Hours before the Christmas Eve Mass began, Pope Benedict lit a candle in his studio window overlooking St. Peter's Square in a traditional sign of peace. Many wondered if it was another papal Christmas Eve exercise in futility.
CBS News-Dec. 25, 2011
In the Christmas Eve Mass homily, Pope Benedict lamented that Christmas has become an increasingly commercial celebration that obscures the simplicity of the message of Christ's birth.
"Let us ask the Lord to help us see through the superficial glitter of this season, and to discover behind it the child in the stable in Bethlehem, so as to find true joy and true light," he said. (WJK's note: The Pope failed to be explicit in defining “true joy and true light.”)
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And on it goes, day after day, with Christmas Day itself being no exception:
Christmas Attacks in Nigeria by Sect Kill 39
By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press
Dec. 25, 2011 
Terror attacks across Nigeria by a radical Muslim sect killed at least 39 people Christmas Day, with the majority dying on the steps of a Catholic church after celebrating Christmas Mass as blood pooled in dust from a massive explosion. Authorities acknowledged they could not bring enough emergency medical personnel to care for the wounded outside St. Theresa Catholic Church in Madalla near Nigeria's capital. Elsewhere, a bomb exploded amid gunfire in the central Nigeria city of Jos and a suicide car bomber attacked the military in the nation's northeast as part of an apparently coordinated assault by the sect known as Boko Haram.
ABC News
Five Killed in Christmas Day House Fire in Connecticut
By Joshua Cohan
Dec. 25, 2011
Three young girls and their grandparents were killed in a three-alarm house fire in Stamford, Conn., early Christmas morning, as the girls' mother desperately tried to save them, authorities said.
The San Bernardino Sun
Soldier Shot at His Homecoming Party in California
Olivia Katrandjian
Dec. 25, 2011
Christopher Sullivan, an Army soldier from San Bernardino, Calif., who survived a suicide bombing in Afghanistan, was shot by his own brother at his homecoming party Friday night, leaving him paralyzed, authorities said. The argument, evidently, was over which of two football teams was better.
Iranian Woman to Face Death by Stoning or Hanging
By ALI AKBAR DAREINI Associated Press
Dec. 25. 2011 
Authorities in Iran said Sunday, Christmas Day, they are again moving ahead with plans to execute a woman sentenced to death by stoning on an adultery conviction in a case that sparked an international outcry, but are considering whether to carry out the punishment by hanging instead.
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National Retail Federation Upgrades Holiday Forecast, Expects Sales to Rise 3.8 Percent to $469.1 Billion
Strong November Sales, Expected December Spending Lead to Revision
Washington, December 15, 2011 – With just ten days until Christmas, the National Retail Federation has revised its holiday forecast upward, expecting holiday sales to rise 3.8 percent this year to a record $469.1 billion. NRF’s initial forecast, announced on October 6, called for anticipated sales growth of 2.8 percent.
“After strong sales reports in October and November, along with a successful Black Friday weekend, retailers are cautiously optimistic that this season will turn out better than initially expected, bringing added stability to our recovering economy at a time when America needs it most,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said. “However, a number of factors, including the debt crisis in Europe and continued political wrangling in Washington, could impact consumer spending this holiday season and into 2012.”
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Good Without God
An inspiring and provocative exploration of an alternative to traditional religion by the Humanist chaplain at Harvard University…
With the current state of the economy, the ongoing wars that rage across the globe, and the unsettling changes to the earth’s climate, questions about the role of God and religion in world affairs have never been more relevant or felt more powerfully. Many people are searching for a place where they can find not only facts and scientific reason, but also hope and the moral courage needed to overcome such challenges. For some, answers to the most challenging questions are found in the divine. For others, including the New Atheists, National Humanists. and Universal Agnostics movements, religion has no place in the world and is, in fact, an “enemy.” Religion and its multifold beliefs in a deity serve as nothing but platforms for emotional and psychological consolations to the unexplainable life’s tragedies and travesties.
