This evening is the beginning of Hanukkah, and I think a way to note that is with this, a song written by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah).
Yes, a Mormon wrote a Hanukkah song. I don’t pretend to understand, but if the Jewish Kenny G can make a Christmas album, then why not? It’s kind of catchy, too!
Enjoy!
Following up on my previous post, perhaps this guy should get on staff for the AFA and such groups:
This is from a strategy board game called Shadowlord. One of the warriors available to the teams is Kaare, here, who looks to me an awful lot like Santa Claus with a scimitar. So, sing with me!
You’d better not pout, or he’ll make you cry
If you’re gonna shout, get ready to die
Santa Claus is coming to town!
AFA’s got a list, checking it twice
He’s gonna find out who’s naughty or nice
Santa Claus is coming to town!
He knows what you’ve been saying
You cashiers and you clerks!
He’s going to smite you with his sword
If you don’t pay lip service!
I was looking in an old e-mail account and found an interesting message from the American Family Association. You might see why I didn’t bothering to update the AFA to my new address:
November 30, 2009
Dear Friend,
Gap has heard you loud and clear. After thousands of phone calls, emails and petitions, Gap has just released a very “Merry Christmas” television commercial.
On November 28, Gap’s Old Navy division broadcast a television commercial featuring its “Supermodelquins” proudly cheering “Merry Christmas,” along with Christmas trees, lights and ornaments. View the commercial here.
As a result of Gap’s efforts, AFA is ending the Christmas boycott of the company and its Old Navy and Banana Republic stores. Thank you for getting involved!
Even FoxNews has recognized your efforts, saying you and your AFA have been very effective against retailers who won’t recognize Christmas in their advertising. See the video.
Again, thanks to your involvement, retailers are listening – and they are changing the way they do business!
In our ongoing effort to encourage other companies to recognize Christmas, your AFA has sent certified letters to Best Buy and Dick’s Sporting Goods, asking them to include “Christmas” in their advertising. You will find these two companies listed on AFA’s “Naughty or Nice” listing of retailers. We will let you know how they respond.
It is very important that you forward this alert to your friends and family members.
Isn’t that great! The Gap has its “Supermodelquins” (whatever the heck those are) cheering, “Merry Christmas!” What could be more about the real meaning of Christmas, after all, than that?
Every year, we go through this same stupid exercise. A bunch of people get up in arms because retailers might not adequately pay lip service to Christmas in the midst of indulging our gluttony and materialism.
Really, who cares what the mannequins say? In what way does this celebrate Christmas in any real, meaningful, and Christ-centered way?
The whole thing strikes me as Pharisaical. The AFA is putting all of this effort into making sure that people, whether they’re Christians or not, say something sort-of Christian-sounding. This does … what, exactly? … for the Kingdom?
Frankly, it might be more honoring to Christ if He was left out of the advertising.
A lot of these non-church ministries focus on making mountains out of molehills for the purpose of raising lots of money to fight a boogeyman.
Is it silly to rename Christmas trees as “family trees”? Of course it is.
But does Christ’s Kingdom really get advanced so much as a step just because some store puts the word “Christmas” in its sales flyers?
This is a great way for Christians to waste a lot of time and effort each year, fighting a battle that absolutely doesn’t matter.
Here’s the story at CNN.
Yes, slavery still exists in the world. It’s probably closer to most of us than we think. Those cheap shoes, shirts, even produce and meat might well have been handled by workers without a choice.
The conditions in this Mexico City operation are somewhat unusual, in that they hearken back to the way we tend to think of slavery, with chains and bars. Often, slavery doesn’t look like that, though it is no less evil and cruel.
Not surprisingly, most of the victims in this Mexico City case were indigenous people, and were suffering from dehydration and malnutrition. In the story, it’s reported that workers are often turned loose after six months, when they are no longer able to work because of illness, exhaustion, and malnutrition.
This is something to consider as we look out into the world … how do we see our role in stopping modern-day slavery, and how deep do we want to look into who’s making those cheap goods you buy in the department store?
Sixty-eight years ago was the day that, according to President Franklin Roosevelt, would live in infamy. Early on that Sunday morning, six Imperial Japanese Navy carriers launched their fighters and bombers to attack the United States Navy base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Caught off-guard, unprepared, and unaware that they were a target, nearly three thousand US servicemen were killed that morning.
