Cohen. Does she look easily offended?
CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Mark Steyn :: And merry Xmas to you all — A column worth reading!
Many of these odd anti-Christmas anecdotes seem to stem from people who have appointed themselves as guardians of taste and propriety. How do people get like this and why are there more of them than ever before? What follows is an excerpt of an excellent column by Mark Styn commenting on the banning of Christmas songs at a skating rink because someone was Jewish and in the rink.
Here’s the overlooked problem. All this sort of thing does, especially for children, is make them think that Jews hate Christmas. Thus Jews hate Christ. And, golly, Jews killed Christ, right? No? All of this stems directly from specific liberal white do-gooders who generally dislike the Jews. This “Happy Holidays” thing again blames something on the Jews. In this case the anti-Christmas message. There may, in fact, be a Jewish person or two who dislike Christmas, but these are, I’m certain, a small number. A traditional mercantile type would say, “Christmas is good for business, what’s not to like?” Seriously, this is really about antisemitism, not anti-Christmas. Think about it.
This article goes on to point out how stupid all this is since Sasha Cohen is on a “Christmas” PR tour lighting Christmas trees in various towns. Cripes! FYI, the median IQ of Riverside is twenty points lower than Toad Suck, Arkansas.
A high school choir [in Riverside, California] was asked to stop singing Christmas carols during an ice skating show featuring Olympic medalist Sasha Cohen out of concern the skater would be offended . . . ”
I hasten to add this Sasha Cohen is not the Sacha Baron Cohen of the hit movie ”Borat.” The Olympic S. Cohen is a young lady; the Borat S. Cohen is a man, though his singlet would not be out of place in a louche Slav entry to the ice-dancing pairs. Likewise, the skater-puts-carols-on-ice incident seems as sharply satirical of contemporary America as anything in ”Borat,” at least in its distillation of the coerciveness of “tolerance”:
“A city staff member, accompanied by a police officer, approached the Rubidoux High School Madrigals at the Riverside Outdoor Ice Skating Rink just as they launched into ‘God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen’ and requested that the troupe stop singing . . . ”
The cop and the staffer — “special-events employee Michelle Baldwin” — were not acting on a complaint from the celebrity skater. They were just taking offense on her behalf, no doubt deriving a kinky vicarious thrill at preventing a hypothetical “hate crime.”
Did the cop look like this guy?
Funny, very funny…
But, many State officals have come to some Strange conclusion that IF they let 1 religion Pos/celibrate something the REST will want a part for their OWN celibration.
I’d love to see it.
MORE interesting to note,
IS she of Hebrew faith?? Just cause she has a jewish last name dont mean much..
I have personally never meet a Jew that reported a problem with Christmas celebrations. Granted I’m sure those that are practicing are Reformed. I did know several that had to walk out into the hall during mandatory school Christian prayers as late as the 60’s. They had bad memories of that.
#3
It’s just politically correct assholes who come up with these “problems”.
#2 – Cohen is the Jewish priest class, if she doesn’t take her name seriously – others will.
#3 – http://mathaba.net/x.htm?http://mathaba.net/0_index.shtml?x=78561
Illuminati …. hooooooo
5,
And how many Female preists??
NOT counting the last 10 years??
4, being PC, is fine, its the second part Ass holes, that are making it worse. Being PC you would put up Every religious holiday. Being an ASS, you would take your down and not celibrate ANY.
5,
Everyone knows Israel is a Jewish Theocratic state wrapped up in a democracy.
The problem with hate crimes is that almost anything, no matter how silly (as in here), can be labeled as one.
So fa la la!
I am a liberal do-gooder. I believe the government funds can help social problems. I am in favor of government domestic programs, like public health (whatever we can get away with on this—polio vaccines are a very liberal concept) public libraries, public sewage, public commons, public domain. That’s what being a liberal is all about.
And I LIKE Christmas Carols! I like Christmas in general. My liberal friends and I go caroling at local hospitals every year. I believe in God, and I am skeptical, and I believe in science—all at the same time. Life is too complicated for a single model to contain. (ask Albert Einstein or Nils Bohr–they had to go with two models just for light, for example)
I not only believe in freedom of religion–it is an article of faith with me. When I get to Washington DC, I always make time to go to the Jefferson memorial. Tears well up in my eyes as I read the main inscription there:
“I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.”
god’s teeth THAT was a president!
