Jeremiah 10:1-5
Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel:Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.
For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.
They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.
They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.
Discuss. And, um, Merry Christmas.
Obligatory.
This part:
Juxtaposed with:
So, is it this that the “christians” use to rationalize their total contempt for the working man? That anyone who uses their hands to earn their keep, continuing that paradigm within their celebration of the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, are somehow incapable of doing good works in the name of some obscure deity? If I read this right, Scrooge is the epitome of all that is “christian”, while his workers are beneath contempt, and should be grateful for what they have.
I shall ponder this further, whilst I sip my 12 year old Glenmorrangie tonight, and think about my grandfather who spent two of his Christmases in a series of stinking hot jungles, watching his friends being chopped into chunks of meat by artillery, mortars and machine guns and being shot at by people who had mostly never heard of Jeshua, or who could give a rats ass about Christmas.
So, um, this means Christmas trees are nonpartisan? You humans are strange.
Speaking of Christmas, corporations are gearing up to give themselves very nice Christmas presents that keep on giving (to the rich, by taking from the rest of us) all year long.
“Corporate groups face an especially skeptical audience in congressional Democrats. Representative Sander Levin of the Ways and Means Committee has said that some of the ideas under discussion would cause a further shift in the tax burden from the wealthy to the middle class.”
http://www.cnbc.com/id/45782949
The Randroids tell us to get rid of the social safety nets and that charity will take care of the less fortunate. They don’t often tell us that it won’t be their charity that will help the poor. But we already knew that to be the case, didn’t we? But what of the baby Jesus?
Randian Yaron Brook at a Seattle Town Hall,
They love the little baby Jesus. They tell us so all the time. They just don’t believe in Christian morality.
Goldy wrote that it would be inappropriate to give little Rachel Beckwith a little space in his political blog. And yet it is somehow appropriate to bash the faith of hundreds of millions of Christians, including tens of millions of American Democrats and progressives, 52 times a year.
A post about Christian hypocricy would be one thing, but that’s not what you do. What the fuck is up with that, Goldy? What does it tell us that this is your only contribution here anymore. Do you have personal issues or something? That’d be my bet. Would you care to talk about it? Or we could just use this Christmas Day Bible Bash thread you started to discuss why you believe a weekly indiscriminate Christian bash is appropriate for a progressive political blog.
So what’s so horribly wrong with taking care of yourself? What’s wrong with taking responsibility for your life? What’s wrong with being productive and looking after yourself?
Were you put here to be responsible for the happiness, health, and welfare of others? do you live for yourself and your goals or do you exist for “the commons?”
Merry Christmas and Happy Yule!
There is so much Paganism blended with Christiantiy that it almost makes Christianity a made-up religion.
What a minute!! They’re all made up!
Where deadtoad? Show us “the facts”!
@8
Actually, agreeing with you on that one, Puddy.
Merry Christmas everybody!
“So what’s so horribly wrong with taking care of yourself? What’s wrong with taking responsibility for your life? What’s wrong with being productive and looking after yourself?”
That’s like coming up with a whine about having to walk and chew gum at the same time. There’s nothing wrong with taking care of yourself. Nor is there’s nothing wrong with amassing wealth. But when it’s done without a drop of concern or compassion for those far less fortunate than you, it’s called heartlessness, selfishness and greed. Please try to understand that it is your heartlessness and greed that you need to defend here, not your desire to take care of yourself and to accumulate wealth. Explain to us today, on Christmas Day, why it is necessary for you, a Randroid, to exclude compassion for the less fortunate from your life in order to be a success.
“do you live for yourself and your goals or do you exist for “the commons?””
The usual Randian false choice quiz. Why is it perceived by Randroids as it always having to be one or the other? That’s the kind of shit that makes Randroids appear to be both stupid and selfish. Perhaps a better question to put to you would be, why do you Randroids believe that it is necessary to sacrifice your humanity in order to achieve success?
