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<DIV style="FONT-WEIGHT: normal; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: verdana">
<DIV>As the only person on this list who has spent time one-on-one in person
with both Joan Opyr AND Jerry </DIV>
<DIV>Falwell -- yes, it's true -- and as a worshipper of Jesus Christ, who
I will see in person some day, let me just say that once again, Joan hits
several nails right on the head with her rhetorical hammer. Her postscript
is what I should have engraved on my Christmas cards. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>O'Reilly's idea that Christmas celebrates the birthday of "Jesus the
philosopher" is pathetic. No one who worships Christ as Lord believes
him to be just an especially enlightened philosopher, and those who don't
worship him don't care. So, really now, is it a hallmark (no pun
intended, Joan) of true devotion to empty the Savior of all that Christians
believe him to be and then fill up the holiday with the excreta of
commercialism, just so we can triumphantly say that we're a "Christian" nation
celebrating his birth? Jesus as mannequin, mascot, mammon or man -- why
bother? Wouldn't Jesus prefer that he be worshipped in spirit and in truth
by those called by his name, rather than as a float or a giant balloon in the
Macy's parade of false piety that Christmas in the U.S. has now become?
</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Yep, we Christians are really persecuted by "happy holidays" and "season's
greetings," and I hope that after we pay off our Visas and give last year's
stuff to Goodwill, we rise up to express our outrage -- if it doesn't take
us away from talk radio for too long. The poor, oppressed, lonely and
brutalized have hogged the spotlight of victimization for too long . .
although damned if they've gone largely unnoticed by such a "Christian"
nation. Huh.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>And by the way, I'm not beholden to Dec. 25, Jan. 6, or
Jesus-as-leap-year-baby; I'm beholden to him and grateful for those shameless
agitators who speak truth and shake things up. Bless you, Joan.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>And the rest of you as well,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>keely emerine mix</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>From:</B> <A
href="mailto:auntiestablishment@hotmail.com">Joan Opyr</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A
href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">Vision2020 Moscow</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, December 16, 2004 5:47
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [Vision2020] Merry Christmas
(I think)</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>Tom forwards the following from Dale Courtney's Blog:</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">“I've noticed a curious tendency
in the mainstream media to label this as a battle against the secularization
of Christmas. Actually, that battle has been ongoing for decades. What's new
this year is a concerted effort by the secularist Left to purge Christmas
altogether (Christian and secular) from our culture.”</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Yeah, this seems to be the latest
theme on Fox News, played ad nauseum on The O'Reilly Factory, Hannity
& Colmes, and the rest of the paranoid, right-wing echo chamber.
O'Reilly recently went so far as to tell a Jewish caller to his radio show
that "overwhelmingly, America is Christian. And the holiday is a federal
holiday honoring the philosopher Jesus. So, you don't wanna hear about
it? Impossible . . . . if you're really offended, you gotta go to
Israel then." Nice, huh? If you don't love that seedy-looking
department store Santa, or if you're not enjoying the four-thousand, nine
hundred, and fifty-sixth playing of Brenda Lee's "Rockin' Around the
Christmas Tree" over the PA system at Wal-Mart, then emigration is your only
recourse. America: love our hokey, crass, commercialized
Christmas or get the hell out of our country. We mean it
-- git!</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Listen, if a memo was sent
by "the American Left" to all Jews, Muslims, Pagans,
secularists, agnostics, atheists, and people who hate the Hallmark Store
telling us that now was the time to put the "X" back in X-Mas, how
come I didn't get a copy? Why am I not on Scrooge's mailing
list? What did I do wrong? Did he not see that big honking
menorah I put up in my living room window? Next year, I'm
going to light up the shrubbery with Stars of David.
</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Honestly, I do wonder just
what it would take to satisfy the likes of Dale Courteney, Bill
O'Reilly, and Jerry Falwell. Must we all fall down and recognize
December 25th as the birthday of Jesus? What about Orthodox Christians,
who celebrate on January 6th? Or Jehovah's Witnesses, who believe
passionately in Jesus as the Messiah but don't celebrate Christmas?
Since the Biblical evidence suggests that Jesus was born sometime in the
spring, it's all very tricky. Why does Jesus have an official
birthday, like the Queen of England? December 25th originally marked
a Roman celebration honoring the pagan god Mithras. The first
Christian Roman emperor, Constantine, decided it might be handy (and induce
more converts) to combine the two. But never mind. Who needs
history when we can have clap-trap? </SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">So, h</SPAN></FONT><FONT
face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">appy
birthday, Jesus. I hope you get a really nice cake this year and
not one of those candied fruit doorstops that Safeway sells for
a dollar a loaf. (Make that fifty cents a loaf if you
celebrate on the less popular January 6th.)</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Joan Opyr/Auntie
Establishment</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><A
href="http://www.auntie-establishment.com/">www.auntie-establishment.com</A> </SPAN></SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">PS: Come on, Dale, Bill, and
Jerry, tell the truth. It's all about buying stocking stuffers at
The Dollar Store, isn't it? If you really gave a damn about Christmas
-- if you really cared about Jesus the philosopher -- you'd quit
worrying about whether or not the staff at Target said "Merry Christmas" or
"Season's Greetings" and worry instead about the poor and the
hungry, the needy and the homeless. Someone this year would
have a job thanks to you, or a good meal, or a warm place to sleep.
Instead, I suspect, you'll just buy the kids a
Nintendo.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> </SPAN></FONT></DIV><BR
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