Oy. Why do I read comment threads? On that Christmas special article, there were quite a few comments that were various versions of "Why don't you let your kids celebrate Christmas? All other American kids celebrate it! Just don't celebrate the religious parts." Frequently justified with, "I'm an atheist, and I celebrate Christmas."

Stuff like this is why I shouldn't read comment threads. Makes my head hurt. Also, why I frequently hate December. (In real life this year, I've only had to explain to two people why I don't celebrate Christmas. Both of them were taking that same reasoning -- Christmas is an "American" holiday now, separate from the religious one, and so there's no reason why Jews shouldn't celebrate it. With one insisting that American Jews should celebrate it, since "all" other Americans do.)

Well buttercream frosting base is in the fridge and cooling down while butter comes to room temp. Smoked turkey is defrosting. I've got the iTunes set to shuffle and it's stringing together some interesting choices. Right now I'm at Take That's "Back to Good."

Yes, I have a weird thing for Brit boy bands.

I should go wrap presents but for the moment I think I'll sit here and piddle around the 'net.

Heh. Love the phrase "Chanukah bush."

That's what my FiL calls it, usually with a leer, bless his naughty little heart.

That's the thing a lot of people don't seem to get about Christmas. You can have a religious holiday or you can have a universal holiday. But you can't have both.

Both of them were taking that same reasoning -- Christmas is an "American" holiday now, separate from the religious one, and so there's no reason why Jews shouldn't celebrate it. With one insisting that American Jews should celebrate it, since "all" other Americans do.

Buzzah? Since when? And WTeffingF?

Seriously, people boggle.

OK, in his (slight) defense, the one of the people making that claim wasn't American. He's from Japan, had celebrated Christmas all his life, and was just told a few years ago that it was a Christian holiday. He'd never heard that before. I asked him why non-Christian Japanese people celebrate it, and he said, "Because Americans do."

The other person, though, was American born and raised.

Our biggest client is headquartered in Houston. At the beginning of each day, someone goes on the PA to lead the company in prayer. One of my bosses (who is Jewish) talked to them about this - my boss told then he had no problem with an ecumenical prayer, but since their prayers explicitly mentioned Jesus they were non-inclusive to those who weren't Christian. The response that he got was to the effect that "America is 98% Christian, so if the prayer is not inclusive to those 2% who aren't, that's just too bad."

There was some state legislature (I forget which state) that used the exact same argument for their Jesus-prayers.

That's the thing a lot of people don't seem to get about Christmas. You can have a religious holiday or you can have a universal holiday. But you can't have both.

Maybe you can. Thanksgiving is country-wide but it was always a big deal at church. And I don't think Jehova's Witnessesses celebrate it at all what with its pagan origins.

My personal favorite is the people who freak out about Christmas being excluded from advertising by the pervasiveness of "Happy Holidays." Really? I thought the commercialization of Christmas was a bad thing.

The Japanese co-worker gets a bye, then- the other one though... that's just such a weird mindset.

Oh, and in trolling my news sites, found this story that actually made me feel good about people in general:

Shuttered bakery reopens, rehires workers

The Japanese kid totally gets a pass. The other guy? I suspect he's your ignorant-ass officemate? If not, you should set those two kids up, Hil.

OK, how about the "Ferengi = space Jews" connection?

I don't remember Ferengi in A Charlie Brown Christmas.

Or was that Rudolph? (Actually, Hermy seems like a Ferengi in really good human makeup...)

I heard the author on (I think) Talk of the Nation yesterday, and I found it really interesting that A Charlie Brown Christmas was almost universally approved for Jewish kids, given that it's the most undistilled, straight-from-the-New-Testament Jesus-y theme of all the kids' Christmas shows.

I think that that's what makes it approved, really. None of the stuff about "all the children" waiting for Santa, or anything like that. Christmas as a Christian holiday sits much more comfortably than Christmas as a secular holiday.

Okay, that makes sense, now that I think about it -- like, the specials WITHOUT Jesus try to make it seem like Christmas is totally secular and therefore EVERYONE should celebrate it. And then Jewish people say, "Buh?"

Why does Emmett need a tux?

He doesn't need one, but he loves to dress up. He loved the tux he got for our wedding, wore it to pieces, and has recently been falling in love with the entire James Bond mythos. He longs for the brooding and elegance and adventure and attitude, and so he wants a tux. And, based on past Emmett experience, I have no doubt that once he gets it he will find, or make, a reason to wear it.

Emmett is made of 100% awesome. I mean it.

I was and still am surprised when I see anti-Catholic sentiments.

I was raised Catholic, in a very Catholic city, and it wasn't until I joined the FAC (a non-denominational evangelical Protestant church) that I ever heard anyone suggest that Catholics aren't Christians.

(Of course, they also pretty much believed that any other people who claimed to be Christians -- but weren't in the FAC -- probably weren't *actually* Christians.

No, seriously.

And yet it took me 4 years to leave them, despite the fact that when a group claims to be the ONLY "true believers," that's a strong-ass sign of being a cult.

Good times.)