Posts tagged holidays
Trust in Santa Claus: Naked Curmudgen by Dan Culberson
Dec 2nd
Here’s what gets me.
Trust in God is no more realistic and rewarding than trust in Santa Claus.
After all, the concept of God and believing in God’s existence is merely childhood fantasy grown up, because God is nothing more than Santa Claus for adults.
Think about it. Occasionally, some very old people will be singled out on television, and many times one of them is likely to say, “I attribute my long life to clean living, good health and trust in God.” If they are born-again Christians, they might say “trust in Jesus” instead, but think how substituting “Santa Claus” for either one makes absolutely no difference to the validity that the trust had anything to do with the person’s longevity and absolutely nothing to the validity of the existence of any of those named individuals.
Look at the similarities: Santa Claus, Mrs. Claus and all of Santa’s elves live up at the North Pole, and their only reason for being is to reward good little boys and girls one night a year by giving them presents. And when does Santa do this? On Christ’s birthday!
God, Jesus, the angels and every good person who has ever been rewarded with eternal life lives up in Heaven just waiting for new souls to come on up and live forever. And when does this happen? On each “saved” person’s death!
Depending on the religion or denomination, people are rewarded with an all-expenses-paid, free trip to Heaven for their good deeds on earth, for “accepting Jesus Christ as their savior” or merely for believing that God exists.
Santa Claus keeps a list, checks it twice and knows who has been naughty or nice in the past year, which he uses to reward those who have been “good” with presents and to punish those who have been “bad” with either no presents or a lump of coal in some cultures. And what do we associate coal with? Hot burning fire!
Have you ever known anyone who actually did receive only a lump of coal for Christmas, or is that just an empty threat that parents use to try to keep their children in line?
Santa Claus has lots of impersonators during the Christmas season standing on corners ringing their bells and collecting money and sitting in malls in order to let little children sit on their laps and tell them what they want for Christmas.
God has lots of churches throughout the year on practically every corner collecting money every Sunday or whenever a service is held and plenty of representations of either Jesus nailed to a cross or the Virgin Mary, Christ’s mother, God’s concubine, to which people can pray and tell them what special favor they would like.
This is where the Santa Claus myth is lacking. Astute creators and perpetuators of the myth should have thought to have given Santa a son so that Santa Jr. and Mrs. Claus could stand on corners and sit in malls to relieve some of the burden during the holidays, which, of course, comes from “holy days.”
Santa Claus uses the parents of the children to make them be good for their rewards, punish them as need be throughout the year, make empty promises about what they might get on Christmas morning and then make the actual purchases, hide them in closets, wrap them neatly and finally place them underneath the tree for the excited and eager children to find on Christmas morning.
God uses priests, preachers and other self-anointed representatives to “guide” the people, relay God’s words and intentions to them throughout the year, convey special requests if need be back up to God, make empty promises about what they might expect upon their deaths and then finally perform the memorial services for those people when they do die.
Trust in Santa Claus is expedient for parents to encourage their young children, because the promise of presents for good behavior and threats of no presents or that lump of coal for bad behavior is another tool in the parents’ bag of parenting tricks.
However, when children reach the age of about six, they should be clever enough to figure out on their own how all the contradictions and illogical details in the Santa Claus myth enable them to conclude that there is no Santa Claus and their parents have been misleading them all those years, even though their parents will claim that it was “for their own good.”
I rest my case.
Amen.
St. Johns County news
Nov 3rd
St. Johns County Public Libraries are offering patrons the opportunity to resolve overdue fines and help those in need this holiday season through the “Food for Fines” program. Library staff will accept non-perishable food items in lieu of overdue library fines through January 5, 2013. All donations will be delivered to the St. Johns County Food Closet and will be distributed locally to help meet increased need for meals during the holiday season. Up to $1 in overdue fines will be resolved for each sealed, non-expired, non-perishable food item donated. The donation waivers are for library fines only and cannot be applied to fees for printing, lost items, or for credit against future fines. Interested parties who do not owe fines are also encouraged to participate by dropping off canned foods at any library branch or bookmobile stop. Together, all residents can help top last year’s collection of more than 18,000 donations. For more information, visit www.sjcpls.org or call 904.827.6925.
