Call me a scrooge, but after experiencing more than 40 Christmases and hearing/reading people's stories and opinions about it, I can say this Christian event is grossly overrated. Actually Christmas is originally not a Christian tradition. It is a pagan celebration called Saturnalia adopted by Emperor Constantine to encourage most people to adopt the new imperial religion. The birth of Jesus cannot be around the winter months since sheeps don't graze outside around that time. Go visit Palestine/Israel on December and experience the bitter winter around this time. Besides, the early Christians do not celebrate Christmas - it was Constantine who invented (adopted) it for Christianity.
What about the commercial aspect of Christmas - this gift giving? It's actually a Saturnalian practice also. However, the Romans those days gave only inexpensive gifts (mostly potteries and wax figures) since gift of value would mark social status and that would be contrary to the spririt than the season. Now that's something to think about. Try giving inexpensive gifts these days and they will most likely end up in the trash can.
I don't celebrate Christmas anymore not because I'm not a Christian ( hell, I will celebrate a Muslim or Hindu holiday if I choose to) but because I can afford not to. My daughter is hardly a child anymore and as much as she wish for a christmas tree and other decors these days (and although I am very much inclined to humour her on that), I don't think they're worth the cost and time to put up.
So goodbye Santa Claus and the three kings (and sorry Mr. Sy we can't have more transactions) for now. They say, Christmas is for the children and I dare not disagree with that because I've been a child too. If I will have a new child to please in the future I may come to resurrect you and I will await and celebrate Christmas more eagerly and extravagantly like the Romans did during Saturnalia. But for now, this thing called Christmas is something that I will comfortably choose not to celebrate. Some people (especially the flood victims lately) were not able to celebrate Christmas because thay can't afford to. I don't celebrate it because I can afford not to. Lucky guy :).
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
A bull in a china shop
Sometimes I could be a bull in a china shop. I can be too frank and brutal for my own good. I am not proud of it but like the scorpion who bit the frog he was riding while crossing the stream "I am a scorpion, I can't help it!" (They both drowned, by the way). That's a cause for concern especially if you live in a culture like ours where a lot of people harbors beliefs they simply inherited from their forebears without giving it the benefit of thinking why they are adopting it. Most of our beliefs are inherited - not a result of critical thinking (If you do that in business, you will be broke in less than a year). And if you are somebody who needs to put a reason for believing on something and then proceeds to speak your mind, you end of like me - a bull in a china shop.
As I've said this is me and I have the right to be this way. If you don't think so, try reading more books especially those concerning freedom, liberty, justice, etc. Not everything is found in the bible, pastor.
Some people tend to forget that there is such thing as individual freedom. To be what you want to be, to have your own set of beliefs and to express your opinions on anything - so long as you do not transgress the freedom of others. You are a believer and I am not, does that make me less human than you? Does that make me an enemy? It probably would if you are a rabid religious fundamentalist. If so, then I couldn't care less for you. Fundamentalism and fanaticism is anathema to individual freedom and people who adhere to them should not live in libertarian society. This might be a third world country with the ordinary people ignorant about secular ideas but that doesn't mean that I have to tread carefully so as not to offend some feelings. Hell, we always have our feelings being offended - that's a fact of life. If you've been living in an environment where people are so cautious with opinions and ideas as if living in glass houses, then don't venture outside. Stay home. But people are changing, kids are getting more rational and argumentative, they're becoming more educated and exposed to more ideas. Sooner, you could have a child like me, a bull in a china shop whose opinions and ideas you need to engage. And what will you do?
I live and let live. I only have one life to live and I want to use it to do something else - not to be a blueprint for some young people to emulate. I am not here to be somebody else's role model, much less my daughter's or my nephews' and nieces/. Role models are overrated icons. Young people don't need role models - they have to discover their own identity. What they need is just guidance. What they need is somebody to help them identify the options they have not to choose it for them. This one could lead to self-sufficiency, this one could lead you towards mediocrity and that one could lead you some place I've never been. Just that - and let them choose.
Now, I understand that what I'm writing here have offended quite a few people, one way or another. If you are one of them and you really feel strongly about it, you can send me a reply and I will post it in this blog (anonymous if you want). But never blame the bull for breaking your china. Ideas and beliefs are not supposed to be like china - they should be more durable, more lasting than steel and bronze and must withstand the forces of reason. Otherwise, we will never know the truth.
As I've said this is me and I have the right to be this way. If you don't think so, try reading more books especially those concerning freedom, liberty, justice, etc. Not everything is found in the bible, pastor.
Some people tend to forget that there is such thing as individual freedom. To be what you want to be, to have your own set of beliefs and to express your opinions on anything - so long as you do not transgress the freedom of others. You are a believer and I am not, does that make me less human than you? Does that make me an enemy? It probably would if you are a rabid religious fundamentalist. If so, then I couldn't care less for you. Fundamentalism and fanaticism is anathema to individual freedom and people who adhere to them should not live in libertarian society. This might be a third world country with the ordinary people ignorant about secular ideas but that doesn't mean that I have to tread carefully so as not to offend some feelings. Hell, we always have our feelings being offended - that's a fact of life. If you've been living in an environment where people are so cautious with opinions and ideas as if living in glass houses, then don't venture outside. Stay home. But people are changing, kids are getting more rational and argumentative, they're becoming more educated and exposed to more ideas. Sooner, you could have a child like me, a bull in a china shop whose opinions and ideas you need to engage. And what will you do?
I live and let live. I only have one life to live and I want to use it to do something else - not to be a blueprint for some young people to emulate. I am not here to be somebody else's role model, much less my daughter's or my nephews' and nieces/. Role models are overrated icons. Young people don't need role models - they have to discover their own identity. What they need is just guidance. What they need is somebody to help them identify the options they have not to choose it for them. This one could lead to self-sufficiency, this one could lead you towards mediocrity and that one could lead you some place I've never been. Just that - and let them choose.
Now, I understand that what I'm writing here have offended quite a few people, one way or another. If you are one of them and you really feel strongly about it, you can send me a reply and I will post it in this blog (anonymous if you want). But never blame the bull for breaking your china. Ideas and beliefs are not supposed to be like china - they should be more durable, more lasting than steel and bronze and must withstand the forces of reason. Otherwise, we will never know the truth.
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