What fools these mortals be.....

Oh Philly—you so crazy….



Now, keep in mind that we are the city that threw snowballs at Santa  and some of this might make sense.


Maybe….


In hopes of helping smaller merchants during this economically strained holiday season, the city created a small shopping spot on city property near City Hall. It’s modeled after similar endeavors in Germany. Marketing geniuses that they are—and masters of the obvious—they dubbed it “Christmas Village.”


Well, apparently some city workers were offended by this—it’s not inclusive enough. So, the already cash-strapped city spent money to remove the offending word “Christmas” from the signs and planned to replace it with “Holiday.” I get it, I guess, let’s be ecumenical and open…..


Now, a mere 48 hours after the start of this kerfuffle, the word “Christmas” is being reinstated on the signs.


HUH????


All of this begs the question “Have we taken political correctness too far?”


I have mixed feelings. I was raised Catholic, but became very disillusioned during my teen years. I subsequently attended a Baptist church during my late 20s—mid 30s or so. But the need to earn more money to stay alive necessitated my working weekends. I haven’t attended any sort of church in over a decade.


And with all the many scandals coming to light, I’m completely turned off to organized religion. But, I try to go with a “live and let live” approach to how others choose to worship. As long as it doesn’t involve human sacrifice, or pedophilia, hey, whatev……


And I have a healthy curiosity about the many forms faith takes. I’ve always felt schools should teach students about all of the main belief systems on this planet. That being said, I don’t think Christmas is a religious thing anymore. It’s all about sales and who gets the best gifts and drinking and eating and stuff like that. So what difference does it make what they call this commercial little spot on Dilworth Plaza?






Why not put up a Channukah bush and a Kwanza shrub too.      Anybody wanna weigh in?

The common curse of mankind, folly and ignorance. — Troilus and Cressida, Act II, sc. Iii

Let the annual debates begin...

“Horrors a nativity scene at Town Hall.” God forbid. [get it? “God forbid” tee-hee]

I don’t get what the big deal is. Why can’t we have nativities and menorahs and whatever other holiday symbols there are? Put ‘em all up! I mean, wasn’t America supposed to be “The Great Experiment?” “The Great Melting Pot?”

As far back as my freshman year of high school—back in the dark ages—I have felt that the best way to have true liberty and equality in this country was to teach kids about all of the religions and cultures of the world. And let’s face it people—as time progresses, the world is getting smaller and smaller. The chances of having dealings with people of other cultures, etc. have increased considerably, even in my lifetime. What we fear is the “unknown”. If we erase that lack of knowledge, we’ll erase the fear—and hopefully the hate.

I’m not religious now—I’m more spiritual, I guess. I believe in a higher power, but I got kind of turned off by the negative spin man has put on all of it. I want to check out various services as I get a chance. I spent 12 years in Catholic school, but I was always very curious about other faiths. My neighborhood was a mixed bag, so I had exposure to other possibilities at a young age. Heck—like I said, I was raised Catholic, my husband was raised Methodist and we got married in a Baptist church. I used to joke that when we had our first son, we should have a bris at the local synagogue.

Over the years I have tried to learn as much as I can about other people and their history. It fascinates me—I guess that’s why I love doing dramaturgy. The thing that has intrigued me the most is not so much the differences between religions, races, cultures, etc, BUT THE SIMILARITIES. We just all have slightly different rituals. Let’s meet on that common ground AND celebrate those differences.

Happy Chrismakwanzakah to all!!!