Please, stop wishing me happy holidays. If you don't have the intestinal fortitude to acknowledge the fact that you or I am Christian than don't say anything. Songs like Silent Night, are not heard on the radio any more but Jingle Bells and White Christmas is constant. Greeting cards saying Seasons Greetings are sent that would make one believe that Santa's birthday was the reason for the season and cards with pictures of the three kings no longer exist. I wish my wife's aunt Happy Honica and send her a card that says that. It is not those of other religions that have demanded this . It is the weak spine , ultra sensitive, Christians who are afraid of upsetting other politically correct elite that demand Christmas be eliminated in favor of what is nothing more than the reason for Black Friday. There is a store in Canada that is run by some very very smart people called Canadian Tire. They call themselves Canada's CHRISTMAS STORE in big red letters and they wish you a Merry Christmas as you enter and leave the store. They helped drive that other store with the big red ball and it's happy holidays right out of this country. Enough, we are taking back Christmas. You don't like it tough. MERRY CHRISTMAS
If you are upset by this and not Christian , please tell me what your religion is and we will try and turn your holey days into a pagan festival, if you are Christian then grow a spine, if you are Pagan then nice try, now go get your own festival, maybe National Global Warming Day. (hint about next rant)
Your opinions are always diverting & of course your opinions. Before the onslaught let me congratulate you on your capacity for fearless freedom of expression. I do believe Paganism preceded Christianity though it is of little consequence. What matters is that you feel free to express your opinions regardless of whether or not others agree. They can, naturally, agree to differ: my father & grandfather fought in two World Wars to preserve this right, the least we can do is respect their valour.
I have the right to be wrong and live to tell about it. Thanks to them
I did not see any mention here about Remembrance Day. The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month we stop and remember them . I did not get outto the local gathering this year but watched the proceedings televised from Capitol Hill in Ottawa. I will remember them.
Jesus's birthday is really unknown. Scientist suspect it was actually in what we now call July because of the star configurations talked about...don't ask me I don't know. Anyway The reason Christmas is when it is, is because people were already celebrating the Winter Solstice and the Christians wanted to celebrate too so they made it their holiday for celebrating their saviors birth. Christmas was originally on Dec. 21 not the 25th in medieval time. It was changed later on. Something to think about! The Christians STOLE the Pagan holiday maybe we need to take it back, huh?
I have many Jewish friends and I have a couple of muslims friends and I gave up my Catholic Religion for Buddhism many years ago. I have no idea of the religion of people I meet especially those online. If I choose to say Happy Holidays it is none of your business nor anyone else's. I will never understand why anyone would be offended by wishing a Happy Day. Yes we still celebrate Christmas at my house because it has become such a commercial holiday it would emotionally scar the grandkids if we didn't. BTW we do celebrate with a party on the winter solstice because it is fun and on my husbands side there is Viking blood. This year we are doing it on the Sunday before the solstice because the solstice is on Wed. The word Pagan is not a dirty word it is miss represented and it is just another religion. Celebrate your religion in your heart and any other way you choose but don't give me grief about the way I choose.
I do not get offended by Merry Christmas and use it most often. I do get offended by people making an issue of being wished Happy Holidays and I think the whole business with Starbucks shows how petty so many can be.
This is a joyous time for celebration, if you are offended by someone saying Happy Holidays then you really have a problem. Christianity is only a small segment of humanity.
I look forward to posts from you, otherwise this place would be more boring.
Oh and yes you are probably correct. The Christians of old made all the "Pagan" special days and festivals into Christian Holy days. The 25 th of December is close to winter Equinox I think. But what does that have to do with the fact that almost all the "Christmas cards" that I receive say Happy Holidays and finding a card in the stores that mentions Christmas is almost impossible here. Why do we ignore this and now just accept that is the way it is.
I think we ignore it because it is the norm now. Let's face it -the world is getting more and more secular. More wars have been fought because of religion than any other single thing. Just think 11/11/11.
looking at it that way is kind of unnerving. I just wanted a manger or some shepherds on a card. I think the subject just got too big for me. Where does the doomsday clock sit now? What time is it. Religious wars? unbelievable to even contemplate.
You are making a problem where there is none Gymbag. I can go to a Hallmark store and get Christian cards by the hundreds. With Mangers and Magi and baby Jesus. I live in Arkansas which is very Christian. Where do you live? If there isn't a large Christian population then why would a merchant sell those cards and lose money on them? It's about marketing. If you can't get them locally you can get all the Christian cards you want online.
Ontario Canada, We have a Hallmark store and I bet they stock different things than in your store, actually I know they do. you could not find 10 cards with the word "Christmas " let alone be classified as religious.
I have been to Arkansas several times. I do not think that you have the "political correct" forces like we do. Every University here is under siege demanding Profs be fired because they will not address the students with non sex identifying pronouns. Protests and always outraged to quote the papers by everything. People here are getting tired of it here , your turn may be next.
