Merry Freaking Christmas

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Every year about this time I begin receiving e-mails from "religious" people who are angry about how we greet each other during the holiday season. Some people are offended that the season is referred to as Christmas because invoking Christ's name is seemingly offensive to a portion of the population. Still other e-mails scream about the vast conspiracy to remove Christ from Christmas - and there is pure hatred in the e-mails that beg me to make sure that Christ has a place.

Let me tell you, Jesus Christ does have a place in my holiday celebrations.

Yet, if He doesn't have one in yours, I won't be offended. People believe in all sorts of things to make it through the day. Years ago, people paid homage to the sun, a big rock, and the clouds that appeared in the sky. Today, there are more religions popping up than you can shake a stick at. I don't care if Tom Cruise is a scientologist. I could give two shakes that others follow Joe Smith and the Mormon religion. I don't know what faith my butcher is - and I know one elementary school principal who wanted to brain me when I suggested that religion had a place in school. He thoroughly explained to me the separation between church and state, and thoughtfully pointed out that as an educator that he couldn't possible teach on every religion.

I have faith - it's a strong faith, and it's mine alone. I worked with a wise man back about twenty years ago, and he explained that he studied all of the religions and decided what made the most sense for him. That is an extremely ambitious way to handle it. In the end, he confessed that he still felt like he could be wrong. He explained it to me by saying that faith is sort of like looking into a fire - you don't see exactly what the guy next to you is seeing, and it's hard to describe what you're seeing to anyone else.

My buddy also explained that he has a most horrible dream in which he dies and goes to heaven and finds out that he's standing in front of the wrong god - "That would suck, wouldn't it?" my buddy asked.

I suppose so - so - just to be on the safe side - I keep my beliefs mostly to myself - and I keep all options open by not bitching about what anyone else believes - that's not really my place, is it? Merry Christmas - please don't hate me for saying that.

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