Christmas--Xmas

I've got a little bee in my bonnet, and it's not even warm enough around here for bees this time of year!

Lately, I've been re-evaluating a lot of my life philosophy, and realizing that my bitterness toward a few people has been spilling out on a lot of people. Especially religious people.

You know what? I've been wrong. I've been just as wrong as those people who hurt me with their bad religion.

As a kid growing up in the good ole' US of A, I was taught about the Constitution and the amended Bill of Rights, and I had it ingrained in me that government should not make laws regarding religion. I believed firmly in the separation of church and state, and I still do.

But somewhere along the way, I began to think it was alright for the government to take my side in my personal vendetta for bad religion. I figured the Christians had held the stage in our culture for long enough, and expressions of faith and lack thereof should be given their time to shine. It bothered me--and still bothers me--the way Christians try to reinterpret the Constitution to fit their agenda. I hate it when they rant that "this is a Christian nation, and God won't bless us until we return to Him as a nation!" In my mind, that's not only bad religion, that's bad politics.

The problem came when I started down the road of rediscovering my own faith, and realized that, no matter how many Christians were pretending to be like God and hurting me in the process, I still believe in God and His Christ.

And now I'm perplexed. Because I still have a lot to forgive, and I'm still bitter about a lot of things. But I would also like to live in a culture that's not passive-aggressive about my faith. It's not that I want the freedom to preach on street corners, or try to convert the "lost." I just want to live in a culture that affirms me, along with everyone else.

That brings me to Christmas. It's a wonderful time of year for more than just Christians. Even Atheists usually celebrate, just because Santa, Rudolph, gifts, decadent food, and days off are so much fun! But why is it alright for Jesus to be crowded out by Kwanza, Chanukkah, and Santa? Can't He be right there with all the rest of them, proud to celebrate His misdated birthday?