Countdown to Christmas (2011)

It’s not quite feeling like winter the past couple of days.  Oh well.

From Time.com: “8 Ways to Better Enjoy the Nutcracker” – good tips, actually.

Funny thing about this time of year: people can get a little crazy about the religion thing; yes, it is a Christmas tree, not a “holiday tree” and, sure, secular Christmas would probably bother those who want to make it solely about the religious aspect.  And, sometimes, I find the rabid atheists, who seem to want us to be atheist, get a little crazy in wanting to avoid all overt religious demonstration.  And, it doesn’t help that, regardless of the holiday spirit or timing, prejudices become real obstacles anyway.   So, I had to admire this post over at Time.com, by Tim Padgett:

Before [author Christopher] Hitchens died at 62 from esophageal cancer, he made a point of declaring he was certain no heaven awaited him. But that swipe at the faithful always misses the point. Most of us don’t believe in God because we think it’s a ticket to heaven. Rather, our belief in God — our belief in the living ideal of ourselves, which is something even atheists ponder — instills in us a faith that in the end, light always defeats darkness (which is how people get through the wars and natural disasters I cover). That does make us open to the possibility of the hereafter — but more important, it gives us purposeful inspiration to make the here and now better.

With all due respect to the memory of Christopher Hitchens, making the here and now better would be difficult without religion. But it’s also hard enough without the un-Christian antics of people like David Caton [the head of the Florida Family Association whose ridiculous campaign encouraged companies like Lowe’s to pull their ads from the reality show, “All-American Muslim” on TLC]. As Christmas ought to remind us.