Top Blogging Moments of 2009

1 - Being Featured on Mental Floss

My most successful blog entry was part of a series on postmodernism. I decided to include pictures of my cats because it was boring, which turned out to be a good decision. I sent the link to Miss Cellania (because she loves posting cat things and she's smart) and she said to get ready for traffic - she was going to put it on Mental Floss.

I had 3,000 hits that day! It was great and the conversations that started were excellent. Thanks Miss C!

2 - The time I slapped my forehead so hard I was dizzy

I recently discussed a film I made with my old buddy Andrew a few years ago, and I completely left out the contributions of the third person who worked on that project - my friend, Krystal! When I realized my mistake I felt like a big sexist jerk. She worked hard and did lots of tedious chores putting the set pieces together and she competently handled much of the filming. What was I thinking?

I was pretty hard on myself about that. But I suppose (KRYSTAL I'M SORRY, PLEASE FORGIVE ME, I STILL FEEL BAD ABOUT LEAVING YOU OUT) everyone makes mistakes.

Here's the video, if you missed it.

3 - Death threats. Oh, yeah.

As you may remember, more than two years ago I wrote about the outrage in Pakistan over a teacher allowing her students to name a pet "Mohammad." There were riots in the streets and mobs crying out for her execution. Uncool.

Some say that my response was not entirely kind while others have told me that it was diplomatic. Make your own decisions, meanwhile, I'm still receiving death threats over it. (And I don't really care.)

Here's a few, but I'll save the best for last. (I could write "[sic]" everywhere there is a spelling mistake that is not mine, but that would take a very long time...)

Hey, you don't know anything about islam. Hoping that Allah SWT will punish you... Allah will curse you...And, please repent before it be late

You want Allah to smite me and you want me to repent. I hate to tell you this, but you can't have your cake and eat it too.

dude your wasted. i hope god shows you the right path. and in the bible it was said that the satan had tried n got in the head of jesus too. if he was the lord could satan even come close to him ?? and i hope you delete this. you can post all the shit you want. one day god it gonna strike u down

I didn't delete his post, so I guess I showed him.

I am mailing this to every muslim on this planet with ur name so that anyone who sees you should kill u.

Either every Muslim on the planet is pretty bad at finding me and killing me, or they didn't get the memo.

In the Bible, Allah and Jesus never teach us to hurt the other one,
So, as your posting, I am sure, you are not a christian, or may be not a human.

How did he find out that I'm not human? My Reptoid overlords are going to be quite angry over this.

sorry about da mistakes wernt looking at keyboard

...but, you obviously didn't have that problem the second time around.

Adam D.Jones you suck

My favorite insult, to date. This guy doesn't beat around the bush, he just tells you like it is.

on the day of judgement may allah
burn you in the fire of ur deeds you will newer smile now u sucker

This guy should write action films. I can see Sylvester Stallone looking down on his defeated foe, machine gun in hand, and saying, "You'll never smile now, you sucker!"

Who do you think would win a fight between jesus and muhammad? and i mean muhammad the prophet not muhammad the possum.

Good question. I've been reading a lot of Augustine's work lately, but it hasn't shed any light on this critical issue.



But my favorite comment was more mutlimedia-friendly. Some people actually go through the trouble to email me their complaints, and a few weeks ago I received three photographs from a stranger and no explanation, other than the subject heading "Some pictures."

One of them had words on it, so I sent them to a Lebanese friend of mine who did a translation and explained the photos:

Well the first picture is the word "Allah" which means God in Arabic. The second is a picture of Mecca from the top, and the third is an ad for Hammas promoting "Jihad" against infidels like you and I guess me too for explaining this to you...

Here's the photo:



That's all for me from 2009. You may want to keep away from me on the street, I appear to be a marked man.

What happened to you this year?

What I Really Want to Say About Christmas

Whining can ruin the holidays. Christmas is my favorite time of year, but I find it difficult to enjoy when those around me can't stop complaining. The following paragraphs really sum up what I have been trying to say about Christmas, lately.

You say that exchanging gifts has nothing to do with the real meaning of Christmas; but, I say that nothing is more altruistic than giving someone a present and expecting nothing in return.

You say that it is right to seek out and angrily decry each use of the term "Happy Holidays;" but, I say that it is a greater shame when Christians are the ones saying "Bah Humbug."

You say that Santa Claus is incompatible with Christianity; but, C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien included Father Christmas in their stories, because they believed that, like all myths, the enduring myth of Santa can be used to compliment the Christ story.

