Cairo Association of Teachers - Newsletter

CAT Tracks for November 12, 2008 'TIS THE SEASON

Merry Christmas!

N0...Happy Holidays!

No...Merry CHRISTmas!!

HELL NO...HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

Whatever...

For those who get incensed over such things, one familiar phrase applies..."It's the economy, stupid!"

I believe in God...and especially one of his "newbier" angels! I'm comfortable with whatever you believe...or don't believe.

I generally select Christmas cards of the "Season's Greetings" variety because that's what MY angel did. She did so because she was sensitive to the beliefs of others...citing her own Jewish ancestry. I confess...I don't know if she was concerned that one of the people receiving a card from us was an agnostic or atheist. I believe that MY angel probably figured that the folks on our mailing list did NOT concern themselves with such trivialities.

Now, reading (yet another) article on the "holy war" that ensues each year over "greeting of friendship", I fully realize the possibility that our use of the "generic" HOLIDAY cards may have offended some of our more "religious" friends. If so, I sincerely apologize!

Turning from the sincere...

If you are on our, uh, my mailing list and you have a decided preference...drop me an e-mail specifying which type of card you wish to receive and I will compile two separate lists for the coming season..."God's People" and "The Devil's Own".

In the meantime...

GOD in Heaven...how long have the "seasonal" decorations been up in the stores???

Maybe THAT is why my mood turned to the morose this past weekend...absent any "anniversaries" to lament. It's the beginning of my Seasonal Affective Disorder...a SAD tradition!!!

So, just in case I forget to send you a card...

Merry F'ing Christmas!

EDITOR'S NOTE: Despite Ron's vociferous objections, CAT Tracks has chosen to censor his holiday greeting due to the uncertainty of the age of our viewing audience. Ron made persuasive argument, citing the authority of a former Catholic nun...that expletives such as "mother f***er" were acceptable, just as long as the expletor did NOT use the infamous "GD". Sorry, Ron...you have been ruled out of order!

Group's new Christmas message: Be good, not godly

WASHINGTON (AP) -- You better watch out. There is a new combatant in the Christmas wars.

Ads proclaiming, "Why believe in a god? Just be good for goodness' sake," will appear on Washington buses starting next week and running through December.

The American Humanist Association unveiled the provocative $40,000 holiday ad campaign Tuesday.

In lifting lyrics from "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," the Washington-based group is wading into what has become a perennial debate over commercialism, religion in the public square and the meaning of Christmas.

"We are trying to reach our audience, and sometimes in order to reach an audience, everybody has to hear you," said Fred Edwords, spokesman for the humanist group.

"Our reason for doing it during the holidays is there are an awful lot of agnostics, atheists and other types of nontheists who feel a little alone during the holidays because of its association with traditional religion."

To that end, the ads and posters will include a link to a Web site that will seek to connect and organize like-minded thinkers in the D.C. area, Edwords said.

Edwords said the purpose isn't to argue that God doesn't exist or change minds about a deity, although "we are trying to plant a seed of rational thought and critical thinking and questioning in people's minds."

The group defines humanism as "a progressive philosophy of life that, without theism, affirms our responsibility to lead ethical lives of value to self and humanity."

Last month, the British Humanist Association caused a ruckus announcing a similar campaign on London buses with the message: "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life."

In Washington, the humanists' campaign comes as conservative Christian groups gear up their efforts to keep Christ in Christmas. In the past five years, groups such as the American Family Association and the Catholic League have criticized or threatened boycotts of retailers who use generic "holiday" greetings.

In mid-October, the American Family Association started selling buttons that say "It's OK to say Merry Christmas." The humanists' entry into the marketplace of ideas did not impress AFA president Tim Wildmon.

"It's a stupid ad," he said. "How do we define 'good' if we don't believe in God? God in his word, the Bible, tells us what's good and bad and right and wrong. If we are each ourselves defining what's good, it's going to be a crazy world."

Also on Tuesday, the Liberty Counsel, a conservative Christian legal group based in Orlando, Florida, launched its sixth annual "Friend or Foe Christmas Campaign." Liberty Counsel has intervened in disputes over nativity scenes and government bans on Christmas decorations, among other things.

"It's the ultimate grinch to say there is no God at a time when millions of people around the world celebrate the birth of Christ," said Mathew Staver, the group's chairman and dean of the Liberty University School of Law. "Certainly, they have the right to believe what they want, but this is insulting."

Best-selling books by authors such as Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens have fueled interest in "the new atheism" -- a more in-your-face argument against God's existence.

Yet few Americans describe themselves as atheist or agnostic; a Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life poll from earlier this year found 92 percent of Americans believe in God.

There was no debate at the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority over whether to take the ad. Spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said the agency accepts ads that aren't obscene or pornographic.