Merry Christmas!

I was pleased to see that my column on Christmas was published in The Sower. I received a lot of positive comments from fellow students about this article.

Recently, the cultural diversity policy for the Lincoln Children’s Zoo prevented three of its sponsors from handing out coupons with a Bible verse printed on the back at an annual fundraiser. Therefore, the three sponsors, Evangelical Free Church, daVinci’s, and Champions Fun Center, withdrew their Noah’s Ark display from the event this year. Apparently, it’s okay to have a display of Noah’s Ark, but quoting the actual Bible story is somehow harmful to children. There is something remarkably absurd about a diversity policy that excludes religious expression. By definition, diversity should be inclusive, with all religions receiving equal footing. Unfortunately, many modern institutions seem to define diversity by subtraction rather than addition.

At no other time in the year does this become more clear than during the Christmas season. Even before Thanksgiving ended, the first shot had already been fired in the 2008 War on Christmas. In an article for the British newspaper The Observer, Rowan Walker reports that Oxford, England has banned the word “Christmas” from their Christmas Festival in an attempt to be more inclusive. Oxford now dubs the event the “Winter Light Festival.”

What is going on here? Who is offended by using the word “Christmas”? Every year, in the days leading up to everyone’s favorite holiday, we hear stories of businesses and public facilities replacing the “Christ” in Christmas with a big “X,” or requiring employees to greet everyone with a strictly secular “Happy Holidays.” It’s as if we are living in the dream world of Ebenezer Scrooge. “Merry Christmas? Bah, humbug!”

The fact is, no one should be offended by Christmas. It is ingrained in American culture: In “A Charlie Brown Christmas”, the single most popular Christmas special ever created, Linus quotes the Gospel of Luke 2:8-14, retelling the whole Nativity story outright!

So, why is there such apprehension to call Christmas what it is, Christmas! The problem is we live in a sinful world which cannot stand being reminded of the good news of Christ’s coming. John 3:20 “Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed” (NIV). So don’t be surprised to hear stories about “Christmas” celebrations being restricted in the name of diversity. It’s just a thin disguise for the world’s hatred of the Gospel message.

By the way, if you’re planning to do any “Christmas” shopping this year, why not spend your dollars at a business which recognizes that you are actually buying presents to celebrate Christmas, not Winter Solstice or some other secularly correct holiday.

(Find Rowan Walker’s article on Oxford’s Christmas Festival at http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/nov/02/christmas-political-correctness-oxford-christian.)

Acoustic Guitar Hero

Thanks to my parents for getting me Guitar Hero: Aerosmith!
I had a blast challenging my siblings to guitar battles and even Mom got on her rock.
Here's a hilarious video my brother shared with me which makes fun of Guitar Hero. It's a clip from Southpark, a show I do NOT recommend, but there's nothing inappropriate about this particular clip.

Same-sex Marriage Debate

I recently got into a debate with another blogger about same-sex marriage. She argued that no one is harmed by a same-sex relationship, ergo we should legalize same-sex marriage. Here is my response:

People who have been affected by the gay movement other than same-sex couples include parents whose children attend public schools, especially in states like Massachusetts. In the words of the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals: "Given that Massachusetts has recognized gay marriage under its state constitution, it is entirely rational for its schools to educate their students regarding that recognition." Ergo, parents who do not believe in gay marriage are being prevented from overseeing or directing the sexual education of their children. (Bruce Hausknecht, "Does Same-sex Marriage Affect My Marriage?")

Second, small business owners are being forced to compromise their deeply held religious convictions. "Jon and Elaine Huguenin are a Christian couple who run a small photography studio in Albuquerque, NM. They declined a request to photograph a same-sex commitment ceremony, based on their religious beliefs about the nature of marriage, and were fined $6,600...In Colorado, a new law known as SB 200 goes a step further and specifies jail time as an additional punishment for religiously minded business owners taking a similar conscience-based position." (ibid)

3. Legalizing gay marriage would weaken the institution of marriage. Lynn D. Wardle wrote this in the Journal of Public Law:
"Including same-sex couples within the institution of marriage will transform the institution of marriage to the detriment of all...In terms of expectations of marital loyalty, stability, relational monogamy, actual infidelity, and promiscuity, the introduction of gay and lesbian relationships into the institution on marriage entails a serious risk of lowering the standards, understanding, expectations and behaviors of marriage for all members of society."

For example, there is a correlation between legalizing same-sex marriage, and attitudes towards marriage. "Using a poll of data reporting interviews with 50,000 in thirty-five nations, [David] Blankenhorn created four categories of countries according to their laws regarding attitudes towards marriage...In nations without gay marriage, people are twice as likely to say married people are happier than in nations with gay marriage, and nearly twice as likely to say that people with children ought to marry...The World Values Survey produced similar results. These two data pools show a stair-step correlations: support for marriage is weakest in nations that have legalized same-sex marriage, stronger in nations that have legalized marriage-equivalent civil unions or partnerships, stronger again in nations that have only a few jurisdictions where same-sex unions are legalized, and strongest by far in nations that do not recognize either same-sex marriage or civil unions." (Lynn D. Wardle, "The Attack on Marriage as the Union of a Man and a Woman")

Random thought

Fear of hell does not equal fear of God.

This thought just popped into my head. Agree? Disagree? I'll muse on this some more at a later time.

Improv Show was Amazing!

So, the Improv show is done. 

Wow.

I am exhausted! For party quirks, I had to play a flesh-eating bacteria. In press conference, we got to interview King Solomon and William Wallace. Most awkward of all, in pan left-pan right, I was on a prom date, except she wore the tux and I wore the dress. Without a doubt, everybody was hilarious. 

Improv Show

I'll be performing in my first Improv show today! I'll post later tonight and write about how well it went. 

Aslo, I auditioned for next semester's play and got an okay role: I'm a bolt bender, in charge of making lighting. The play is called Still-life with Iris, and it's a modern fantasy story sort of like Alice in Wonderland.