By: Robert Jackson
To: Jesse Jones
Re: Christmas

 JJ> I have enjoyed watching you all scurry for cover.  The favored
 JJ> defense for why heathens would celebrate Christmas seems to be that we
 JJ> Christians stole it from various pagan traditions.  That reminds me of
 JJ> an excuse one of my children gave once -- that she stole the candy so
 JJ> her sister would not eat it and get a stomach ache.

        Wrongo!  People only mentioned xian theft from the pagans
        because you had the arrogant ethnocentrism to think that
        xmas is "Our holy day", the "our" meaning your flavor of
        xianity.

        But, since yet another jeezoid believer falls flat on their
        face in penning an analogy which is far more apropos of their
        own theological failings, might I mention that your candy-
        stealing analogy works much better when you put it in the context
        that you wonderfully altruistic xians "stole the holiday from
        the pagans so they wouldn't have the opportunity to praise Satan"?
        As your daughter creatively manufactured knowledge of her sib's
        digestive tract, your correligionists seem to have fabricated
        a knowledge about what those pagans were "really" worshipping.

        As you know full well in the case of your daughter the ulterior
        motive was to eat the candy (but I'm not doing this for *me*, you
        realize); it would behove you to make a one-to-one mapping
        of your analogy as to why xians thought they knew what was best
        for others--answer being:  we just like to take, and have the
        victim be grateful for the theft.  That is your wonderful "Gift".
        You take, and leave in return the miracle of a victim's happiness
        that they've been played for a sucker.  I still don't understand
        how you people do it.  It *must* be a miracle, because I simply
        cannot fathom the mechanism.  See, when I get ripped off, I tend
        to be a tad resentful at the con-man...

 JJ> It is in our history, our behavior, our very beings that we see
 JJ> the  oft-demanded evidence of God.  Those who dismiss the existence of
 JJ> God,  and refuse even to partake in our traditions of worship, cannot
 JJ> quite  escape their influence on our culture.

        So if everyone, atheists and True Believers alike, are ignorant
        of the depths of religious influence in their culture, why do
        you expect heathens to know how to _not_ celebrate "your" holy
        day?

 JJ> The inescapable fact is that we need religious experience, and we

        No "we" don't.  It seems *you* do, but why?  Why do you find
        it necessary to build your life on thin-air lies when there
        is still more physical Universe than you will EVER know in
        your own life--why isn't that enough for you, Jesse?  Why
        can't you be satisfied with a Universe that holds more in it
        than you would ever be able to unravel, even if you lived a
        billion years?
        Jesse, face up to the fact that when you die, you aren't going
        to Heaven--you aren't going to Hell, you will NOT be reunited
        with those you've loved and lost, you will NOT meet God, and
        you will NOT do anything more than return to the earth.  Once
        you stop trying to sit around waiting for a better life after
        this one and suck the marrow out of the one you have, you'll
        probably find that things really won't change much more than
        the fact more of your fellow humans will find things worthy
        of respect in you.  And that can matter a lot to some people.

        I suppose that disturbs you that someone tells you they don't
        have a soul nor needs one in order to conduct a moral (or at
        least honorable) life without daily contemplation of suicide.
        For me, the thought of perpetrating evil, or violence against
        another person or animal causes nausea in the pit of my gut and
        an intense burst of depression--no soul necessary.  Just empathy.
        And empathy can be achieved with intelligence and an understanding
        of one's own emotions.
        You seem to find it of dire importance that everyone try to
        massage their Magic Chakra or whatever by going to church or
        praying or whatever turns you on and makes you think it separates
        you from other animals.  Oh, you've got a book that tells you that--
        it could just as well be Dianetics, you realize?  The "soul" is
        the biggest of the Big Lies of History.  Innocent ignorance of
        anatomy let it flourish in the past; aggressive ignorance
        perpetuates the myth because SOME people loath their mere
        existence and need that placebo to make it through another day.

        If you need it, fine.  But I'll spit in the face of any fascist
        idiot whose personal fantasy includes the megalomania of spewing
        jizz from their mental masturbation in my direction, declaring
        I simply HAVE to be in their circlejerk, otherwise they'd look
        foolish pounding their pud alone in public.  Was that a graphic
        enough analogy for you--proper use of parallelism?  And I will
        damn well do what I please on the 25th of December, thank you
        very much.  (Hint:  the word Jesus only comes up on that day if
        I happen to be talking to chuckleheads on e-mail.)

 JJ> are thus far unable to fashion any valid substitute from our modern
 JJ> experience.  So we cling to old forms, not quite knowing why.

        I don't see much need for religion or ritual--that's just
        time better spent elsewhere.  It's quite boring to us non-
        spiritual heathens to sit around trying to play your game
        of cat's cradle without a string.

... The floggings will continue until morale improves.