Merry Christmas, my most excellent Neo-Socialist friends!
Steve,I take it you live for the commons, then. Can I borrow $1 million at no interest for the next 1,000 years?
@6
Do you have children? Nieces, Nephews? Are we not responsible for their safety and well-being? What about elderly parents? Would you not do like I do and take care of getting the leaves off my parents roof every fall so that my 80 year old father doesn’t have to climb on the roof? Maybe if I didn’t get the ladder out the magic of the free market would somehow get those leaves out of the gutters?
For 15 years I ran group-homes for adults with developmental disabilities, people who could not care for or be responsible for their own happiness, health, and welfare. Based on the those years of caring for others, based on the joy I get for helping my nieces and nephews, and the happiness I get from seeing my 80 year old parents doing well and still living in the house they built with their own hands in 1962, I’d say fuck ya’, being responsible for the happiness, health, and welfare of others is a really huge part of why I’m here.
@13 see #14.
“Steve,I take it you live for the commons, then.”
Nope. You guys really do seem stuck in that either/or mentality. It’s a false choice. If you really don’t understand this, then that just goes back to why I think Randroids are both selfish and stupid. Anyways, I benefit from the commons and I contribute to it. Randroids take from the commons and then whine about giving anything back. Do you Randroids think you’re all some kind of Galtian freedom warriors or something? Here’s a clue. You’re not. You wouldn’t be jack shit without the commons.
@16
Those are the guys that when they see and injury accident where police and fire haven’t shown up yet, they just keep on driving, rather than stopping to help.
Michael & Steve,
Well, aren’t WE just in love with ourselves!
@17 No doubt.
@18
No, not really. You’re just kinda F’d in the head.
I’m just espousing the very things that my Republican grandfather taught me.
@18 heh. Far less than any off-the-shelf, self-loving, libertarian warrior. My, how you selfish, stupid fools do admire yourselves.
Randroids and libertarians do not understand the notion of a social compact, the notion upon which this country was founded. They also fail to understand that no person’s success is the product of only his or her own efforts. Randroids and libertarians would love Somalia, and, hey, I hear it has nice beaches (if you’re armed).
As an atheist (who studies the Bible and other religious scripture from time to time), I wish all my liberal/progressive/lefty leaning fellow heroes a happy winter holiday celebration no matter how your religion or other most deeply held convictions guide you.
The trolls??? Uhh… no comment.
Sorry not to thank you all for the good wishes today.
I do know how much this day means to many of you, but I have been to pre-occupied with building brand loyalty in North Korea and China to pay too much attention to HA.
Big day for WalMart in China!
I have some hopes for North Korea too.
I am that I am.
@22
You mean like the ten commandments?
These guys aren’t conservatives, they’re radicals.
@24
That’s OK, tell Santa I said thanks for the case of Guinness.
@24 “but I have been to pre-occupied”
Fake! You’re a fake!! The real God doesn’t make typos!!! If you were a real god it would say “too” not “to”.
Whoa.. What a gut-busting winterfest feast..
Gonna rest a bit now..
why it is necessary for you, a Randroid, to exclude compassion for the less fortunate from your life in order to be a success.
Is that like asking…
Should a company that hires illegals to pay them less than American wages to be economically viable, should that company be in business?
It’s time for the Christmas Day vocabulary quiz! I’m late tonight because … well, because, there was a hell of a lot of food and it was tougher than usual tonight because I’m half-tipsy on dinner champagne. My score is posted on the “Leaderboard” next to my initials “RR.”
http://www.merriam-webster.com/quiz/index.htm
I’ll even wish the trolls Merry Christmas. And, may the new year be progressive and prosperous for all (well, not all, but we’ll save those sentiments for later).
Fuck the trolls with Ayn Rand’s strap-on.
“Fuck the trolls with Ayn Rand’s strap-on.”
Ayn Rand willed that to your grandmother ’cause your grampa lost the lead in his pencil! So, go ask your granny if you can borrow her dildo.