Some Early Christmas Wisdom

Happy Thanksgiving, all. It should not surprise you than on this great holiday I'm playing on the computer and adding to my blog. Nerds just celebrate thankfullness differently. (Later, I'll watch some Star Wars. I'm thankful for light sabers too). Speaking of nerdom - A friend has directed me toward "facebook" - which I have to admit is a lot more fun than I had suspected it would be. How could a nerd like me not have known that??? If you're a facebook person, or decide to join the fun - be sure to stop by my page and say Hi.

The pic on the blog is my house - which I decorated for our first Virginia Christmas (we are very excited by the whole thing). If you are wondering: "How did a geek like Kellie Rupard-Schorr hang lights on her roof all by herself when everyone knows she is the clumsiest nerd alive?" - I'll have to tell you about the "magic pole" (otherwise known as a "shingle hanger" )that allowed me to do the whole thing without getting on a ladder (or falling off one).

Now to the wisdom: My friend Debra sent me an email forward written by Ben Stein about the issue of the word "Christmas" - and our yearly fight over stores saying Holidays instead of Christmas and outlawing nativity scenes in town squares. I verified it through snopes.com (nerd note: always check stories on a verifier - don't just believe it because its on the web!) and printed the actual part said by Stein. It think it is good wisdom as we prepare for Christ's birth celebration.

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From the CBS Morning Show, December 2005 by Ben Stein (in regard to the media hype surrounding Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson)

My confession: I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are: Christmas trees.

It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, 'Merry Christmas' to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu. If people want a crèche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period.

I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship Nick and Jessica and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where Nick and Jessica came from and where the America we knew went to.