But in Good Without God, Greg Epstein presents another, more balanced and inclusive response: Humanism – a movement that is taking the world by storm. With a focus on the positive, he highlights humanity’s potential for goodness and the ways in which Humanists lead lives of purpose and compassion. Humanism can offer the sense of community people want and often need in good times and bad, as they celebrate marriages and the birth of children and as people care for those who are elderly or sick. In short, Humanism teaches us that we can lead good and moral lives without supernaturalism, without unseen, unfelt higher powers, namely, without God.
In his constructive response, Epstein makes a bold claim for what nonbelievers do share and believe. At a time when the debate about morality rages more fiercely than ever—and when millions are searching for something they can put their faith in—Humanism offers a comfort and hope that affirms our ability to live ethical lives of personal fulfillment, aspiring together for the greater good of all.
________________
The Rage of Millions: Where is this Jesus Christ before, during, or after Christmas?
Example 1:
To: Supervisory Personnel, Fort Cooper Baptist Church, Floral City, FL
Re: Miniscule flyer
Date: Aug. 6, 2011
Some pathetic member of your church (one evidently who has nothing else to do but to waste time “witnessing” or “proselytizing” to fill a spiritual or e
motional vacuum in his/her life, with the sole intention of recruiting members who, in turn, will be expected to give their 10% tithings to boost your financial accounts) left this picayune, useless flyer in my door. I am quite unhappy that (s)he did not trip over my attack dog in the process – a dog that has been specifically trained to attack all Baptists, Catholics, Mormons, Seventh-Day Adventists, Christian Scientists, and Scientologists. My attack dog can smell the stench of hypocrisy, phoniness, superficiality, and doctrinal-contradiction-freak-Christians miles away, regardless of how often such “church” members flock to their vacuous locales on Sundays to mouth dripping, slurp tunes such as “Old Rugged Cross,” “Just As I Am,” “The Holy City,” etc. after which they make a beeline to their cars to light up their cigarettes, and to their homes to physically/emotionally/sexually continue to abuse their spouses or kids, while they, the “Christian parents,” then sit gleefully on their couches drinking beer viewing a football game.
Your obnoxious obsession with John 3:16 is doctrinally absurd and oxymoronic. As a Baptist, you can commit an infinite number of sins and atrocities in life, but as long as the murderer, dictator, annihilator of others “professes to accept Jesus as his personal savior,” that individual is sky-rocketed to the Pearly Gates. Therefore, Hitler, bin Laden , Mussolini, Stalin, David Koresh, David Berg, etc. could well be in Heaven. Adversely, all Jews and all other non-Christians are forever burning in Hell – according to your ludicrous tenets. Your uneducated, non-theological, irrational retort is always, “We’re not the ones to judge.” Really, now. Ever hear of slyly circumventing the point? How about all you Baptists signing up with the Muslim insurgents who, upon blowing themselves – and many others – up also get streamlined to sit with Allah in his heavenly abyss under the excuse, “We’re killing the enemies of Allah.” You Baptists are notorious for “not getting it,” and are always, somehow, some way in ecstasy as you, ad infinitum, ad nauseam continue to play basketball on an ice rink, theologically, morally, and ethically slipping and sliding all over the place – to the constant roar of the audience’s laughter. Your chthonic doctrines are as deplorably comical as requesting our liar-cheat-fraud, Gov. Scott, to get a haircut.
In the real world: To the south, you have the New Testament Baptist; to the north, Inverness Baptist, and the latest, Cornerstone Baptist (financially flourishing like maggots on decayed food. It never fails: New million-dollar churches and buildings will suck in members.) What have any of you done to write letters of protest or coordinating protest marches outside the Smoke Shop in Floral City that not only sells drug paraphernalia but also X-rated videos. Your Ft. Cooper Baptist is the smallest (church and school – evidenced by the constant few cars on the lot during Sundays and weekdays). If you were serious about your so called “theological” statutes and beliefs, you would’ve grown a thousand-fold over the years. Your school alone (Independent, Southern Baptist or any other useless entity you may adhere to) would have expanded to such a degree to occupy the land all the way north to the airport. But you remain picayune and useless. It’s easier for you to remain complacent, unseen, and unheard under the façade, “We’ll pray for such people” – like that’s the cure-all for all of society’s errant whacked folks. So, you (not too many) run to your little igloos on Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights to mouth your useless “prayers,” and refuse to provide documentation of any kind as to the proof of what your “prayers” effect.
