Yeah, a little excited last night, was I? Hell with prepositions and verbs and stuffs, just fling words with JOY.
The next 9 paragraphs are pretty rough, so close your eyes if you are a little wobbly with your faith right now. Or keep them open if you're needing someone to hate on. Whatevs.
So this reason for the season stuff. I live in a huge tourist area and have worked in several Christmas shops in the Grand Village. You guys have no idea. Tour buses come in from all over the U.S. and people spend thousands and even tens of thousands in those shops. It's right next to the Andy Williams Moon River Theater.
I like Christmas, for the most part. I wish pretty lights stayed on houses all year round, minus the big extravaganza stuff. I'm not particularly a Santa fan, and I was raised in a super conservative household that never accepted the Catholic version of Jesus' birth adopting a pagan holiday. I've been well aware of the historical evolution of Christmas since I was a very young child. Christmas, to me, is no more holy than any other day on this earth. I can show you that all days and places are holy, if you want to argue about it (I'm a big Amos fan). I often think Native Americans have got it more right in the earth is holy thing than many people who believe in the consumer-driven illusion of Christmas do. I like capitalism, but I'm against using religious holidays to drive the economic health of our country. Capitalism and consumerism are two different things, and people get them very mixed up. At any rate, I'm cool with celebrations being fuzzed out through the week and not demanding they happen ON THE DAY, and that one thing alone has pretty much saved my marriage through holidays over 20+ years since this is a second marriage with stepkids.
Since I've worked retail, I've seen the ugly, nasty side of 'nice' people. I've worked customer service and return lines in a nice store. I've checked people into nice hotels. I have seen more hostility from Christians during Christmas than I've ever seen from any other belief system and any other time of year. You work in a service industry long enough, that pretty much ruins a holiday. And then everyone has to liquor themselves up to get through it. *wow* That's sad, guys.
The dark underbelly is a mockery of it all, and I get daily feeds from alt-believers filled with cynical and extremely tasteless reminders of why people hate 'Jeebus'. While Christians go on about Muslim probs (I seem to have lost Kevin Sorbo on LinkedIn, can only assume something of mine was actually looked at, like maybe that Amos post I just linked up there- I openly accept people of all faiths and genders on my very public facebook and twitter and my blogs because PEOPLE are why Jesus came to this earth, guys, if you really wanna get technical about it), most of them have no idea of the human trafficking and ritualistic abuse going on all around them through the holiday season that has nothing to do with Islam and ISIS and all those other words. Americans using Christian masks in public are running a thriving underground that caters to pagan worship that is still alive and well. People who don't understand why the USA is called "The Great Satan" have no clue how dark this country really is. As long as we all play the game on the surface and look good for the cameras and keep the economy booming around Santa and nativity scenes, it's all good.
Here's where I remind us all that sometimes Christmas sucks and that we need to keep in mind other people might be having really bad days and we don't have to get all mad about everything not going perfectly perfect for us, like traffic and shopping and accidentally dropping spaghetti sauce jars in Walmart.
Also, I still hold Kevin Sorbo in high esteem. My fave thing he's ever done is the Andromeda series and I own everything Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. (Wanna just insert here that a really solid hardcore Christian wouldn't have played roles like that because false gods stuffs... I caught heck from my dad for even just watching all the Stargate stuff.) (Yeah, I'm used to this.) (Did I mention super conservative Mennonite childhood? Yes?) Anyway, I'm GLAD Kevin and other conservative actors like Gary Graham and Adam Baldwin are standing up to Hollywood and drawing that line because it takes really strong people to do that. Hollywood is a bully, and indie filmmakers are trying to break through that, as well, perhaps not necessarily over belief systems, but because of the stranglehold over the filming industry. But that doesn't mean I'm going to unfollow people who follow me just because they do what they want on their own timelines, feeds, and blogs.
Anyway, happy holidays and all that stuff. It's ok if I promote a fandom with a post that goes viral in a strict Muslim country because of women's rights, but it's not ok if I question religion in my own country. I live in the bible belt and we are the hotspot right now for bulk cell phone purchasing and possible dam blowing upping (do I even need to bring up Ferguson?) and we're well known for meth, people disappearing into sex slavery, and puppy mills. I'm in the thick of it. I personally know people who've been raped to death, and my first marriage went pretty off the grid. If Kevin Sorbo unconnected from me on purpose because I said something he found distasteful, I just wanna be remindful that THAT'S not how you win the war. If it was an accident, well, this was a great opportunity to talk about some big stuff. Some people believe in angels and synchronicity.
While you guys are spending $8000 on giant nativity sets, please remember there are children living in hospitals whose parents are spiraling into massive debt. Go find them. You know, because reason for the season.
Mean Pinky is what Bluejacky used to be. I first talked to Gary Graham when I was Bluejacky. Big respect.
Ok, you can open your eyes now.
I'm not sure I can turn this into anything sweet and fun now because that was pretty heavy stuff, but I'm actually in a fabulous mood because my kiddo will be walking in my door in a few hours, and Pinky got her Brain back. This is the best Christmas I've had in so many years.
I keep saying this- fandoms are our only hope for this world. We care about and love each other across all borders and boundaries.
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