Do you think Jesus would care what you call it?

My Hero was a British comedy about an alien superhero (Thermoman) trying to fit in and make sense of life on Earth.  In one episode he’s concerned about people putting trees in their homes and wonders if it’s some alien plot.  But his girlfriend tries telling him about Christmas trees and celebrating the birth of Jesus.  He asks if these trees were special to Jesus, and she says no, and he eventually says that the decorating trees part is “a funny way to celebrate his birthday.” I found a clip online, and the scene is right after the opening credits

And it’s very true.  In years past (maybe even this year, but I haven’t paid any attention) very vocal, wannabe Christian martyrs cry out about how other people have “mistreated” Christmas trees, or whatever.  But Christmas trees didn’t come around until well over a thousand years after Jesus.  So why all the intense DEMANDS that Christmas trees have to be associated with the birth of Jesus?  It’s almost as if some people see Christmas trees as graven images. 

A few years ago, after seeing that episode of My Hero, I wrote a short story for a friend’s website.  The story is still up, and if you’re interested, check out “In the Spirit.”

Jesus vs. Megachurches

I'm not religious, but if you go by the Christian view of things, Jesus preached from a small hill.  There are many today who preach from megachurches.  God - in his infinite wisdom - made a great many small hills around the world.  He didn't make a single megachurch.  Just something to ponder.

Returning to the Garden of Eden

I’m not religious and I’m not a biblical scholar, but as I understand it, God made Adam and Eve to frolic naked in the Garden of Eden without cares for such things as money.  Stuff happened, and then God kicked them out.

My question is, why don’t believers try to return to such a life?  It seems that the most vocal biblical followers are the ones who would call people who frolic naked in a garden without any concern for money “Dirty hippies who need to get a job!”

I’m sure someone would say that humans on our own can’t return to the innocence of life in the Garden of Eden without the grace of God, or something.  But I’m just asking why, if humans were made to frolic naked in a garden, why is that now usually considered a bad thing?

Free Pies!

My feeble attempt to get more people out to vote this Tuesday (Election Day here in the US) is to give away Kindle copies of my book Political Pies.  The sale runs Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, but don’t wait too long to grab your copy. 

If the cover hasn’t sold you, here is the blurb for the book:

Everybody complains about politics, but does anyone do anything about it? Stephen L. Thompson’s attempt to do something about it is to collect forty of his short stories with a political element into his Political Pies anthology. His stories are either politically neutral or equally condemning of the national parties. Instead of trying to sway you to one ideology or another, his goal is to just get people thinking about politics in the hopes a rose might grow out of all the political manure.