Noble rant GB, and the problem continues. It is our culture, traditions, and faith that brought us to the peak of civilization - and our amnesia of this fact that threatens our downfall. In the proverbial battle of 'Good vs Evil', evil is gaining an edge. Globally, instead of 'setting the course' in the way that brought us to where we are, we now 'go with the flow' to appease the sensitivities of those who threaten our very existence. Domestically, rather than requiring increasingly multicultural populations to adapt 'civilized' standards of existence, the recent rung of "leaders" now encourage compromise for the sake of political correctness. Hypersensitivity is the new disease. The well-being of the many is compromised for the insecurities of the individual. See France, Germany, Denmark, etc., for a preview of the emerging New World Order... and it continues unchecked (until Jan.2017?). Unfortunately, we only get one vote and - as W. Churchill noted, - "The greatest argument against democracy is a 5 minute conversation with the average voter".
There is Evil in this world , maybe too many movies, maybe too much bravado , maybe a superiority complex, but for whatever reason, we are wide open for failure to recognize it before it is very late.
Theresa, thank you for that erudite and common sense respond. I must admit I have never understood the kerfuffle around this issue. In fact when I first heard about it years ago I had it backwards and thought people wanted to be wished happy holidays instead of Merry Christmas. They both make about as much sense to me. With everything that is going on in the world I just don't get it. The phrase Tempest in a teapot comes to mind. Also, free speech, and who cares? If someone is kind enough to wish me happy or merry anything I am grateful.
On the occasion of this Discussion it seems only fair to share with all of you the way the Bears see this matter.
Once upon a time, in the Heavenly Abode, there was an Encounter between the Great Grizzly and the Cat Goddess. There being no rules regarding who was allowed to consort with whom, they spent the next eon in conjugal bliss. In the fullness of time, they brought forth the Idea that it would be fun to have an Earthly playground for their respective kinds, and so they created the Earth, and all the creatures therein. Especially the Bears and Cats of different varieties to fill the various ecological niches. Now the Humans think they are supposed to rule, but it should be obvious, given the Equipment Bears and Cats are endowed with – claws, teeth, and main strength, that the intent of the Creators is that They should have dominion over the Earth. And so it was, before the Humans Got Out of Hand.
Back in those good old days, the Humans had Shamans who would go fast and pray in the desert. In so doing they would obtain an audience with the Deities. (It’s easier for we Bears because we get to go out and play on the Other Side during hibernation. But I digress…). On one of those occasions the result became the first chapter in that Book you Humans are always toting around. Unfortunately a lot gets lost in translation. Since we Bears get it direct from the source, I will give you a hand…
“In the Beginning the Elohim created…” Elohim is the Hebrew that gets translated to God. Now –im is a male plural ending added to the singular female Eloah, so Elohim literally is male & female deities, except that it takes a singular verb, so there is no end to debating what it is supposed to actually mean. This is why we Bears have to explain what actually happened, as I have done. Anyway, in due course we have: “Elohim created man … male and female created he them.”
Now in the second chapter of your Book it says:
“And YHWH Elohim formed man of the dust of the ground”. This is the first appearance of YHWH and it does not disappear during the course of this chapter. In English it is rendered as “Lord God”, but I suspect it was more likely intended to be “Lord of Gods”. Either way, this is a case of my God is better than your God, and at the very last we see what goes along with that: “but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him, and the YHWH Elohim caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept, and he took one of his ribs, … [from] which the YHWH Elohim had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.”
So in chapter 1 the Elohim creates male and female, but in chapter 2 the YHWH Elohim creates the woman as a helpmate. It is pretty clear what happened here – the writer* of chapter 2 is suffering from what we Bears call “testosterone illness”. In the case of Bears, we just ignore the damn fool as much as possible. Why you Humans let them write chapters in your holy Books and elect them as leaders is beyond me, but it clearly shows you are unfit to have dominion over the planet.
------
*Among scholars the writer of chapter 1 is known as the Elohist and the writer of chapter two is known as the Jawhist.
There are people here that think I am the crazy one. Ya gotta love it. I don't know if I ever helped anyone here but myself. Writing about PD seems to make it more clear and I find it is therapeutic. A good rant .
I have been contemplating Christmas a lot since Parkinson's. I can not stand shopping, crowds anymore. It is exhausting. I no longer put lights on the house, no ladders, just bought the easiest trees to put up the last one became to hard. I started questioning all I did. First the Nativity scene. Jesus is no longer a baby, how would I feel if my family never put candles on my cakes but pulled out my newborn clothes, cards and pictures of me as a baby out every year, and celebrated a day not me. Sitting on a thrown and they kept showing me in an animal trough. Then the Magi. We are not told how many there where but three? Can you imagine 3 men traveling from Persia to Israel with Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh and not getting robbed. Also the fact that they showed up at his house when he was about two years of age not a manger. How ever that manger resulted in the death of every young "two and under" massacre of all male children. There was a purpose to the presents also. Gold because he is from the line of David (Royalty), Frankincense (High Priest), Myrrh (His Death). Not just generic presents. I almost feel sack religious putting the Nativity scene up now. Don't get me started on the other clueless things we do and do not ask why. Do not get me started about Santa Clause if you do not want an earful.