You say that commercialism has ruined the holidays; but, I say you are cynical and have allowed this to happen in your own heart. If you allow advertisements and store sales to affect your attitude then it is you who should change.

You are furious because you say that the secularism of Christmas has taken Jesus out of the celebration; but, I say that Christ cannot be removed from your heart, so enjoy the True Meaning that you know, and rejoice because it cannot be hidden from you.

You say that the holidays are empty in modern times; I say that they are only as empty as you make them. Some of us never fail to enjoy a holiday season, so the problem must be in yourself rather than in the world around you.

You say you will attack those who remove Christ from the holiday; I say, love your neighbor and, in doing do, show them the True Meaning of Christmas through kindness. Social agendas and political clamor are never useful tools for proclaiming God's love.

You say you are righteous for your militant stance against secular Christmas; I say that your aggressive attitude prevents you from enjoying the blessing of Christ's Incarnation. More importantly, it prevents you from showing others this blessing, because all they know is your anger and defiance.

While some of you will spend the holiday season whining and fighting endless social battles, others of us will be enjoying time with our families, giving and receiving presents, and reflecting on the birth of our Savior. Choose for yourself if you your holiday will be ruled by cynicism or hope. Don't represent Christianity with a bad attitude.

Pagan Christmas (part 2) - Did Christmas Come From a Pagan Holiday?

Rarely can I attend a holiday party without being told by an armchair historian that the Christmas holiday celebrate came from a Pagan holiday which was celebrated on the same day. (For some reason, people who know that I research church history think they should tell me about the formation of Christianity.) Gross extrapolation leads these people to say that Christmas is a sham because the birth of the savior is a myth. Let's examine this claim and face the facts in the second part of my Pagan Christmas series. (See part one, concerning Christmas Trees, here.)

While we're on the subject, try not to tell my cat, Molly, the truth about Santa. It would break her cute little heart. (And she's a bit daft, anyway.)

It's assumed by the armchair historians that a Pope or a church father waved their mighty hand and "stole" the December 25 holiday from the Pagans, and they instituted the holiday of Christmas in its place. The truth is, traditions from the early church did not typically begin in this way.

For example, we don't know who started the tradition of crossing ones self to ask for God's protection or who first put confessional booths in a church. These traditions began in local areas and became so popular over time that the church would officially adopt them - Christmas is no different. It was celebrated in a variety of ways until a consensus was reached that December 25 would be the day the entire church celebrated Christ's birth.

This is pretty boring, so I'm going to add more pictures of cats as we go along to keep you entertained. Unfortunately, it's always more interesting to listen to the nutty alternative theories than it is for me to explain the boring stuff that actually happened. It's unfair to everyone.

Why that date? Unfortunately, no one knows exactly how this started. (Keep in mind that most people couldn't read or write in these days, so keeping records was only done in certain places. Making things worse, the records that were made were often destroyed or lost.) We do know that the other religions celebrated a festival of the sun god on this date, and we also know that church fathers decried any association between this God and Christ. (Frankly, since we don't know when He was born, one day is as good as another; everyone understands the celebration to be symbolic and not an actual anniversary.)

So, why would Christians choose a day normally set aside for the sun god to remember the birth of their Lord? Keep in mind that Christianity was spreading rapidly within a culture that had previously embraced pantheistic or Platonic religions. Many centuries later, people would be pressured to accept Christianity, but in these early days people were walking away from their old ways and embracing the church on their own. By replacing pagan rituals with mass observances and church services they were putting their old religion aside and replacing it with a new one. Independently, believers were distancing themselves from their old ways by taking Pagan rituals out of their lives and replacing them with Christian rituals. No one forced them to do this, nor did anyone in the church "officially" associate this holiday with the sun god and plunder the Pagan holiday for its traditions.

Keep reading. It's almost over.

Did the pagan rituals influence Christmas? No. There is nothing from a Pagan religion that has carried on in modern Christmas traditions. Every belief that Christians attach to Christmas was firmly in place long before the Christmas holiday was officially established. I've heard that certain customs we hold to on this holiday came from older Pagan rites, but it's simply not true; I've never seen a Christmas tradition that pre-dated the church. (I've heard such accusations, but they never hold up. It would be tedious to describe each of these things, here, so I'll just say that the arguments are very weak and not supported any amount of documentation or scholarship. Only armchair scholarship.)

It is true that a Pagan holiday took place on December 25th, but, other than a calendar date, the two celebrations have nothing in common.

Pagan Christmas (part 1) - Are Christmas Trees a Non-Christian Tradition?

