Monday, December 13, 2004

Two things That Have Been Minor Annoyances

This has been a very busy weekend. Eventful would not begin to voer it. Neeverhteless, a couple fo things have managed to stick out in my ind that are annoyances. The are annoying as much because of they represent as much as anything else. Let me explain.

The first has to do with my last post. The Alberta government has stated publicly its deisre for a national referendum on the issue of same-sex marriage. The Federal government scoffed at the idea (as it seems to about anything that would produce more "direct democracy") with the Federal Justice Minister essentially accusing Alberta of sour grapes. The Justice Minister said that the Alberta government, having already admitted it had no way to deny same sex marriages should the federal government pass such legislation, was just trying to do an end run around the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The problem with that is that the Alberta government, techically, trying to do an end run around the Constitution, not the Charter. Alberta is tryng to figure out how to avoid same sex marriages since they have no constitutional right to overrule the Federal Government. Of course contitutional jurisiction wrangling is a more arcane issue. Once again the cry is "discrimination" without any real thought as to what that actually means. The trend towards being inflammatory in politics is not fun to listen to.

The other thing that has stuck out is Christmas. Specifically Christmas cards. I see snowmen everywhere. I see Dickensian images. I don't see a lot of Christ. So far I have received one card with an explicitly Christian theme. One. Maybe I am being too picky. Maybe I shoudl check to see what I am sending too. I dunno, I just noticed this and I hope it isn't a trend. How can we call to keep Christ in Christmas if He isn't on the cards we Christians send?

2 comments:

In His Steps said...

I know what you mean about the absence of Christ in Christmas. After all, without Him there would be no such celebration. I was really pleased tonight at our son's school open house. There were angels on the walls for decoration. The music piped over the intercom was distinctly Christian. The school choir also sang Joy to the World and Away in a Manger, among their selections. They may seem like small things but I am glad that our principal is open to expressing Christmas with some of its original theme.
I was talking with an EA from another school and she was telling me that in their school "Joy to the World" was sung by the primary classes only with the lyrics re-written to express the shopping frenzy during the holidays. Not one mention of the birth of Christ in any of their productions.
I get tired of the world being so politically correct that we take the entire meaning out of the holiday.
Can you imagine changing the whole meaning of something like Ramadan to suit our tastes?? It would NEVER be done!

Anonymous said...

My kid's school did both - The First Noel became some bastardised tune about holiday shopping and no school, but also sang The Little Drummer Boy with all verses left intact. As far as cards go - I chose to not send any. I would rather not send any then get caught up in a legalistic debate about "Christian-correct" cards!