New Year News

Sorry about the lack of posts for the past two weeks... Work gets cuh-razy during the holidays, plus there was a lot of time spent with family and friends, and I incorrectly believed that I was having a computer crisis. Did you know that if you have an Mac adapter with the wrong wattage (60 vs. 85), it will appear to charge the computer, but won't allow it to start up if it's plugged in? Neither did we! So I spent about 5 days of the holiday sans computer because I incorrectly believed that I was having video card issues again. Silly me!

But here's the New Year News:

God Obscures Perception is getting married!

We've been together over 6 years and became officially engaged in October (on our anniversary). We've debated a lot about the cultural meanings and history of marriage, what it means to the LGBTQ community, and if getting married is the right thing to do. Ultimately, though, we decided that not getting married does not help the gay community achieve that right for themselves. We'll be having a completely non-religious ceremony with some nods to atheism, officiated by our best friend. I didn't post the news any earlier because we didn't want to even think about planning anything until after the New Year. So here we are!

Not that I'm interested in having a wedding remotely inspired by anything on The Knot (but they do have some decent organizing tools that we can use as broad outlines), but can I mention how irritating it was that they do not have an option for an "atheist" or "non-religious" tag for profiles?

I selected "Intercultural" because my parents are very devout Catholics. That's practically like another culture, right? Or would that make it "Interfaith?" At least they have a "Same Sex" option. These options are so limiting! Why bother even giving tags like this?

That's why I love Offbeat Bride. Just doing a search for "atheist" on that page turns up about 40 results. As opposed to the 10 results you get on The Knot, which mostly features different pages of the same 3 threads.

And I don't think you'll find many articles titled "Musings on Feminism and Weddings" on The Knot. While our wedding will probably seem completely irreverent to some, we hope that it will be a thoughtful celebration of our personal commitment to one another and an expression of our appreciation that we are legally allowed to wed and enjoy the benefits of marriage... with our deepest regret that same-sex couples are usually denied this right and our hope that this will change someday soon.

Plus a really great party.

Holy Virgin Reindeer!

Mary, Mother of REINDEER! Thank you, so so much, Zoo Borns, for lighting up my rainy weekend with this gem:

The little Reindeer was a surprise when he was born at the Zoo on Sept. 18 in an exclusively female Reindeer exhibit. (Scientists do not believe there was any miracle involved, though; Boris’ mother was just unexpectedly pregnant when she arrived at the Zoo in May.)

"Scientists do not believe any miracle was involved"... Thank you, San Diego Zoo, for having a fabulous sense of humor!

And "Joey to the World" everyone! 

The Story of the Christ Child

At work, I began a discussion about having religious Christmas music playing and whether or not anyone was bothered by it. Generic secular Christmas music certainly doesn't bother me, in fact, I rather enjoy it! Even the religious music doesn't bother me as much. I grew up with it, so I sort of have nostalgic feelings towards it. Although, "Silent Night" and anything specifically referencing a virgin birth is sort of weird to me when it plays in a public place. Like a restaurant. I just think it's a little odd in a restaurant where a decent percentage of our guests are Jewish or non-religious.

Gross. That's just weird.

This led to me telling a story about my best friend in 6th grade whose father was Catholic and her mother Jewish. The family celebrated both Hanukkah and Christmas. Coming from an area with very few Jewish families, my friend and neighbor explained to me the story of Hanukkah and its traditions. However, while the family put up Christmas decorations and exchanged presents on Christmas, my friend had never been to a Catholic church and had absolutely no idea what the Biblical Christmas story was... so I explained it to her.

Now, as I told this story, a co-worker who grew up in a relatively non-religious household confessed that as an adult, he really didn't know the Biblical story either. So, I tried to explain it. And I laughed. It really sounded ridiculous.

An angel tells a teenage girl named Mary that she's going to have a baby! But Mary is a VIRGIN! Mary cons her boyfriend, Joseph, into marrying her so she will be respectable. Joseph calls Mary a lying whore and stomps off. That night, he's visited by an angel in a dream, telling him that Mary is telling the truth. This scares the crap out of Joseph, so he marries the now-pregnant-by-God Mary.