I’m starting this post at about 7:30 local … if not for the time zone difference, that is just a few minutes before the first wave of Japanese planes hit the Navy base and the Army forces at Hickam and Wheeler Fields. Very few of those Army planes ever got into the sky to challenge the more than 400 Japanese planes.
By the end of the attack, four battleships and several smaller warships had been sunk and four more damaged. Two of those sunk would be raised and take part in the Second World War, though. Thousands of men were killed, many of them trapped in ships that went down.
These first shots of full-scale US involvement in World War II bear remembering. The tremendous loss of life deserves honor.
In that spirit, I’d like you to check out the current drive to raise funds to upgrade the Pearl Harbor Museum. Its stated purpose:
Since its dedication in 1980 as the shoreside support facility to the USS Arizona Memorial, the USS Arizona Memorial Museum and Visitor Center has experienced tremendous usage and high demand. Larger than expected visitation, structural deterioration due to water intrusion, inadequate climatic controls for museum artifacts, and insufficient education and curatorial space all contribute to the need to replace and expand the current museum and visitor center.
I would encourage you to check out the site linked above, and if you’re so moved, please consider making a donation.
This morning, the tech booth is my church is being staffed by two Eagle Scouts. I’m on graphics, and Eaglescoutjonathan is on the sound board.
As the second Advent candle was lit, the thought crossed my mind … it would be great to light the candles with flaming blowgun darts. Naturally, flaming arrows are also up for consideration.
Let’s be honest about it … too many Eagle Scouts in one place can be very dangerous. There is another one on stage playing guitar, by the way. I’m sure that the Milkman would be on board.
I’ll have to check with Chris (our worship minister) and see how he feels about this idea. Since he isn’t an Eagle, though, it might be a tough sell. But maybe next week I’ll bring the bow to church …
My hat tip goes to Polycarp at The Church of Jesus Christ. There are some graphic images, here …
I usually refer to Thanksgiving as a relatively-untarnished holiday. Whereas Christmas has degenerated into gift-giving and materialism, Easter has deteriorated into the day for chocolate bunnies and egg hunts, and Memorial Day is a day for beer and cook-outs, Thanksgiving seems to be mostly untarnished.
However, I have been rethinking that in light of “Black Friday” and the surrounding nonsense. I’m writing this at 1:30 am. There are people who are getting up now to go shopping at sales starting at 2 am or such. Other people camp out on Thanksgiving Day itself to get into the Black Friday crowds.
While I might have a point that Thanksgiving itself remains mostly untarnished, it is overrun a bit, therefore, by Black Friday. I should hardly be surprised that merchandising and materialism have stomped on a meaningful holiday, but I hadn’t thought of it in those terms.
Why do we think there’s a need to do this to ourselves? Is a $5 crock pot really worth the stress and pressure of charging through those lines? Is it worth giving up a day with your family?
When I used to work in retail, one of my managers said that he wanted to write a book explaining in what ways retail was destroying the country’s moral values. I think that this is a perfect illustration. Consumers are willing to forgo time with their families in order to hit the special sale prices that end before sunrise because retailers encourage it.
Yes, I’m the person who sits back and watches Black Friday madness, and simply hopes that no one gets killed this year.
If I ever put together a formal list of reasons why American culture is going to fall soon, the very idea of Black Friday will be somewhere prominent on it. If any one day epitomizes what’s wrong with the United States, it’s today. That it interferes with Thanksgiving only makes it more onerous.
Tomorrow is the holiday Thanksgiving. It’s quite possibly my favorite holiday, because it’s less corrupted than most others. Even the secular version of Thanksgiving gives at least a nod toward the real purpose of the day, to take a break and remember, thankfully.
To be honest, though, what might be my favorite part of Thanksgiving observance is my church’s Wednesday night service. We meet to celebrate Communion, but for the Thanksgiving service we also open up a bit. People talk about the things for which we’re thankful. The statements vary in depth, but they’re all very real, and very meaningful.
Always, there are a few that really pull at your heart. This is a great service, and one that I wouldn’t want to miss for the world.
That’s tonight. I can’t think of any better way to stop and get my heart and mind in the right place for Thanksgiving Day.
In honor of the comments thread over here, I’d like to share this with Alfie from In2theFray:
