History vs History

Aahz sent me a pointer to this Sister Joan Chittister column. She makes some good points about the religious uses of evergreen trees through the centuries, ending with Christmas trees arriving in the US about 1850 or so. Then she wrote something that really hit home:

It gets clearer every day that there are two histories about everything.

The first history is history, the accumulation of facts over time that help us understand how ideas develop and why and for what purpose.

The second history is immediate past history, the period that spans our own life experiences back to the time of our great-grandparents. The history which for us, at least, "has always been this way."

From where I stand, it seems clear that the second kind of history always predominates.

Maybe it's that human lives are short. We are told about history before our birth, but we have divorced ourselves from it. It didn't happen to us and (therefore) we discount it.

I also liked her closing line: [I]f I were you and I really wanted to be a sign of Christianity, I wouldn't set out to prove it by fighting over the Christmas tree.

from dianthus

Turn Left on CafePress has a bunch of cool Christian schlock. I mean COOL. Examples?

I support the separation of
Church and Hate

Proud Member of the Religious Left

God Bless the USA?
God Bless the World!

Quotes from Ghandi and MLK Jr.

George Bush a strong leader?
Yea - and I have a house in New Orleans I'd like to sell you!

Christian bumper stickers like:
In the Beginning God Created the Big Bang!
The Christian Right Is Often Neither
Would Jesus be a Homophobe?

Go. Enjoy. There's a non-religious section too. :)

Another step for tolerance

"[A]s members of a diverse society, we must be prepared to tolerate conduct of which we disapprove, short of conduct that can be objectively shown beyond a reasonable doubt to interfere with the proper functioning of society."

-- Canadian Supreme Court Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, in today's ruling on whether swing clubs are "indecent"

This statement seems very logical to me. At the same time, I know it's an attitude that is both welcomed and frustrating. It's welcome to those being tolerated & frustrating for those who must be tolerant...and frequently people are in both camps ;)