When Mary is uber-pregnant, the couple travels to Bethlehem to pay taxes (or participate in the census, depending on the version). Mary rides on a donkey. Anyway, when they get to Bethlehem, the inns are all booked up, so they end up sleeping in a stable. There, Mary gives birth to Jesus. And a whole boatload of angels show up and sing, probably freaking everybody out.

Meanwhile, a great big star shines overhead, and a bunch of shepherds travel to the stable and pay homage to Jesus. Because some angels told them to do it. OR if you read a different account, some "wise men" see the star, interpret it as a sign, and travel all the way to Bethlehem from who knows where and bring Baby Jesus some useless, but probably valuable gifts.

Wow.  As always, you can count on Wikipedia for plainly spelling out all of the wonderful contradictions that exist in the Bible even for the most simple of stories. I love it. And as an adult, I now get to enjoy the incredulity on the faces of those who grew up in a totally secular environment as I tell the traditional Christian story of Christmas.

But you know the version I like best? The short, but sweet, version told on Pee Wee's Playhouse Christmas Special, our household's favorite holiday movie tradition! It's utterly delightful.

It's the TRUE MEANING of Christmas at 1:20. Thanks for explaining it to me Pee Wee!

X-mas or Christmas? Who cares.

Fuck it! I just like the whole holiday season! I really don't care what it's called or if it's politically correct to acknowledge Hanukkah and Kwanzaa and Ashura and everything else. Celebrate Festivus! Why not?

You know what I like about this time of year? It's all the pretty decorations. I like seeing green garland and bows wrapped around normally ugly street lamps. I like that stores and restaurants bring greenery into their businesses. I like plants. Having trees brought indoors, even fake ones, is really pleasant.

I can't help the fact that I was raised in a Christian home with typical Christian traditions. Therefore, I have warm fuzzy memories of holidays. There's just something inherently cheerful about this time of year. Now, do I appreciate nativity scenes going up on public property? No. I really don't. And I'm sure if I was raised in a Jewish household, the bombardment of Christmas upon my life would get a little annoying.

And you know what else? I don't think "Jesus is the Reason for the Season." I think that most societies have celebrated during this time of the year in some way or another. Maybe to brighten up the dark and cold winter months? To mark the shortest day of the year in some way? Or maybe to celebrate that they had enough food put away for the cold season. Of course, the simple fact that we are reaching the last month of the year is enough reason to celebrate. One big lead up to New Year's. It's fun. And I enjoy it.

I'm hoping that one of this site's followers will kindly remind me in the comments of where he read this, but I really liked what he told me the other day... [EDIT: "How to stop worrying and love Christmas" by Mitch Benn in the collection "An Atheists Guide to Christmas"] Why have a problem celebrating Christmas, a holiday with CHRIST in its name? Even as an atheist, why would that be an issue? It shouldn't be! The days of the week are all references to ancient gods and we don't acknowledge them. So why be perturbed by a holiday called Christmas?

Fabulous Ugly Sweater Party from 2005

For me, Christmas is a secular holiday that involves making inanimate objects look pretty, getting crafty, baking and cooking, giving gifts, and spending time with family and friends. And getting totally wasted on a variety of alcoholic beverages. That's important to us. This year, we will be putting up lights, a tree, and hopefully attend at least ONE ugly sweater party. That's what the holiday is all about.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Red Kuri Squash for my Thanksgiving Day soup!

I am up ridiculously late because I wanted to prep/cook a lot of vegetarian goodies before tomorrow morning.

This year, I am very grateful that my two older brothers are also atheists. Our sibling Thanksgiving has been a tradition for several years, and I appreciate not having that awkward moment of "grace." Mostly, I will be thankful that I have family close by whenever I need them, and they have been there for me many times. I am thankful that my baby niece is beautiful and happy and healthy and that modern science has made childbirth safer for all women. I am very lucky.

But, then again, I don't believe in luck. I like the term "blessings," but it doesn't really mean anything for me. I guess I could say that I just feel grateful for what I have.

What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving? Science? I sure am. And to live in a country where I'm at least not stoned to death for espousing my views. Thanks, America.

Eat up, everyone!