Each holiday season, a few cynics decry the holiday of Christmas because they have been told that it's a Pagan holiday. Everything from Christmas trees to the very date of the holiday is scrutinized until Christians appear to be awash in mythological symbolism and mystical rites.

It's odd to think that the leaders of the church who tirelessly fought Paganism would adopt Pagan practices and lead the church into their use, but everyone thinks it's fun to look for things like this in church history. Thankfully, this sort of thing happens to be my field, so I'll be writing a few posts about the nature of this holiday - starting with this article about the Christmas Tree.

Today, blogger Pastor Zach reminded me of something; some people say the Christmas Tree was specifically condemned in the Old Testament:

Hear what the LORD says to you, O house of Israel. This is what the LORD says:

"Do not learn the ways of the nations
or be terrified by signs in the sky,
though the nations are terrified by them.

For the customs of the peoples are worthless;
they cut a tree out of the forest,
and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel.

They adorn it with silver and gold;
they fasten it with hammer and nails
so it will not totter. (Jeremiah 10:1-4)

That's very cute, but it doesn't work that way. A look at the surrounding verses shows us that this is a reference to wooden idols that are shaped from the wood of a tree; nowhere does the passage describe something like a Christmas tree.

Most importantly, Christmas trees are simply not heard of in history at this time. It was in the late middle ages when we first see mentions of Christmas trees, so they have no ancient roots.

When you think about it, it's amazing that this tradition even caught on.

It is often said that the Druids are responsible for the tradition of the Christmas tree, but this is a difficult claim to back up. Historians will tell you that there is one very important thing to remember when discussing the Druids: we don't know anything about them. After they opposed the Romans, the Romans destroyed every trace of them, and now we only know of them from outside references and hearsay. A claim such as "the Druids invented Christmas trees" is nearly impossible to back up.

So, your Christmas Tree is safe. It's not a Pagan idol or a Druidic symbol; it's a family tradition that does not interfere with or contradict your faith.

Did Christians Win the "Merry Christmas" Battle?

(Would you believe that I normally try to avoid controversial issues?  Well, I do.)

Two years ago, the wife and I hit a Target on Black Friday.  It was a brand new Target and, since no one knew about it, no one was there.  It was blissful lonely shopping with good deals and no crowd.  The oddest thing, though, was a very large and intentional banner that said, "Merry Christmas."

Each year, more and more retail groups are happy to include the word Christmas in their catalogs.  I get warm Christmas wishes from employers and have not seen any new groups moving away from using that word.  Did we win?

Lowe's certainly changed their tune and gave up on the idea of a "holiday tree" very quickly.  It probably helped that no one had ever heard of such a thing.

I bring this up, because Christians don't usually win these types of victories.  I'm not sure why, but this is one that the secular world and the anti-evangelical media simply gave up on and allowed us to win, and Christians have even gotten support from other groups.  I've seen non-Christians like Ben Stein and Glen Reynolds applauding those who are saying boldly "Merry Christmas " rather than "Happy Holidays."  And, at the company Christmas party, a gospel group sang a song with lyrics that quite literally stated "don't forget the baby" and "without Him there would be no Christmas."  So far, no one threatens to sue.  (Even though some people grumbled.)

But, I don't know why this victory was won.  Christmas is the accepted name for the holiday season and the opposition has retreated without much of a fight, which has left me scratching my head.  Maybe it just feels strange to see Christianity on the winning side of a social conflict, for once.

Christianity vs. Santa Claus

Each year, a few people tell me that they don't like the commercialism of the holidays. They are entitled to that, but a few will take it even further and say that they don't like Santa Claus, that he is un-Christian, and that including that 'holiday' stuff in our celebration is evil.

When I was studying to be an educator, I learned that young children have a peculiar psychology that prevents them from knowing fantasy from fiction - there is absolutely no way to keep a child from through this stage.  If your kids are going to play "make believe" games, then it is wise for you to play with them and guide those games.  Telling your kids about Santa isn't lying to them - it's playing along.  It also doesn't get in the way of the real meaning of the holidays.

One of my fondest memories of Christmas came when I was a young boy eager to open my presents on a Christmas morning. My grandfather (who bought us presents signed from "Santa") pulled out his Bible and read the Christmas story to us.  I don't remember what I received for Christmas, that year, but I never forgot why were celebrating.
So, please don't hate Santa.  It bugs me each year when people criticize the commercialism of Christmas so much that the children don't get to enjoy the wonder and magic that the holidays can offer.

Then again, maybe the reason people don't like Santa is because the first one they saw was this one:

He's creepy. You're definitely welcome to keep that guy out of your house.