View Full Version : A story I thought some of you might like
deepblack 18x
12-21-2009, 20:33
I was in the car two days ago with my dad and there was a pastor speaking on the radio about his Christmas party at a local Hilton Hotel. He had rented out the hall at the hotel to specifically have a Christmas party, when he arrived at the venue they had a bunch of Happy Holidays banners hanging. The pastor being pissed off that his Christmas Party was now a Happy Holidays party tracked down the hotel manager. The hotel manager explained to him that their hotel was a "politically correct" establishment. This only made the pastor even more upset, he tells the manger " I am not running for office!! Do I look like a politician? I am not trying to be politically correct, I simply wanted to have a Christmas party!" Since the pastor had already paid for the party and people had already started arriving to the no long Christmas Party now Holidays Party, he made the hotel manager explain to his guest why he was now having a Holidays Party for a Christian church.
Sounds like the pastor missed an opportunity to recruit more choir members by having those assembled sing a number of Christianity-themed Christmas carols.
Politically correct? Ha! So if a Rabbi came to hold a Hanukkah party it would be also called a Happy Holiday party? Please. This isn't being politically correct, it's being a moron.
But then again that's just my thoughts.
...he made the hotel manager explain to his guest why he was now having a Holidays Party for a Christian church.:confused:
Ever look up the etymology of the word holiday(s)? Apparently not - and neither has the pastor who took his self-proclaimed anti-PC ranting onto the public airwaves by engaging in his seemingly pro-Chrisian PC diatribe. If the pastor was so concerned about what his signage said, why didn't he coordinate it prior to the event like most people would do? Or maybe he just wanted to set the stage for an opportunity to get on his theological high horse for the free publicity to attract parishoners for his church's sagging numbers? Wait...what an un-Christain thing to do...and we know the Falwell's et al of this world would never lead their parishoners on in such an underhanded way. :rolleyes:
Give me an effin' break...and thank gawd for the First Amendment!
Richard's jaded $.02 :munchin
Surgicalcric
12-22-2009, 19:09
...Or maybe he just wanted to set the stage for an opportunity to get on his theological high horse for the free publicity to attract parishoners for his church's sagging numbers? Wait...what an un-Christain thing to do...and we know the Falwell's et al of this world would never lead their parishoners on in such an underhanded way...
Not every Christian has an ulterior motives. However it appears he didnt cover the bases as they should have been.
Crip
If he was organizing the party, he should have checked to see what decorations were going to be hung prior to arrival. If you need something done right...
armymom1228
12-22-2009, 19:58
A Politically Correct Christmas Poem
Twas the night before Christmas and Santa's a wreck...
How to live in a world that's politically correct?
His workers no longer would answer to "Elves",
"Vertically Challenged" they were calling themselves.
And labor conditions at the North Pole,
were alleged by the union, to stifle the soul.
Four reindeer had vanished without much propriety,
released to the wilds, by the Humane Society.
And equal employment had made it quite clear,
that Santa had better not use just reindeer.
So Dancer and Donner, Comet and Cupid,
were replaced with 4 pigs, and you know that looked stupid!
The runners had been removed from his beautiful sleigh,
because the ruts were deemed dangerous by the EPA,
And millions of people were calling the Cops,
when they heard sled noises upon their roof tops.
Second-hand smoke from his pipe, had his workers quite frightened,
and his fur trimmed red suit was called "unenlightened".
To show you the strangeness of today's ebbs and flows,
Rudolf was suing over unauthorized use of his nose.
He went to Geraldo, in front of the Nation,
demanding millions in over-due workers compensation.
So...half of the reindeer were gone, and his wife
who suddenly said she'd had enough of this life,
joined a self help group, packed and left in a whiz,
demanding from now on that her title was Ms.
And as for gifts...why, he'd never had the notion
that making a choice could cause such commotion.
Nothing of leather, nothing of fur...
Which meant nothing for him or nothing for her.
Nothing to aim, Nothing to shoot,
Nothing that clamored or made lots of noise.
Nothing for just girls and nothing for just boys.
Nothing that claimed to be gender specific,
Nothing that's warlike or non-pacifistic.
No candy or sweets...they were bad for the tooth.
Nothing that seemed to embellish upon the truth.
And fairy tales...while not yet forbidden,
were like Ken and Barbie, better off hidden,
for they raised the hackles of those psychological,
who claimed the only good gift was one ecological.
No baseball, no football...someone might get hurt,
besides - playing sports exposed kids to dirt.
Dolls were said to be sexist and should be passe.
and Nintendo would rot your entire brain away.
So Santa just stood there, disheveled and perplexed,
he just couldn't figure out what to do next?
He tried to be merry he tried to be gay,
but you must have to admit he was having a very bad day.
His sack was quite empty, it was flat on the ground,
nothing fully acceptable was anywhere to be found.
Something special was needed, a gift that he might,
give to us all, without angering the left or the right.
A gift that would satisfy - with no indecision,
each group of people in every religion.
Every race, every hue,
everyone, everywhere...even you!
So here is that gift, it's price beyond worth...
"MAY YOU AND YOUR LOVED ONES, ENJOY PEACE ON EARTH"
greenberetTFS
12-24-2009, 00:02
Ever look up the etymology of the word holiday(s)? Apparently not - and neither has the pastor who took his self-proclaimed anti-PC ranting onto the public airwaves by engaging in his seemingly pro-Chrisian PC diatribe. If the pastor was so concerned about what his signage said, why didn't he coordinate it prior to the event like most people would do? Or maybe he just wanted to set the stage for an opportunity to get on his theological high horse for the free publicity to attract parishoners for his church's sagging numbers? Wait...what an un-Christain thing to do...and we know the Falwell's et al of this world would never lead their parishoners on in such an underhanded way.