Isaiah 6:1-5 now I would put that scene up for Christs mas.
Don't have PD, but became allergic to Christmas many years ago when in business, but the "rants" are so funny, given me a good laugh to start the day, Oh! and are so true.
I tried to put up the lights around the 16 ft high spruce in the front . Its alright now, I will be OK. The new diode light strings that I purchased 3 years ago at Home Depot that promised a life-time of use do not work and you can not replace the bulbs. Apparently you can on the new ones just out . I went back to the strings of old 5 watt bulbs but the tree is bigger. Got more strings and bulbs ,nice colors made in China. Boy that electrical meter is going to hum. Progress, Do you remember the recycle bins in the stores where we could drop off our 5 watt strings? Ladders and stepstools, poles and extenson cords, windy, cold , light- strings everywhere, lucky to be alive. Will finish the job tomorrow.
A few years ago my daughter and I stocked up on new lights and decorations. Boy did they turn out to be cheesy! Our old decorations from years ago are still in good shape. But the "made in China" gizmos were a waste of cash, which is no good for holiday cheer. I bought a paper cutter and we're going to make our own cards.
The $64 question is, does a dog owner dare leave his best friend alone with a Christmas tree?
It is about 12 ft diameter and actually 18 ft high now. My son panted it when he was in Boy Scouts and now he is 39 but I have trimmed it back many times. I use a long pole with a nail on the and just lay the strings on the tree. I will post a picture of our quiet little street , and my tree when all the lights are on .
A dog will not be any trouble with the tree UNLESS it is angry with you (maybe you gave it a bath) or jealous of some one new in the house that is taking your attention away. In which case I would also check your shoes. Cats are the same. (Assuming that you do not have a squirrel in your tree) I like that movie with Chevy Chase. Play it every year.
Don't be offended, Gymbag. When I was a wee lass back in the 1950s, I asked my mom what "happy holidays" meant. She said that's one way of wishing people a merry Christmas AND a happy New Years, or, for some, a good Thanksgiving too.
Yes! Yes! Yes! I remember being told that also Becky because at the time I was not even aware that there was any other religion beside Christian.....And I do believe that is the actual intent of the phrase.
Thanks for your rant Gymbag, it set off the most interesting correspondence for a long time, even if it doesn't have much to do with PD. From one Christian to another, the Happiest of Christmas's to you and to anybody else who can accept such sentiments. Thanks also to Hikoi and HAL-9000 for the cartoons, they brought a smile to my face
Hi all you folks who wrote in about NAC and mannitol ect I would like to read all that info and the follow up in one area is that possible could someone let me know thanks so much I think we all no the effort required to post and reply so I'm saying thanks x ten in advance
Keep Positive
Sunnysky
Aww ya gota love it.
Sleep well everyone, more world problems for us to solve tomorrow.
Now you have me feeling guilty. Maybe I will put lights on the house this year. You just become overly analytical when the energy that fuels your brain becomes a precious commodity. Why am a doing this, does it need to be done, and if so is it smarter to have someone else do it?
Alright, got a goood night sleep. Lets get ready to RUMBLE. I want to make sure that I reinstate, I am not anti Christmas just questioning why we do things and if it really does honor God or am I just swimming downstream with the rest of the fish.
* others like my daughter enjoy it and would be disappointed
* my Grand Daughters will like it.
* it is our duty / job
* If I dont do it nobody else will
* because my wife will nag
* every body else does
* tradition
* to show them all I still can
Hal now get out there and do some thing that meets all the above . I am going to watch a movie, Christmas Vacation with Chevy Chase again.
Please, stop wishing me happy holidays.
• in reply to
ROY I wish you happyness
• in reply to
I am happy today, I finally found a doctor who prescribed the correct pain medicine, gabapentin, for my excruciating hip pain. Pain caused by pinched nerve, not the joint; called a referred pain as the pinch is not in the hip.
I wish you a Merry Christmas and a New Year that releases a cure for our PD.
Hidden . I wish all a MERRY CHRISTMAS. CHRIST is in the word Christmas and I believe HE is the reason for the season! Praise God for his wondrous gift to mankind. Schubez
I am totally Atheist, I don't send Christmas cards, or acknowledge this day. Athough, I did search for God, He never touched me. I am a firm believer that there are more Christians outside the church, than inside it. I have written a song to release next Christmas entitled "Father Christmas is Dead".
Gymbag, I noticed that you are addressed as so with the same username handle that you have now. That means the you were able to get your old username back. Am i correct?
If ttue, then perhaps many others us can get our old usernames back because the forum techs are allowing the "recycling" of usernames which most sites don't.
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I have found that strangers can be compassionate, gracious and kind. You just need to ask.
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BEWARE! RED LIGHT experiment FAILED! Don't get RIPPED OFF!
This is from a person in support group I belong to and I thought it worth passing along.
Have you considered DBS? It is recommended for people with midstage PD who for whom meds are no longer working well! 
