'Tis the Season

December marks the annual plunge of a seemingly otherwise rational people into a world of delusion. The Holidays, as they are called, celebrate the supposed birth of Jesus or Christ, or both: the issue seems quite unclear. Anyway, this man whose mere existence is by no means confirmed, and who some people think of as God, is hailed as the King of Israel, the birth of whom the Book of Isaiah allegedly foretells. Carols sing the praises of Emmanuel, the name by which the new king shall be known.


In fact the king of Israel mentioned in Isaiah is not Jesus at all. His name is Maher'shalal'abaz and just happens to be Isaiah's son who he has with the priestess of the temple. This Jehovah's scheme (one of several) is to establish Israel as an an intermediate power positioned between Egypt to the Southwest and the Northern nations of Assyria, Babylonia, and Anatolia. That the birth of Jesus is foretold in this book is an absurd statement, made by "wolves in sheep's clothing" meant to persuade the easily convinced. But it is more than that.


The Christmas Season is a cruel joke society plays on it's children. They are led to believe that life is all about snow and mistletoe "and presents on the tree." They're bundled off to see old Saint Knick to tell him what they want for Christmas; this old man nothing but a hireling who couldn't care less what the kids want, his only qualification for the job being that he doesn't let his annoyance show. But it's Jesus' birthday! The Prince of Peace (another plagiarized bit of Isaiah) has come and now there will be "peace on earth, goodwill toward men."

Really?

And when is all this supposed to take place? It's been over two-thousand years; don't you think if there was any truth to this absurd fantasy that we'd see some results by now? But what he have had is an almost unbroken string of wars since 1951, all of them based on false evidence and outright lies. The monk Thomas Merton remarked once that the Catholic Church, which takes a strong position against abortion, the "murder" of an unborn child, takes no position against nuclear war. Pius XII collaborated with the Nazis openly while the latter were exterminating Jews along with other "inferior" races. Joy to the world?

While the world struggles with war, poverty, disease, and oppression, the latest addition to Christmas lore is that, because the ice is melting at the north Pole due to Global Warming, Santa has to find a new location for his workshop. A real crisis; no?" But not a word about ending the war in Iraq and bringing the troops home. Peace on Earth? Humbug!

Oh, but let's not spoil the illusion by bringing up serious matters. More humbug. The reason we have so many serious problems is because no one dealt with them when they weren't so serious, when matters could have been more easily resolved. But no! We have to have our escapism, something else to focus on while we continue to be herded like cattle, propagandized into near total stultification; where we are taxed without representation, sent off to wars without declaration, and where the nation's wealth has disappeared without explanation. The only good about finding Santa a new place to put his workshop is that it won't be budgeted by Congress (ie. taxpayers). It would be nice, though, if we could find new homes for the neo-con and elitist thugs who got us into the present situation; Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Perle, Wolfowitz, Kristol, and the rest of the dirty pack. Leavenworth would be good for openers; but how about Guantanamo?