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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
 Posted - 12/21/2006 : 10:04:40
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The Plough in Springtime;
The Scythe for Autumn Harvest.
Bringing in the Crops.
The cellar is filled.
Old Grandpre' slaughtered a hog.
Sweet, smells the Smokehouse.
Family has Gathered,
From all 'round the Countryside,
For this Special Day.
The Chris'mas Feast nears.
Fragrant Steam from the Kitchen.
Roast Bird and Fixing's.
Gifts have been Given,
In Season's Celebration,
And from all, Received.
Music fills the House,
And all the old songs are sung.
Fiddle and guitar.
Old Grandpre' sleeps.
Little Ones play ‘round his Chair.
Too much Season's Cheer,
Again.
Thus, the Day is Done.
The Sun drops away Quickly.
We retire Replete.
Some would rail at this.
Are they of Lesser Spirit?
Why must They Howl so?
Can They not Accept,
This Day that's Given to All?
The Old Ways are Best….
A Chris'mas Carol
As we have All noted, some Few of the more Obnoxious Adherents to Fundamentalist Christianity have ushered forth Strident Statements that They and only They have the proper Perspective upon this Season; this Time of Year when the days are Shortest. In Pursuit of Securing this Preposterous Claim, they have Girded their figurative Loins with their all-too-real Vocal Chords for an Engagement against such Secular and Generic Greetings as “Happy Holidays.” They vow to Smite and Confuse the Unbelieving Infidel and those others who Believe but would Celebrate in Manners and Methods that might not precisely Coincide with their particular Views on the Subject.
They have put Forth a great deal of Rhetoric dedicated to their Cause, but have mounted their Holy and Noisy Attack upon, Well, in Fact, Nothing of actual Moment. But We are further Informed that, as We rather Suspected, there is a Tidy Bit of Lucre to be Acquired from selling Weaponry for this Latter-Day Crusade to aspiring Christian Soldiers. These consist of Fulminous Literature, inscribed Pens and Cups, silk-screened Tee Shirts, and other such Folderol. So, it might appear that the Motives of the Loudest might not be altogether of the Finest Water.
Like the Winter Solstice, This is an annual Event. Unlike the Solstice, it's all a Dull Scene brought about by Dismal People.
They have this Huge and Contrary Problem, you see, and they Know it: their ‘Enemy' is Nonexistent and that ‘Enemy' is Everywhere, and Few beyond Themselves and a Smattering of Blithering Twits with Microphones much Care if a Nativity Scene is Cluttering up Town Hall or Not.
One might suppose that there are some Misbalanced Few who could become Dismayed and even Traumatized if Sears or Penny's, or even Greasy Eddie's Diner leaves the Christ out of a Window Display, but most do not Pay even the least of Heed beyond the Pretty Lights. Of course, we all become Fascinated and indeed, Mesmerized if there is a toy Electric Train involved in it.
It cannot be firmly Documented, but there is little Doubt that our very Ancient Ancestors in the Northern Hemisphere observed the Passing of the Seasons and knew Perfectly Well of the Changes in Daylight Hours, even as they failed to understand the Process or the Workings of a Timepiece. As Summer waned into Autumn, they gathered their Staples for the onset of Winter Hardships, and, Knowing that in Due Course the Sun would return to it's place on High, celebrated the Days when it again began it's Ascent. This was Very Long before Christianity was even a faint Glimmer in the eye of the Monotheistic Followers of a Monstrous Deity (in that Deity‘s Defense, it might be Noted that it is little Different from most Others in it‘s Paranoia, Xenophobia and Capriciousness).
The Winter Solstice, a difficult Time in the Year when the Climate is not Gentle, was and is a Season when Families and Clans and Tribes and yes, Populations share their Bounty with one another and look forward to the Lengthening of the Days as an ever-strengthening Harbinger of Better Times to Come.
There are no
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist! 
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Kil
Evil Skeptic
USA
13481 Posts |
 Posted - 12/21/2006 : 19:14:36 [Permalink]
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| Thanks once again for the above, filthy... |
Uncertainty may make you uncomfortable. Certainty makes you ridiculous.
Why not question something for a change?
Genetic Literacy Project |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 12/21/2006 : 19:23:21 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Kil
Thanks once again for the above, filthy...
My pleasure.... Sadly, it shows a lack of imagination that I couldn't come up with something different this year.
But on a related matter: quote:
December 20, 2006
The ‘War on Christmas' is surprisingly lucrative
I imagine in some circles, the “controversy” is still a fairly big deal, but my sense is that this year's “war on Christmas” is largely a bust. It was vaguely faddish last year, but most sensible people got sick of the issue quickly. Reasonable, levelheaded Americans figured out a long time ago that there is no war, the vast majority of the country celebrates and enjoys the holiday, and the conservative culture warriors probably just need to pick up a new hobby.
But they can't. Not because there's a nefarious scheme to undermine Christianity, and not because there are key skirmishes yet to be fought, but because the religious right has figured out that this silly little “War on Christmas” is a cash cow.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist!
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Siberia
SFN Addict
Brazil
2322 Posts |
Posted - 12/21/2006 : 19:35:41 [Permalink]
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Aye, aye, similar wishes to you Fil!
May the roasted bird be with you. |
"Why are you afraid of something you're not even sure exists?"
- The Kovenant, Via Negativa
"People who don't like their beliefs being laughed at shouldn't have such funny beliefs."
-- unknown
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Ghost_Skeptic
SFN Regular
Canada
510 Posts |
Posted - 12/22/2006 : 02:13:15 [Permalink]
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| Thanks Filthy - I always think of Walt Kelly's Chrismas carol when I get fed up with all the Chrismas Music, but I cna never remember anything pas "Nora's Freezing on the Trolley" |
"You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink. / You can send a kid to college but you can't make him think." - B.B. King
History is made by stupid people - The Arrogant Worms
"The greater the ignorance the greater the dogmatism." - William Osler
"Religion is the natural home of the psychopath" - Pat Condell
"The day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the supreme being as his father in the womb of a virgin, will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter" - Thomas Jefferson |
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