Spiritual accountability is a foreign term to you – as is your factual proof (via your absurd preachings) that all the evils of the world are “the work of Beelzebub.” You throw idolatrous spears at Catholics with their statues, rosaries, Masses, worshipping of the saints, the Blessed Virgin, and good works (which you proclaim are not necessary to gain entrance to Heaven) but where are your good works and where is your specific documentation that what few good works you might do – have never seen one article of extraordinary Humanity being effected by Ft. Cooper Baptist in the Chronicle in 35 years -- have induced in any way the betterment of society – not just your own microscopic igloo’s fiduciary accounts.
Bottom line: What educated personnel at Ft. Cooper Baptist Church/School will initiate the personal and professional courtesy of responding in writing to the above? Or will this epistle induce personnel to follow the “road easily travelled,” of those in the American Taliban Business-Spiritual World, i.e., ignore and discard?
For the future: Kindly inform the flyers' distributors to remain off my property without an appointment.
Deadly sincere,
Wm. J. Kearns
(home address and current e-mail address given)
WJK's self-note.-As usual and as expected: To date, Dec. 27, 2011, no acknowledgement or response from recipient, thereby admitting guilt on all counts.
Example-2
Background of story: Jer
emiah Fogle, 57, killed his wife at home, walked one block to his Greater Faith Christian Church, where he was once a Deacon, and during the Sunday service, shot both the pastor, Rev. Wm. Boss and the Assistant Pastor, Rev. Carl Stewart, multiple times, critically injuring both. After extensive surgeries and rehabilitation, both pastors survived.
To: Rev. Wm. Boss, Pastor
Re: Shooting
Date: Oct. 7, 2011
Via a segue article: The Lakeland Ledger – comments of Pastor Boss – Thursday, Oct. 6, 2011:
1-It was the most terrifying jolt his ministry had ever suffered and his closest scrape with death. Boss made one thing clear: “A higher power spared his life.”
2-"I'm so grateful that right now I have the opportunity to go kneel and pray one last time," he said. "When God took the time to rescue me, I can't help but go back to the place where he performed this miracle."
3-It was the most terrifying jolt his ministry had ever suffered and his closest scrape with death. Boss made one thing clear: A higher power spared his life.
Rev. Boss, my questions to you:
“A higher power spared his life”: Is this the same “higher power” who created Hurricane Katrina and sent it directly to slam into your black brothers in New Orleans, thereby annihilating thousands of lives, including innocent women and children, and creating such devastation that many still have no homes and/or have not recovered emotionally and psychologically from it? The same god (called Allah by his followers) that “to kill the enemies of Allah” created and/or allowed the annihilation of thousands in Sept., 2001 – a masterful, quiet, devious plan that was allowed to be created by your deity’s followers for over two years and was a total success in achieving its ends? The same “God” (or Allah – both the same with different names) who created the massive tidal wave to kill thousands of Japanese in 2011? History’s list is ad infinitum, ad nauseam.
“When God took the time to rescue me…”: How is it your God did not do the same for the killer’s innocent wife? What did she do to deserve to die such a brutal, unexpected death? Was she less valuable than you or your assistant pastor?
“I have the power to go and kneel one last time.”: Huh? Why one last time? Do you expect to be shot again? – almost as bad as your church sign in the Ch. 10 News’ article, (Oct. 6) which reads, “If a ruler hearken to lies,…” instead of its grammatically correct sentence structure (which requires agreement of subject and predicate – learned in 4th grade by most students, “If a ruler hearkens....”).
