Oh, I was just informed by Shep that voting is already over there but turnout was high and violence was relatively low. Lots of Sunni participation. It's lookin' all good from the first reports.

Gee, I hear crickets chirping from the left side of the aisle. Who were those people saying maybe Iraqi's aren't ready for democracy, maybe they don't even want it? Maybe they're just "used to" living under a brutal dictator that murders their children in the dark of the night? I should go track down some of my old UCLA classmates and tell them "told ya so." Apparently the Iraqi's aren't a bunch of uncivilized, brutal sectarians who are incapable of peaceful cooperation and doomed to civil wars unless there is a murderous dictator at the helm.

I must say, beyond the good feeling of being able to point to something concrete and laughing at Democratic naysayers, there's this amazing sense of WOW, I'm watching history unfold. A democratic Iraq, who woulda thunk? Wow.

So I got a topic request yesterday (my first!) from a friend who told me the Christmas controversy is driving her nuts. I've actually been thinking about it a lot due to all of the Gibson, O'Reilly, etc. coverage so here goes...

The term "holiday tree" really bugs the hell out of me. Why? Which "holiday" is this "tree" for? Hanukkah? Is it a Hanukkah tree? No, of course it's not. It's a freaking Christmas tree. If someone is buying a tree in December, my guess is that 99.99% of the time once the tree has been brought home it will be called a CHRISTMAS tree and no children will be saying "Let's put our presents under the *holiday* tree Mommy!" So if a "holiday tree" can really only be for the holiday of Christmas, then isn't it just a Christmas tree? Yes, and if you call it anything other, you are an idiot. And calling it a Christmas tree is not "exclusionary," if someone is not a Christian and does not celebrate Christmas can't they still appreciate a beautiful Christmas tree? Or does the sight of a Christmas tree automatically bring a wretched feeling of disgust to all non-Christians?

That being said, I don't have a problem with stores that say "happy holidays." It would be nice if they could say "happy holidays and merry Christmas" since 96% of the country does celebrate Christmas but, eh, that's a lot to say. Happy holidays covers all the bases, especially in a place like West Los Angeles, which, some of my Jewish friends at UCLA called it JewCLA.

I guess that's sort of the sillier side of this whole Christmas controversy thing, but there is a more serious and scarier side of it. Like this case:

In addition to banning Christmas colors, school officials have prohibited students from exchanging candy canes and pencils with religious messages on them, using reindeer symbols, or writing "Merry Christmas" on greeting cards to U.S. soldiers because the phrase might "offend someone." The district has even applied its policy to parents involved in school activities, barring them from exchanging "religious" Christmas items with other parents.

I know I'm getting a little off topic but this is something I feel the need to ramble on about. It really worries me that so many Christians out there don't recognize the dangerous road the Democrats want to take us down in this country and how it is directly contrary to so many key Christian values. Jesus may have LOVED sinners but he did NOT enable, make excuses or make it easier for them to sin.

The tough thing is, most churches are reluctant to discuss current politics because the church does not involve itself in "man's law" but I think a lot of Christians and churches are failing to recognize how man's law can directly impact us as Christians. Liberals always say we should look to Europe as our example, well a pastor in Sweden was convicted for preaching that homosexuality is a sin (his conviction was overturned by the Swedish Supreme Court).

I feel like I'm somehow called to reach out to Christians and try to involve them in the political process, that perhaps this is my "spiritual gift" but I'm really not sure how to put it into action. Plus, I don't know if this is just a California thing but a lot of Christians are ignorantly liberal here because "Republican" is a dirty word here on the left coast. I know I felt that way in high school. I remember taking a "political spectrum" test in my government class senior year and being dismayed to discover I scored "moderate-conservative." I truly believed I was a "liberal" because "conservatives" were old white-haired, cigar smoking, mustache-twisting, rich men (or so my ever-so-unbiased public school teachers led me to believe).

But I digress. Merry Christmas everyone! We are trying to teach the Honeybees (2-3 year olds) about Christmas and how we need to get ready for Jesus. Last Sunday was my turn to prepare the craft so I had them make playdough cribs. I think out of about 18 little ones, two managed to 1) successfully create a cradle type object and 2) not roll the picture of baby Jesus which we placed in the crib into a ball. It was a nice reminder to me though that we really need to spend this time thinking about the TRUE reason for the season.

*hops of soapbox*