Give me an effin' break...and thank gawd for the First Amendment!
Richard's jaded $.02
Richard,you've got to quit playing the devils advocate.....:( I believe the pastor was right although he should have checked back to make sure it was as he expected.....:o Christians get the blunt of jokes because they say Merry Christmas, but to us that's what it is,Christ's appointed birthday and we like to make that point clear.......:) I hope you drown in your Figgy pudding(not F**king pudding),so how's that for a Christian response.........;)
Big Teddy
Christians get the blunt of jokes because they say Merry Christmas, but to us that's what it is,Christ's appointed birthday and we like to make that point clear...
Teddy et al,
1. ETYMOLOGY: Middle English holidai, holy day, from Old English hlig dæg : hlig, holy + dæg, day.
2. As for Christmas - the biblical narrative of Jesus' birth gives no date for the event - though it more likely occurred in spring than in winter because - as Saint Luke claims - shepherds were "abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night" — yet historically, shepherds guarded their flocks day and night only at lambing time in the spring - in winter, the animals were kept unwatched in corrals.
For nearly two centuries after Christ's birth, no one knew - and few people cared - exactly when he was born as birthdays were unimportant - death days counted. Besides, Christ was thought to be divine and his natural birth was deliberately played down - the Church even announced at one point that it was sinful to contemplate observing Christ's birthday as though He were a King Pharoah.
The idea of celebrating the Nativity on December 25 was first suggested early in the fourth century CE, a clever move on the part of Church fathers who wished to eclipse the December 25 festivities of a rival pagan religion - Mithraism - which threatened the existence of Christianity at that time.
On December 25 (the date of the winter solstice) pagan Romans - still in the majority - celebrated Natalis Solis Invincti - 'Birthday of the Invincible Sun God' Mithras - a cult which originated in Persia and had rooted itself in the Roman world in the first century BCE. By the early 300s CE the rising religion of Christianity was posing a formidable challenge to the sun worshipers - especially after the Edict of Milan issued by the Roman emperor Constantine I in 313 CE allowed Christians to practice their faith in the Roman Empire.
Church fathers debated strategies for supplanting the Mithras cult with their own religion and - since it was well known that Roman patricians and plebians alike enjoyed festivals of a protracted nature - Christians recognized that they needed an alternative to the December celebration of Natalis Solis Invincti - a celebration in which all participants - Mithraists, Christians, and those in between - could take part. The Church then chose to officially recognized Christ's birth - offering a head-on competition to the sun worshipers' popular feast - the date of December 25 - the observance would be characteristically prayerful - a Mass - Christs' Mass. As one theologian wrote around 320 CE, We hold this day holy, not like the pagans because of the birth of the sun, but because of him who made it.
Modern social scientists write of the psychological power of group celebrations - the unification of ranks, the solidification of collective identity, the reinforcement of common objectives - but the principle had long been intuitively obvious and Christianity took permanent hold in the Western world in 337 CE when Constantine I was baptized on his deathbed, uniting for the first time the Crown and the Church.
3. Historically, the Christmas tree was a symbol of rebirth, especially the rebirth of light as a solar symbol dating back at least to the Roman festival of Saturnalia when evergreen decorations celebrated the death of the old year and birth of the new year - but Teutonic rites in which firs were hung with lights and surrounded with sacrificial offerings are a more direct antescedent of today's symbolic tree which Victorians took from Germany and hung with orbs, stars, and crescents to represent cosmic symbols - and in the modern Christian era, the lights and candles came to represent souls.
However, y'all may celebrate the holiday season in whichever manner you choose - after all, it's permitted by the First Amendment to the US Constitution.
FWIW - the pics are of our home as we decorate it to celebrate this holiday season as a family and we'll be at HPUMC tonight with the holly and lily crowd for the midnight candlelight service and communion.
Wishing all here a happy holiday season and healthy new year wherever you may be and however you may worship.
Richard's $.02 :munchin
Panati, Charles. Sacred Origins of Profound Things. New York: Penguin Books, 1996. ISBN 0-14-019533-5 (pp. 215-217).
Varasdi, J. Allen. Myth Information. New York: Ballantine Books, 1989. ISBN 0-345-35985-2 (pp. 59-61).
Tresidder, Jack, ed. The Complete Dictionary of Symbols. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2005. ISBN 0-8118-4767-5 (pp. 102-106).
For as long as I can remember, I've seen cards or received well wishes along the lines of "Happy Holidays" or "Season's Greeting"...It didn't offend me then, it doesn't offend me now...the only reason I can see for the current outrage is the drumbeat from some about the assault on Christmas...
I have to agree with Richard...a whole buncha folks need to take a chill pill, spike their egg nog with a little more booze and relax some...
Brother Richard, that looks like a city boy fireplace. Thems ain't real logs are they?
Ceramic logs in a natural gas fireplace - turn it on - turn it off - no smoke - no muss - no fuss - cheap - love it - the tough life of an 18ex. :D
Richard's $.02 :munchin
deepblack 18x
12-24-2009, 14:43
I think some are missing the point that I took away from it. He is wondering when it became so offensive to people to say Merry Christmas, many people celebrate Christmas even those that are not Christian. Many don't even realize that Christmas is the celebration of the birth of the lord and savior Jesus Christ.
With that Merry Christmas to all the members of the board.