Back to the basic question: Why is it only “one last time”? Do you not intend to kneel with your darling parishioners and assistant pastor many more times in the future so you can thank your God for putting a bullet in your head(s) and “now bless” you with psychological and emotional damage for many years to come to now mandate that every place you go, especially your trips to church, that you forever keep looking over your shoulder and be cognizant to an infinite degree at all times of your surroundings and beloved parishioners? Basic question you should be asking of your so-called God: What did you do to deserve this? I thought you were one of his chosen servants – yes? But, on the other hand, why should you be any different than the thousands of his Chosen people, the Jews who were lined up on the precipices of self-dug trenches and shot dead before your God instructed the Nazis to find a more efficient way to annihilate them via gas chambers? Are you synonymous with all the other 285 different Christian cults – all disagreeing with one another in their basic theological, self-interpreted, man-made-tenets – that “We don’t understand why God does things; we just accept them.” Are you not convinced of the eon-old precept, “Firmness of belief is not synonymous with veracity of fact” – a solidified, common-sense precept and tenet of any Christian cult, verified by hundreds of followers of David Koresh, Jim Jones, David Berg, Joseph Mormon, etc. -- or are you as uneducated and ludicrous as your Catholic-Christian brethren who, a few years ago, actually believed that the Virgin Mary was appearing on glass window panes (Clearwater, Florida) and thereby flocked in droves of hundreds to worship her with their numerous pilgrimages? No, you do not have statutes of her in your church, do not believe in rosaries, Stations of the Cross, etc. – all condemned by you – and numerous other Christian sects as “idolatrous” -- but it is the mother of your same so-called “God,” whom you call, Jesus, and most likely, it was this 2nd person of your adored trinity (although neither he nor the Holy Ghost -- is mentioned in any of the numerous media articles) that created a “miracle” for you to be still living.
In the initial media articles, it was – as it remains today – stated, “No one knows why Jeremiah Fogle, went on this violent rampage,” but “he was once a deacon in the church” – almost as ludicrous as your “loving, caring” God turning sanctified Catholic priests into hundreds of pedophiles, making the Catholic Church spend over $20 billion (internationally) in lawsuits, forcing many of these “sanctified” Catholic parishes/institutions to close their doors permanently.
Back to the point: Sometime, somehow, someone, something (a policy, procedure, sarcastic comment, insulting statement, disregard for him and/or his wife/family – whatever -- and/or “God-appointed”-individuals in your church -- created this unseen, picayune wound in Fogle’s soul that, admitted or not, simply festered over months or years. The defense attorney will have a field day with it with such statements as “The voices in his head made him do it.” Sadly enough, the voice was probably your “God” – so Fogle will say. Yes, as you say, “The Justice System will determine his fate,” but comparable to the Casey Anthony, O.J. Simpson, and numerous other cases, he will be found “not guilty.” In the case of Fogle, your “loving, merciful God” who rules the world will see to it that he gets a firm slap on the wrist, be told not to do it again, be sent to a psyche hospital, and be released within a few years on “Good Behavior” to allow him to return to society, your church (or another one), and do it all over again. If your loving, merciful, caring God doesn’t do this, he will instruct other deranged patients to kill him (as they did to defrocked, Catholic priest, Fr. Geoghan) before his release. If/when this happens, all your “prayerful” parishioners, will “pray for him” -- a perennial-facade-excuse to serve as a panacea-cure for all of society's ills. Bottom, emphatic line: Your God won’t get blamed for any of this. He only gets credit for good things (such as the “miracle” he performed for you – but not Mrs. Fogle -- even though, in oxymoronic tenets of all Christian sects and cults, he is the “creator and overseer of all the earth and mankind.”
I will not pray to your fictional god for you. I will, however, as an Existential Humanist, hasten to wish you (your assistant pastor, and all families and friends devastated by the incident), a physical, emotional, and psychological speedy recovery. Your god will not determine that. You, in cooperation with doctors, nurses, medical institutions’ specialized personnel, and psychologists (if necessary) will.
