elfkin, perhaps you are not familiar with the holiday tradition of celebrating with your families and friends - and celebrating your families and friends. Of celebrating mid-winter. Houses filled with Christmas lights. The turning of a New Year. Of celebrating good food and good times. Of writing checks to charity and putting toys in the Toys for Tots bin. Singing Jingle Bells offkey.
I’ve been to many a holiday party with neither God nor Gifts.
Take the religion out of Christmas and you still have lots to celebrate. If all that is left for you of Christmas without religion is consumerism, I wish you much better and more fulfulling Christmases in the future, because there is so much more to this season you are missing.
Hey Dangerosa! X-mas marks the middle of winter?
Than I should expect it to be almost over by the time I get to travel to your fine burg(s) Jan 13-14, right?
Think I need to pack a swim suit?
Funniest thing, I’m having a heck of a time convincing my witnesses that they need to accompany me on this all-expense paid diversion. Wonder why? 
Freyr
"Dubya isn’t showing respect for people who practice religious beliefs that are significantly different from his. "
So how come you’re on his case for practicing religious beliefs that are different from yours?
I happen to be agnostic (read: still pondering), and I never cease to be amazed by the fuss non-Christians raise when Christians practice their beliefs. If I read this correctly, President Bush sent a mass e-mail? Geez, I wonder how much that cost? One person to write it (maybe 15-30 minutes), append the Presidents sig, access whatever database, hit send…must have cost a fortune!!!
Get a clue, people…it’s a mass-mailing!!! What’s next, a march to protest the lighting of the Christmas tree, then a protest against him sending out cards on Valentines Day, and a huge upheaval over the Easter Egg hunt for the kiddies???
Like it or not, President Bush happens to represent well over 250 million people…some of whom have beliefs different from yours. I would like him, as well as other leaders, do more to include other faiths and beliefs in public representations such as this, though. But gee whiz…you happened to get included in a mass-mailing? What a disaster for this country!!!
Or to get back to what I stated before: you want him to respect YOUR beliefs? Fine, then you can respect HIS beliefs, too.
Jesus Christ! And people wonder why we want “In God We Trust” off the goddamned money! Every time the IGWT debate comes up, everybody’s always saying, “It’s such a little thing, why do you even care?”
Well, people, this is why we care. Because people think bringing up the fact that the word “God” is on the money is somehow valid or clever or provocative or–fuck, I don’t know what they’re thinking–but rarely does a separation of church and state debate go by without somebody trying to score points with it.
(I have nothing to say on the subject of thet President’s Christmas cards, by the way. I’m ambivalent.)
Solstice, Dins - you know, days start getting longer but it gets colder than hell. And since Winter in Minnesota has been known to start in October and go through March, its about the middle.
e-mail me if you want to get together when you are here. Can’t promise anything - Mom of two with daycare pickup duties. But maybe.
Cool your jets, Podkayne.
Someone argued that we shouldn’t use taxpayer money to send greeting cards which evoke “God” and could therefore offend atheists. All taxpayer money evokes “God.” I was simply pointing out an obvious irony.
And it would be ironic no matter what side of the separation of church v. state or “IGWT” debate I was on.
I don’t find it ironic. I find it to be another symptom of the same malaise.