[Peace-discuss] The Christmas He Dreamed for All of Us

[Karen Medina]

janine giordano wrote:
>Why the desire to erode Christmas of its spirituality for the
>secular popular sector? What is so threatening about
>Christianity?

Dear Janine,

I do not believe that any of us in this discussion want to
erode Christmas of its spirituality. And I personally do not
want to erode any religious holiday of its spirituality; not
Hanukkah, not Eid, nor any other.
 
>if we really hope to build some kind of tangible change from
>"presences" outside of churches, we have to articulate why we
>find Christianity is so threatening. 

Again I am at a loss as to where this perception came from. I
do not think that any of the people in the presence group find
Christianity threatening. We do however find it odd that some
people of faith do not yet recognize the inhumanity and
injustice that is going on in Iraq. We are doing our best to
call the people to discuss what is going on there and here. In
many churches, Iraq is the 800 pound gorilla that everyone
sees and yet everyone is afraid to talk about. 

The presences, to me, are a way of turning tables over in
the synagogue. 


>But, we have to respect each other's traditions.

Agreed -- this is my very, very strong personal opinion.

>Do we really believe that Christian theology is at the center 
>of Bush's conservative-hegemonic political coalition? 

Absolutely not. 

Disclaimer: These have been my personal impressions/opinions
and not necessarily the opinions of anyone else in AWARE, even
if I make them sound like they might be.

Have a very Merry Christmas Janine, Paul, Carl, and anyone
else who celebrates this holiday. To those who do not, I wish
you Happy Holidays and/or Happy Winter Celebrations where
appropriate.

-karen medina