Pissing on St. Patrick
Travis
family's not Irish and growing up, I didn't know any Irish people or
at least any who proclaimed they were Irish. I suppose at times I
wanted to be Irish and celebrate St. Patrick's Day in good Irish
fashion but I felt zero connection to the holiday and to the Irish
people. Not that that I had an ounce of ill will towards either,
they're just not my kin.
But these days, I can't stand the holiday. I despise what St.
Patrick's role in Ireland and don't see any reason to celebrate. His
mission was to convert all the pagans he could round up to
Christianity -- woo-hoo. That's what history needed, someone else
carrying the distorted torch of Christ to lands people were getting
along just fine without it.
There's also the legendary super hero sermon that drove all the snakes
from Ireland. Of course we've learned that there weren't any snakes
around via the dinosaur hunters so the would-be "snakes" were actually
all the people that the Catholic church didn't much care for. Have you
ever been physically or emotionally bruised and kicked out of any
where? I know I have and there's nothing like the burn of rejection.
Sure, St. Patrick's Day has taken on a whole different meaning here in
2007 just like we (the majority of society) don't celebrate Christmas
for the right reasons either but...... It's a poisoned date, tainted
from the start, a holiday that honors someone's death who doesn't
deserve that honor. Regardless of what it means today, why do we have
it in the first place? Ah.. Nevermind, I've said this all before.
St. Valentine, now there was a real saint. I can respect what he did.
Travis
Travis
On the lighter side of life, there's not an ounce of snow on the
ground. The sky is clear outside and I can see the stars. Sam the
Sheep[1] is awesome. I've rediscovered the joys of Wikibooks[2] and I
like our neighbors Shaun and Becky. And finally, Armand Van
Helden's[3] Killing Puritans[4] disc kicks ass, especially Little
Black Spiders.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaun_the_Sheep
[2] http://www.wikibooks.org
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armand_Van_Helden
[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_Puritans
Sarah Smells
agree with you, even though I did celebrate St. Patrick's Day this
year. Matt and I only celebrated because my friend Andrea was visiting
from Spokane. Plus it was one more excuse to drink. We are OK with
that. But no one really knows much about St. Patrick and no one in
America cares, they only want to drink and be proud of the fact that
they are 1/16th Irish. I am a little Irish, I am a little bit of a
drunk, and I am not all that proud of either facts. Thanks for
weighing in on the matter. It was a nice read. :)
Travis
I saw this bumper sticker many years ago when I was a kid, it read
"Question Authority" and I thought it was brilliant. When I was in my
late teens I saw another that read "Question Everything." Words to
live by... Nary a corn fed holiday goes by that I don't wonder about
why we celebrate.
And congrats! I heard you had something published in Bust[1]! I knew
people would come around to your creative wisdom. :-)
Sarah Smells
What's the deal with easter bunnies, huh? If I don't believe in Jesus,
bunnies, or candy, can I be excused? Well, OK, the candy part is not
really true... I do believe in cadburry mini-eggs, much to my chagrin.
I ingested 2,000 extra calories this week... all of them mini-egg
calories. :( Now I don't feel so good ...
Travis
http://home.aristotle.net/easter/origins/
http://altreligion.about.com/library/bl_easterbunny.htm
Everybody should celebrate Easter, including guys who sculpt life
size, nude chocolate Jesus statues:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/03/30/chocolate.jesus.ap/
Haven't read your Bust story yet but Christy picked up the magazine
and the book store last night. :-)