Please acknowledge receipt of the above epistle, when convenient, either mail or e-mail. (If the latter, disregard any automated Spam-mail message and/or its directions you may receive. I check Spam mail daily.) I would love to hear from you regarding any/all of the above.
Sincerely,
Wm. J. Kearns
wjk43@earthlink.net
p.s.-As usual and as expected:: To date, Dec. 27, 2011, no acknowledgement or response from recipient, thereby admitting guilt on all counts.
_____________
“The Debate Rages On”
I'm Offended That You're Offended About Christmas
By Debbie Daniel
http://www.his-forever.com/im_offended.htm
(WJK’s pre-note: Evidently, Debbie Daniel is a freak-fanatical Christian. She makes her point quite succinctly; however, she simply "doesn't get it." Millions the world over, simply never witness any verification that this Christ individual exists. The only thing that counts is the money-maniacal Capitalistic system's profit. To millions, nothing else matters.)
I'm on a "Merry Christmas" mission and I'm in full throttle. My little yellow VW Beetle has turned into a Christmas billboard with Merry Christmas written across the back window. Yes, I've decided to trek off to work every day on the public highways with a message that seems to offend people.
At stop lights, I even turn my music up a little louder. Don't I fear the Christmas Gestapo and those who would have me remove the written message from my car? I respond with an emphatic “No.”
…We've allowed the Baby Jesus to be kicked out of His lowly manger, and those offended by Christmas are still not happy.
I walked into a Wendy's Restaurant and was rather exuberant with my "Merry Christmas" greeting to the manager. He didn't have much of a response and I said, "Where's your Christmas spirit?" He said, "We're not allowed to use the words "Merry Christmas" when greeting customers. We can only say "Happy Holidays."
This morning I grabbed a quick breakfast at a Whataburger Restaurant. I noticed there wasn't a single decoration in the store. I asked the manager why they weren't decorating for Christmas. He told me the corporate headquarters decided not to send any decorations to any of their stores, but he “didn't know why.” He admitted he made no effort to find out. “We peons learn fast that one 'does not fight City Hall' or our jobs are in jeopardy.”
After I heard about the Macy's and most of the big conglomerate retailers taking down their Merry Christmas signs, the Target stores not allowing the Salvation Army to "Ring the Christmas bells," and the many incidents of children, choirs, and bands not allowed to play or sing Christmas carols, I realized it was happening across our so-called Christian nation.
When I saw a news report the other evening of children being taught new words to a song we've sung for years - "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" – I was saddened to hear "We Wish You a Splendid Holiday."
I know now that it's just a matter of time that the "Merry Christmas" greetings will be gone. Look around your town. Notice the "Holiday" greetings and not "Christmas."
Is it Jesus, or is it His followers that the "offended" don't like? What kind of revulsion galvanizes one to campaign so vehemently against the mere mention of His name, the mere singing of a carol, or the mere visual of a sign that says "Merry Christmas?"
I can listen to my own boss at work use some of the filthiest words in the King’s English and follow up with, "Excuse my French." (Sorry, Mr. Boss. It’s not French. It’s simply called a “gutter-mouth.”) I may cringe inside at his consistent use of calling upon our God to damn anything during the boss’s irate moments, but I tolerate it. So if you don't like me wishing you a "Merry Christmas," I'll say, "Excuse my joy." You may cringe that I celebrate the birth of Jesus, but just tolerate it.
I cannot be concerned that "Merry Christmas" offends you. If I'm not careful, the day will come when saying I'm a Christian will offend you.
I'm offended that you're offended. How about that?
When we get to a point that we can no longer take part in a tradition we hold dear, we have no choice; we either defend that tradition or we give it up to those who say NO. That's it . . . period. So, which will it be?
….To you merchants: Stop being so hypocritical and "filling your tills" on the back of Jesus! Who do you think is the symbol of giving at this time of year? It was the wise men bringing gifts to the newborn Christ-child.
