The true meaning of Christmas
Senators are debating whether it is right to do the people's business so close to Christmas.
NPR:
It began with Republican senators Jim DeMint of S. Carolina and Jon Kyl of Arizona strongly suggesting that efforts by Senate Democrats to get a 2011 spending bill as well as a nuclear-arms reduction treaty passed before the holiday break was somehow anti-Christmas. In fact, DeMint on Wednesday suggested it was downright "sacrilegious." On Tuesday, Kyl accused Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, of setting up a voting schedule on the issues that would disrespect "one of the two holiest of holidays for Christians."To read more of Reid's comments follow the link.
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Reid has suggested he would keep the Senate in session beyond its planned Friday recess to get work done. By Wednesday afternoon, an annoyed Reid took to the Senate floor to call out his Republican colleagues for what he characterized as sanctimonious whining - and suggested that the holiday-as-an-excuse delay in acting on the START Treaty and the omnibus spending bill may not play well with Americans who "don't get two weeks off, let alone one week off for Christmas."
More about Reid's plans as reported this afternoon in the Washington Post:
Harry Reid just talked to reporters about the timeline of don't ask don't tell, New START, and other last-minute initiatives. For those who want to see DADT repealed, there was both good news and bad news. The good news: Reid appeared to commit to holding the vote on the stand-alone repeal bill. And he vowed to prolong the session if necessary to get it and other things done. The bad news: He said he might not schedule the DADT repeal vote before Christmas. This has aides on the Hill worried.Read on for the worry.Asked if he would bring up DADT repeal to a vote, Reid said: "I don't know if I'll bring it up before Christmas." But he also clarified that the Senate would hold a vote on DADT and START "before this Congress ends."Even better, Reid added: "We are in session, if necessary, up to January 5th. That is the clock our Republican colleagues need to run out. It's a long clock."
One Senate aide involved with the talks points out, however, that not holding the vote on DADT before Christmas is taking a big risk.
One wonders if Jim DeMint and Jon Kyl know American history well enough to realize that if Democrats are "sacrilegious" for expecting Congress to work up to and after Christmas, then our Founding Fathers were so much more sacrilegious -- for Congress met and worked *on* December 25, 1789, the first Christmas under the United States Constitution!
Why did Congress meet then? Because Christmas didn't mean much in America for quite a long time -- it was just another workday in the eyes of many. The Puritan Pilgrims outlawed it in colonial New England as an "unbiblical, papist" holiday, opting for Thanksgiving as a more wholesome Protestant alternative. Boston banned it up to 1681, fining anyone caught celebrating it a tidy sum. And it wasn't declared a federal holiday until 1870 -- just 140 years ago, in a country that's 234 years old!
Hmmm... Accusing others of holiday blasphemy against Jesus while advocating for militarism over peace, the rich over the poor, discrimination over equity, the death penalty over mercy, environmental ravaging of God's green earth over wise stewardship of it... What would the Christ who preached against violence, retaliation, hatred, bloodshed, greed and gluttony, calling for love, generosity and self-restraint in their stead, have to say about that? Ah yes... "Blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel!" (Matthew 23:24).
Posted by Gregory Orloff![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.episcopalcafe.com/lead/nav-commenters.gif)
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December 16, 2010 8:02 PM
A nuclear arms-reduction treaty?
How DARE the Senate contribute to "Peace On Earth", so close to Christmas!
O_o
JC Fisher
Posted by tgflux![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.episcopalcafe.com/lead/nav-commenters.gif)
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December 17, 2010 12:24 AM
Go Reid! Sanctimonious whining is exactly what those lot of hyenas is doing. They're slinging around a sacred season to give themselves time to delay or properly vote against issues...not because they truly think it wouldn't be in the spirit of the season, but because they need some more time to pull whatever they're trying to pull. Some people would stoop to just about anything, apparently.
I'd think it almost borders on blasphemy, them suggesting that buckling down and deciding issues of peace and equality is not in the spirit of Christmas. Remember what Jesus said when his followers were accused of breaking the Sabbath!
Less focus on the holiday, and more focus on the meaning of the holiday, Republicans!
~Kate
Posted by Kate Jackson![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.episcopalcafe.com/lead/nav-commenters.gif)
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December 17, 2010 12:33 PM