St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners Offers Workshop on County Government Ethics, Function, and Transparency
The St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) invites the community to a special educational workshop at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, November 20 in the County Administration Auditorium, 500 San Sebastian View. The workshop is designed to educate interested persons about some of the most common laws that affect elected officials and volunteers who serve on local government advisory committees and boards, and citizens who wish to take an active role in County government. Virginia Delegal, General Counsel for the Florida Association of Counties, will make a presentation covering County Government Form and Function. Additionally, attorneys from the Office of the St. Johns County Attorney will review the Code of Ethics for Public Officers and Employees, laws related to Quasi-Judicial Proceedings, Government in the Sunshine, and Public Records. To learn more about this educational session or regularly scheduled BOCC public meetings, please visit www.clk.co.st-johns.fl.us/minrec/agendas/curr_agenda.html.
St. Johns County and City of St. Augustine Offer Post-Thanksgiving Cooking Oil Recycling Sites
St. Johns County, FL. – Following the great success of last year’s program, St. Johns County and the City of St. Augustine have joined together again to collect used cooking oil and grease after the Thanksgiving holiday. The event will be held from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Monday, November 26 at two recycling drop points, 25 W. Castillo Drive (Francis Event Field) and 840 West 16th Street on Anastasia Island.
The program allows residents to properly dispose of used cooking oil to be recycled into usable products such as biodiesel fuel. When cooking oil is disposed of improperly, it can clog sewer pipes and create public health hazards by causing raw sewage to back into homes, businesses, and the environment. Participants are asked to allow used cooking grease to cool prior to delivering it in a safe container that will not melt or shatter. Those who donate will receive free funnels for future recycling efforts. For more information or to learn where to donate cooking oil throughout the year please contact Glabra Skipp, City of St. Augustine, at 904.209.4284 or Stacy Kowlsen, St. Johns County, at 904.209.2662.
Vilano Beach Town Center Invites Residents to Get Creative and Celebrate the Holidays with “The Dressing of the Palms”
Vilano Beach Main Street and the North Shores Improvement Association invite residents to participate in “The Dressing of the Palms,” an inaugural celebration of the holidays and coastal living. For a $25 entry fee, residents can adopt and decorate palms through November to promote and showcase their schools, businesses, and holiday cheer. Judging will take place at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, November 10 at the Vilano Beach Town Center. First place will receive $300, second place $150, and third $75. Palms will remain decorated through January 31. Don’t miss out on your opportunity to make the Vilano Beach Town Center a holiday destination. To reserve a palm and learn more about design rules, visit www.vilanobeachfl.com or contact Linda Arnold at lindabarnold@mac.com or 904.910.8386.
Annual Adoption Day Celebration Honoring St. Johns County Foster and Adoptive Families
The St. Johns County Family Integrity Program invites the community to the 10th Annual Adoption Day Celebration from 6 – 8 p.m. on Friday, November 2 at the Solomon Calhoun Center, 1300 Duval Street. Held in conjunction with National Adoption Month in November, the celebration will honor the foster and adoptive parents and families who currently serve the children of St. Johns County. Activities will include free food, a bounce house, games, and arts and crafts. Despite the efforts of these wonderful caregivers, an ongoing need continues to exist for additional foster and adoptive homes to care for children in our community who cannot safely remain with their families. Information will be available at the event for anyone interested in becoming a foster or adoptive parent. For more information, please visit sjcfl.us/fip or adoptflorida.com, or call Kim Kelly with the St. Johns County Family Integrity Program at 904.209.6107.
Source: St. John’s County
Holiday Season and Our News
Dec 4th
A 15 year old hacks into the pentagon, Boulder allows some 62 businesses to sell medical marijuana, president Obama plans to cut carbon emissions in the years to come, Switzerland tries to fight terrorism, H1N1 Swine flu vaccines run dry, more banks close, the rich get richer but it is the holiday season so lets all hope good ole Saint Nick makes it through another year in these tough times.