…You want your coffers full, but have ordered your employees to take down all the Merry Christmas signs.
If you're worried about offending someone, you just did. The most recent Newsweek survey shows that 82% of Americans believe that Jesus is the Son of God. So, in trying not to offend a few, you've offended many.
It's okay to jump into the "Merry Christmas" spirit when it fills your cash register. You’re concerned about nothing else. The thousands of Wise Men bringing gifts to the Baby Jesus counts, but only if the Wise Men buy the gifts at your store.
…Townships across our country have actually banned the singing of Christmas carols because it might “offend” someone. And it's not just the religious songs; it's the secular ones too. No more "Jingle Bells" or "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" because they're associated with Christmas.
I noticed a few years ago that we changed the name of Abraham Lincoln's and George Washington's birthday so as to be all inclusive regarding the Presidents. Hark, if we should recognize anyone as exceptional. Now it's called Presidents' Day.
If we're going to be so all inclusive, next month I'll have to refer to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as Civil Rights Leaders' Day. We don't want to exclude great Americans like Rosa Parks or Cesar Chavez, do we? And to think that Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton might be left out.
So no one will be “offended,” and that we may always be “politically correct,” we’ll have to change Mother's Day, Father's Day, and Grandparents' Day to All Parents' Day.
My freedom to celebrate Christmas in the tradition of the Christian religion is as much my right as it is your right to be “offended” by it.
….If we try to make everything right for everyone, we won't have anything for anyone.
Debbie Daniel-Dec. 20, 2011
(The above letter posted by WJK-Dec. 27, 2011)
___________________________________________
I met her again, a Sandy P., an mere acquaintance from eons ago -- a dedicated Volunteer at Citrus Memorial Hospital, Inverness, FL -- twice now within a 3-day span. I had previously informed her of my wife's battle with Uterine Cancer, her major surgery at Tampa's Moffitt Cancer Center, and our mandated segue trips, still in effect, in the gruesome treatments of chemotherapy and radiation. Sandy had promised that Janet would be "put on the church's Prayer List."
As we both hastened to our destinations via CMH's main lobby, she mumbled, "Tell Janet she's on the Church's Prayer List." The Fates of Life demanded that I control myself and bite off my tongue in craving to mumble, "Sandy, why don't all of you go out to the trees or the brick walls and pray to them. The results will be the same. While you're at it, ask this fictional, all-loving, all-caring deity of yours why he slammed Janet with such a morbid disease in the first place. What did my wife ever do in life or to anyone to deserve this? She was never a member of Neo-Nazis, Hell's Angels, KKK, or any big-city Mafia sects -- and this is her reward -- an emtional, psychological, and financial holocaust to potentially last for many more months?
Additionally, instead of this oxymoronic, superstitious "Prayer List," wouldn't it be so much more meaningful and effective to have any selected members of this sanctified edifice, called a "church," simply call, write a brief e-mail, send a picayune "Christmas" gift-donaton (to help defray traveling costs to and from Tampa) instead of the oft'-used comparable farewell, "We'll pray for her" -- always utilized as the instant-solution to all people's problems -- and a hidden linguistic strategy to curtail the conversation, abruptly terminating it.
Oh, where art Thou, you great god in the sky? Where were you when Hitler tortured -- and ultimately slaughtered 25 million of your children, an estimated 6 million of your own "Chosen People"; when Pol Pot slaughtered another 4 million in his Khmer Rouge regime; of Saddam Husein, slaughtering via the proliferation of chemical gases -- and "in your great name of Allah" -- 3 million of his own, innocent people? Whose side were you on in the Vietnam War? Obviously, it wasn't America's. Again, historical examples abound "ad infinitum -- ad nauseam."
Ahhh, yes. The response of your maniacal followers remains: If results are good, a "miracle" is screamed from the rooftops; if they're bad, they're quietly hushed as "the devil's work" or the feeble excuse is mumbled, "Sometimes we don't know why God does things."
Really, now.
WJK-Dec., 2012
