[BC] Merry Christmas!!!!

[Larry Bloomfield]

Steve, Ernie and all:

A friend sent me a Happy Holidays card a couple of Decembers ago. 
Inside, it said: "Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Solemn Ramadan, 
Joyous Kwanzaa." Only in America!

When I was a kid, there were only two holidays in December: Christmas 
and Christmas vacation.

Now, Americans will celebrate the 12 days of Christmas. They also 
celebrate the eight days of Jewish Hanukkah and the seven days of 
African-American Kwanzaa. And every so often they celebrate the days of 
Ramadan in December.

December isn't changing. America is. In Los Angeles, there are more 
Buddhists than Lutherans or Episcopalians. In Chicago, there are more 
Muslims than Presbyterians or Methodists. In Memphis, there are more 
Hindus and Sikhs than Quakers and Unitarians. America's spiritual 
holidays no longer are confined to Dec. 25 and one Sunday in spring. In 
recent weeks, Americans celebrated five days of Hindu Diwali and the 
birthday of Sikhism's founding guru. Baha'is and Shintoists also marked 
holy days. Things must have been simpler a millennium ago.

When the clock struck 2000, there were about 270 million people living 
in America. That was the population of the whole world in 1000. The 
whole world lives here now.

America isn't a Christian nation. It's a nation of Christians. It's also 
a nation of Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Shintoists and 
every other sort of religious adherent, not to mention atheists, 
agnostics and undecideds. How we handle that might be our greatest 
challenge of this century.

"In the New World of religious diversity, pluralism is not a given but 
an achievement," Diana L. Eck, founder of the Pluralism Project, wrote 
in Harvard Magazine a few years ago. "Pluralism will require not just 
tolerance, but the active seeking of understanding ... In the world into 
which we now move, our ignorance of one another will be increasingly 
costly."

According to my encyclopedia, a society has three choices: Pluralism, 
anarchism and totalitarianism. Wish all multiple-choice questions were 
that easy.

So, this holiday season, don't just "tolerate" the holy days of others. 
Get to know them. Watch. Ask questions. Participate. Find out that 
Christmas isn't just about giving but also about liberation and 
salvation. Learn that Ramadan isn't just about fasting but also about 
compassion and dependence on God. Ask someone about the seven guiding 
principles of Kwanzaa, which include unity, responsibility and faith. 
Tell your all-America kids that Hanukkah isn't the Jewish Christmas.

"What is most inspiring about Hanukkah," historian Thomas Cahill writes 
in "Desire of the Everlasting Hills," a new book about Jesus, "is that 
it memorializes the first clear victory in history for freedom of 
worship." Now there's something we all can celebrate, and not only in 
America.

One final note: When reading a copy of the Zoroastrian Zend-Avesta many 
years ago, I came across a passage the said: ?When I come again, I will 
be laid in straw, surrounded by domestic animals. Bring with you Gold, 
for I am a King, Bring with you frankincense for I am of the Spirit and 
bring with you Myrrh for I am of this world.? The three wise men were 
Zoroastrian priest living the fulfillment of their prophesies.

Happy holy days.


Steve wrote:

>----- Original Message ----- 
>From: "Ernie Belanger" <armtx at mhcable.com>
>To: "Broadcast Radio Mailing List" <broadcast at radiolists.net>
>Sent: Friday, December 23, 2005 9:44 AM
>Subject: [BC] Merry Christmas!!!!
>
>  
>
>>>Ok time to not be politically correct.
>>>      
>>>
>
>  
>
>>>It this greeting offends some I'm sorry, truly. It is not meant to do so.
>>>      
>>>
>Take the greeting in the Spirit in which it is meant.
>
>  
>
>>>I wish each you and your family a Very Merry Christmas!
>>>      
>>>
>
>  
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>>>Kindest Regards,
>>>Ernie
>>>      
>>>
>
>
>I was adopted and raised in the reform Jewish Tradition. We had a tree at
>Christmas, I sang the carols in school and was in the plays in elementary
>school. Nobody back then (50's & 60's) had any problems with what many do
>now.
>
>Merry Christmas to you as well Ernie and to everyone is this fine group of
>pros. I go away everyday learning something from this group.
>
>Steve
>Steve Walker Productions
>
>
>
>_______________________________________________
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>
>  
>

-- 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Larry Bloomfield, KA6UTC
1980 25th St.
Florence, OR 97439
(541) 902-2424 - Everything
http://www.Tech-Notes.tv
See you on the Taste of
NAB 2006 Road Show