news" story. It's everywhere. You can't say "Merry Christmas" to anyone. You have to say "Happy Holidays" instead or you can be fired. You can't have nativity scenes on government property. Yada yada yada. Let's look at these three common statements individually. I bet you I can get to the bottom of them in a few seconds flat.

1. You can't say "Merry Christmas" to anyone.

Yes. You can. I was just wished a "Merry Christmas" at a store yesterday. End of story.

2. You have to say "Happy Holidays" instead or you can be fired.

Okay. Well, if anyone is being fired over this I'd be very surprised. Maybe they are getting fired for insubordination in refusing to adhere to the "Happy Holidays" Initiative. (Or HHI, from here on out.) From a practical standpoint, HHI makes perfect sense. As an owner of a business that deals with the public, isn't it much smarter not to potentially alienate a percentage of your customer base, no matter how small, through something as inoffensive as offering an inclusive "Happy Holidays" versus the exclusive "Merry Christmas"? For those who are still offended, let me translate for you directly. If you are a Christian, "Happy Holidays" means, literally, "Merry Christmas". It's just that simple. Don't get your panties in such a huge bunch over a word game. Granted, Christians aren't being acknowledged as the true masters of the United States by allowing people of other religions to be respected equally, but you know, that darned Constitution just keeps getting in the way.

3. You can't have nativity scenes on government property.

Well... good. I would prefer that our government buildings be used to, say... govern? Why should our government buildings become shrines to a religion. Any religion? If you allow one religion you are obligated to allow them all. Suddenly, our government buildings aren't places for the machinations of government to operate any longer. They are show places for religious people with agendas. There is a large faction of Christians who would love to have a nativity scene on the courthouse lawn, but would protest the presence of a menorah. Why give those people the ammo they need to start a holy war?

Personally, I can't wait until the Satanists feel the need to put up a display. If the Christians can post The Ten Commandments, then by all rights the Satanists should be allowed to post The Nine Satanic Statements and be regarded as equal in stature. That fight could be epic! Get the popcorn and fire up the VCR!

If there is a "War On Christmas", is it a war that can even be won? Do you really think that Christmas is going to disappear? I know a lot of people complain about the commercialization of Christmas, but that is the single biggest thing that will guarantee that Christmas will continue until the end of time. Money talks. Even if every religious thought was stricken from the minds of all Americans, the Almighty Dollar will still keep the spirit of Christmas alive and well.

God bless us, everyone.

Forever and ever, amen.

Cha-ching.

Can I just say I agree with EVERYTHING! Its sick the way people do this Happy Holiday crap and I do agree Happy Holidays does mean Merry Christmas. I for one say Merry Christmas if I am out and about. Religious crap shouldn't be on GOVERNMENT property! Its not the place! If they want to put up the nativity stuff do it on a CHURCH property not the GOVERNMENT! EGADS! Its sick how people decide to change things that have been said for over I don't know how many years since Christmas was created when Jesus graced this world!

It's all sick in my opinion and damn I am going to say Merry Christmas until I am blue! SO MERRY CHRISTMAS ALL!

(Jumps off soap box and walks away)

 

[arienette]

I work at Borders and a woman came in looking for the book and after tracking down the one copy of two we had in the store she decided to go into extensive detail about how much she hated Liberals. I think it took everything in me to not reach out and punch her square in the face.

Ah, I love holiday time in retail.