Monday, October 31, 2005

And so, it begins

Today is Halloween and construction has begun on the big nativity scene that goes up each year on the plaza at USX. It does not bother me in and of itself, it is what it portents because in short order the holiday decorations will go up in the stores. The lights and advertisements will line the streets. The billboards will proclaim the coming season. The carols will play in lobbies and elevators. There will be no escape.

As a non-Christian, I understand better than most Christians the importance of the religious freedoms guaranteed in the Constitution. The pilgrims came to the New World looking for religious freedoms. Their descendants, faithful Christians all, fought a revolution and enshrined in the Constitution the right of people to worship the way they chose. But the modern Christians have forgotten this. They know themselves to be the majority and believe that it conveys on them the moral duty to guide the nation the way they think it should be guided. They are, after all, the majority.

But the Constitution is not there to protect the rights of the majority. It is to protect the individuals from the tyranny of the majority. The First Amendment freedom of religion is there to allow people to believe and worship as they wish. Or to not believe and not worship if they choose.

Of course, as a non-believer (or "infidel"), I must tolerate other's expression of faith or else I become as hypocritical as they are.

Doesn't the Bible say something about not worshiping idols, and yet I see people standing in adoration of larger-than-life ceramic replicas, literally praying to them. People pray directly to Mary, Saints and angels for divine intervention, forgetting their own First Commandment.

And didn't Jesus say a thing or two about charity and helping ones fellow man? How much money has been dropped into this exaltation? This huge advertisement which will stand for three months. Surely the tens of thousands of dollars could have been put towards the betterment of society. It's built like a house. With the same money and a slight re-design it could actually be a house to protect the homeless that wander the streets of Pittsburgh from the coming harsh winter.

And every day I'll walk by. There will be no escaping the music blaring on expensive stereo speakers.

The Grinch complained about the noise generated by the Whos down in Whoville. He became bitter because of the incessant joyful noise and I can understand his pain all the more because I have come to believe that the Whos singing in front of their creche don't really understand what it is they're actually singing about. They talk about "the meaning of the season" but then never take the steps that the guy they're worshiping told them they should take. The carols are empty self-agrandizement driven by a mob mentality.

It's that hypocrisy that will grate on my nerves day after day for the next few months.

2 comments:

Arphaxad said...

I am a christian and I understand your complaints about hypacrits. You do have to remember though that most of what you are talking about is the commercial holiday and not what true christians are celebrating. The Holy Days (holidays) of Christmas is to celebrate the birth of the saviour Jesus Christ. More than likly he was born some other day or month but this is the month we have come to mark as the day of celebration. I also agree about the idol worshipping of major "christian" religions such as Roman Catholic or Presbaterians, but do not judge the object of the faith of all Christians based on hte worship habbits of some of the public christians that throw the name of Jesus around lightly. AS part of God's first commandmant is to worship him and follow his example, he never prayed before a dead idol. True Christians worship a living God who is in heavan and is waiting for us upon the completion of our life mission here. IF you want to know what it means to be a real christian goto www.wayofthemaster.com and check it out.

If you have any questions about me or my post here emial me directly at coville@gmail.com and I will be more than happy to respond.

Thank you for your time.
(sorry for the bad spelling, Short on time to use spell check)

Der Geis said...

Ah, yes. A REAL Christian. The Catholics say they are REAL Christians. The Mormons say they are the REAL Christians. The Amish say that they are the REAL Christians. The swarm of evangelicals say that they are REAL Christians. And pretty much all of them, either directly or implied, point out that the other denominations aren't REAL Christians.

It has been my experience that the vast majority of "The Faithful" think this way. (And, in "The Faithful" I include all theists.) All of it is founded on the basic premise that They are the Chosen Ones and everyone else will, literally, go to hell.

And as you YOUR faith not being about false idolatry, I can't help but notice the $99 "Basic Training Course" available at Way of the Master dot COM. Not very convincing, I'm afraid.