Here is one of many things he said (also an inscription on the wall of his memorial) about religious freedom:
“Almighty God hath created the mind free…All attempts to influence it by temporal punishments or burthens…are a departure from the plan of the Holy Author of our religion…No man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship or ministry or shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief, but all men shall be free to profess and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion. I know but one code of morality for men whether acting singly or collectively.”
Tom was a Deist (about like a Unitarian today) in short–he was a liberal–a “free thinker”, an ideologue. When, in the Declaration of Independence, he calls out to “Nature, and Nature’s God” he is making a subtle statement about his own belief system.
So, Merry Christmas from a California LIBERAL (I am so proud that Jerry Brown got re-elected to a statewide office) and here is a little twelfth century poetry that I think we could all pay a little attention.
“The Holly and the Ivy, when they are both full grown,
of all the trees that are in the wood, the holly bears the crown,
the holly bears a berry, as red as any blood,
and Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ to do us sinners good,
Oh! the rising of the sun, and the running of the deer
the playing of the merry organ and sweet singing in the choir”
This is a perfect example of the syncretism of Christmas. All the pagan imagery (holly, ivy, sunrise, deer) frame an image taken from Roman Mithraism pasted onto a Jewish mystery cult. It’s a mischmasch of a religion, a beautiful thing.
Whatever you celebrate, there’s too much pain on the street this winter to step on anyone else’s party. Have a good time everyone at DU, and a Happy New Year.
And to think, Sarah Silverman has a video and song called, “Give the Jew Girl Toys.” Here’s the link on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwQyfUatwwY
It has “adult” content, but brings home the message that I would like to see. WTF does Santa Claus and the Christmas tree have to do with the birth of Jesus Christ, who was a Jew, and born in March!
I’m celebrating Yule, the *PAGAN* holiday on the solstice anyway!
I don’t hear the Wiccans complaining about their ‘holiday’ not being publicized. These people who are saying that there is a ‘war on Christmas’ are simply losing the ORIGINAL meaning of the holiday that we all celebrate this time of year, no matter what our religious beliefs. This holiday has deep pagan roots, and was adopted by Christians.
#13 – That’s because Pagans know Christmas was developed over time by various European kings to co-op the Pagan holiday, as the continent was convereted to Christianity.
In other words, call it what you will, but the celebration is as much Pagan as it is Christian.
Some years ago, when the mud monster was in elementary school, we got snookered into attending the “winter concert”….
The forces of Political Correctness had removed about everything but the Lion King from the program….
I bumped into the Principal afterwards. “George: I’m Jewish and even I missed the Christmas stuff….” He told me that he’d sent a copy of the “rules” to his daughter, who was working on a Teaching degree. Just too much….
I’m not entirely sure that the whole thing is anti-semetic as much as pro-Political Correctness, which seems to come down as “offend nobody, thereby offending everybody”, not to mention the zero-thinking aspects. Unintended Consequences explains the anti-semetic aspects.
I was always offended by the blatantly Christian aspects of much of the prayer in school that I was subjected to way, way, back when, but also appreciated the idea that some things are just going to be that way. Coulda been worse…. Nobody made us wear sheets and pointy hats….
At my school, close to 50 years ago, it was customary to serve a “grilled cheese and tomato soup” lunch on Friday to “assist” the Catholics. Other than the “you can always bring your own lunch” issues, the sandwiches were generally greasy and a bit gummy, and the tomato soup reminded me of red crayons dissolved in motor oil. But we lived with it.
Interestingly, when the very few Jewish families in my school complained about the somewhat over-presence of pork products in the school lunches, grilled cheese and tomato soup became an optional lunch on pork days…. I’m not sure if it was anti-semetic [grin], or just the way things turned out, but that sure showed us….
We could still bring a lunch, but the PITA factor was pretty high. Nobody ever asked what was in the grease they cooked the sandwiches in either. I expect I don’t want to know….
I think you can manage to offend nearly everybody if you’re lucky. And, courtesy of the Internet and the media, you can do it very quickly. Nobody looks at the “why” part…. (Remember the guy who used the word “niggardly” in a public forum a while back? I’m not sure what the origins of the word are, but it’s been in every dictionary I’ve ever bothered to use forever, and without any racial “warnings”.)
Finally…. I didn’t know that Sarah Silverman was a singer…. Cute kid. So’s Sascha…. BTW, while “Cohen” does indeed indicate the Priestly class in ancient Israel, and has a minor part in some religious observations, most American Jews don’t consider it important. It’s my understanding that you have to be a Cohen to be able to do “Spock’s Salute” – the “V”-shaped open hand thing. OTOH, I can do it…. I don’t think I’m a Cohen…. (You know you’re in trouble when you move across-country and have the same mailman….)
