Day 3. Keeping Christ in Christmas

Today’s blog entry is courtesy of my dear friend Jodi.  If you have been paying attention you may remember that Jodi wrote a blog entry for me last year. You can read it here.  What can I say about Jodi?  She is the only person I’d ever let call me a fat bastard in print. She wrote this for her blog www.thejodithompson.com and agreed to let me post it here.

I’m seeing a lot of things on my feed imploring me to keep Christ in Christmas. I was scrolling along, nodding my head in assent when I came to a shocking realization – a lot of the same people were posting some fairly un-Christlike stuff about other people.

I’m not talking about saying that Aunt Susie’s butt looked bigger than normal on Thanksgiving. We are human and we slip up. (I apologize to all the Aunt Susie’s out there, but I have a lot of aunts and none of them named Susie. I couldn’t take a chance with any other name.)

I am talking about saying the homeless should just quit drinking and get jobs.

I am talking about posting “news” reports disparaging people not like them, even when they KNOW the reports to be untrue. (Just today I have read untrue and exaggerated stories disparaging blacks, whites, atheists, Christians, and Jews. It has been a slow day for bashing Muslims and Hispanics, but I assure you that is unusual.)

I am talking about blaming “welfare scum” for the financial ills of everyone not on welfare.

I am talking about slut shaming Sasha & Malia Obama because they dared to wear above the knee skirts and be bored when they had to go to work with their dad.

That is just the tip of the hate-filled iceberg.

I just have to ask – where is Christ in all that hate? I do not care if the clerk at the grocery store says “Merry Christmas.” I. Just. Do. Not. Care. I do care that people are assuming all homeless are that way because they are too lazy or drunk to get a job. I do care that people think it is okay to LIE about people not like them simply because they are not like them. I do care that people don’t take responsibility for their own big screen TV and new SUV, but instead blame it on the ten cents a day of their taxes that go to welfare. I do care that they bash the First Daughters for the sin of being the child of a leader they have decided to hate.

I know that there are people, homeless and not, that are too lazy or drunk to get a job. I also know that the majority of homeless are suffering from untreated mental illness, others are just caught up in the same bad luck that can be found in any neighborhood. And what about homeless children? Do they deserve what they get? (On a personal note, one of our local shelters recently had two PhDs, an electrical engineer and a surgical nurse. They were all employed and homeless.)

I know that there are plenty of people doing bad things and I believe they deserve whatever storm comes their way. I also know that if you knowingly spread information you know to be incorrect, you are a liar. You are a liar just as surely as the person who created the lie.

I know there are people who abuse the welfare system. I would dearly love to get my ideas to the people in charge. (Hello? How about making SNAP operate a bit more like WIC? And allowing for the purchase of things like toilet paper and soap?) I also know that there are families who are using welfare programs to get through a tough time and they would love nothing more than to say they didn’t need that help.

I know that I want no part in bashing two teenagers because they didn’t act enthused about attending the pardon of a turkey — especially when they would have been skewered for overacting if they had tried to be animated for the cameras. I’m sure they are imperfect, but quite honestly, I’d rather have them hanging around than a lot of what I see walking in to our local high school. On the scale of American teens they fall squarely in the “not bad” category.

What I know most of all is that Jesus Christ would not care about his name being recognized with a holiday. He would care about his name being associated with people who spread hate and dissent. If you want to keep the Christ in Christmas feed the hungry, love the unlovable, and be a better person than you were yesterday.