Merry Christmas

I've been paying attention to too many Jewish comics lately. First it was Lewis Black, now it's Jon Stewart. But what the hell, imagine how Jewish people feel around Christmas time in a narrow-minded Christian society like the USA? The little lord Jesus and all that crap? The immaculate conception? What kind of garbage is that? I'm a biologist. Am I supposed to take this shit seriously?
How did this state of affairs ever come about?
Without doubt the biggest snowjob ever perpetrated on human kind is this one: that Jesus rose from the dead.
Again, I'm a biologist...
But there it is. It sits like a giant cowpat on the head of our collective society. The biggest lie of all time, with about the biggest impact on the lives of the most people.
There are a number of striking cases of mass delusion in history, and I hesitate to mention one of the most obvious (centered somewhere around Germany), but this one is bigger. It's the biggest.
Of course, we know that the special little brat's birthday was December 25, right?
Of course we do.
Don't get me wrong. If there ever was a Jesus and if the things he was supposed to say and stand for were anything like the things he said and stood for in the New Testament he was cool by me. But there have so many other people (real humans who have lived and died, and who still live and will die) who have been, and are, equally cool. They were around before Jesus. They have been around since Jesus, and some have been inspired by him and some have not.
Knowing this and acknowledging them is how we love our fellow man.
I wonder if we can live without mythology.
I know I can.
Merry Christmas, and to all a good night.

Delusion and Fantasy on the Fringe

Here in Sacramento a group calling themselves The South Africa Project came out with placards, skinheads and tattoos decrying the 'genocide' of whites in South Africa. Why do this at the Capitol in Sacramento, California, USA, is not clear. A segment of the Occupy movement came and engaged in a bit of violence toward the police who were protecting these people. I was moved to write this letter, which was published in the Bee today, March 2.
:
Re "Two officers injured, three arrested as protesters clash near state Capitol" (Capitol & California, Feb. 28): Lest one take 'the South African Project' seriously, I'd like to affirm that after 8 years living in South Africa I can guarantee that there is no genocide of white South Africans, in any sense. These deluded souls pine for the days of white supremacy and special priviledge, nothing more.
True, South Africans experience considerable violent crime. The vast majority of victims are black.
Also true, the economic purse-strings and bulk of the wealth in South Africa are still in the hands of the white minority - it isn't surprising that those who seek to get something on the quick might target those who have something.
This group's website is sufficient to dissuade oneself of any doubts that they are a racist, anti-semitic, neo-fascist fringe living in a fantasy world, few likely to be South African.
Here we have Republican presidential candidates Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich to worry about...

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/03/01/4299456/mondays-protests.html#storylink=cpy