Regards,
Stu.
Can you explain what you mean by “a traditional mercantile type”? It seems like transparent stereotyping, and is a bit offensive.
And of course, in the end, we’ll get blamed for this as well, right? 🙂
John, you’re right. This is just ridiculous. Why would she be offended?
Your Christmas holiday is about as secular as they get.
This is worse than a Jewish mother,
“What, you wanted I should sing the songs and you’ll get offended? So I didn’t sing. I won’t sing. No, it’s okay, don’t worry about me. I’ll just hum them silently in my head. Why don’t you ever call?”
Jono Barel
ISRAEL
John
“All of this stems directly from specific liberal white do-gooders who generally dislike the Jews.”
I am one of those liberal white do-gooders and I happen to be Jewish. I guess you would be wrong in that assumption
“This “Happy Holidays” thing again blames something on the Jews In this case the anti-Christmas message.”
Really? Explain how because I can’t seem to get my liberal brain around that one. Exactly how is the term “Happy Holidays” anti Christian and how is using that term blaming the Jews.
“Seriously, this is really about anti-Semitism, not anti-Christmas. Think about it.”
I have thought about it a lot and you are just plain wrong. It is a constitutional issue.
I celebrate Christmas, as my wife is catholic, but I don’t think there IS a “War on Christmas” it is a strawman argument cooked up be the Christian right to rally the troops. The first amendment protect us from a religion or in this case one religion in particular being established (promoted) by the state. When someone says “Hey you can’t do that” it never involves private property or money. Everyone is free to celebrate their own religion as long as they don’t ask others to flip the bill. They can not use public land they can not use public money to push their religion down the throat of others. Our forefathers understood the problems with this over 200 years ago. Why can’t people understand it today?
The “Christmas” tree thing is different. It is not a symbol that originated from a functioning religion. It’s roots are from a defunct practice that is not considered a religion under the law. Therefore it should not be prohibited anywhere. The Christians have hijacked it and have convinced people that it is purely a Christian thing and that is why we have the problems that we see today in Seattle and other locations.
I could be wrong. But how do you explain this:
Liberal Do-Gooder
LOL
It’s those dam transsexuals ! 🙂
There is a very clear reason this BS has occurred –
“They were just taking offense on her behalf”
Who the fsck are you?! If she is offended, let her take care of herself. Just because she may or may not be Jewish does not make her your responsibility. Why can’t society just let people make their own decisions?
(not actually directed at you, unless you are the “cop” or the “staffer”)
I bet this cop & his female staffer sidekick could get great jobs at the TSA – I hear they’e looking for a few good assholes
I dont believe in throwing money at a problem…
I believe these should be learned, and at a young age.
respect and consideration, SHOULD be taught early.
It would have be NICER to ask the lady if she had concerns, insted of taking things in their OWN hands, and deciding on their OWN.
#14,
Why oh why do people leave the doors open ??? Don’t they realize how many trolls come by when that happens?
Kendall, this is a discussion. If you have something to add, please do. I think we can all do without the crap.
“All this sort of thing does….is make them think that Jews hate Christmas. Thus Jews hate Christ.”
What are you talking about? Jews love Christmas. Christmas means big sales and low prices on high end electronics. Not to mention some time off work for exotic vacations. Who do you think is buying?
Jews eat pork, well, not in front of their mothers but they do eat pork.
#13
> WTF does Santa Claus and the Christmas tree
> have to do with the birth of Jesus Christ, who was a Jew, and born in March!
Well, if we look at Santa’s origins in Saint Nicholas, Santa has to do with a priest who cared for children (and sailors, merchants, pawnbrokers…) according to legend, gave out presents. It has to do with an individual that supposedly exemplified the ideals of his religion. How it got wrapped up into Christmas specifically is because Saint Nicholas Day is celebrated on December 6th (how it got that day is another interesting story) which was close enough Christmas to be rolled into it. If I’m not mistaken, the whole idea of gift giving at Christmas is derived from Saint Nicholas.
The invention of the Christmas tree on the other hand was clearly directed at enveloping a wide spread non-Christian tradition.
Christmas is actually a fascinating holiday tradition and I’m an atheist (although I was raised Episcopalian). In Europe, it used to be akin to Mardi Gras only crazier and longer. We can thank the Puritans for making almost eliminating Christmas and eventually forcing it into its current happy-shiny version.