Happy Holidays

With the holidays approaching - or already here in some cases - I feel obligated to share some odd news regarding Christmas and Hanukkah.

First off, there's this interesting story about church members dressing like the stereotypical Jesus in order to bring awareness to the 'scandal' of saying "Happy holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas." Now I can understand being upset about that, but we do live in an age where freedom of religion is valued. I enjoy Christmas - for non-religious reasons - but I respect the people who do not. Even at work, I say "Happy holidays" despite the fact that most people who shop there, especially now, celebrate Christmas. While some find it disrespectful, I find it extremely respectful of others' beliefs. In this day and age, we need more of that.

In the monotheistic Holy Land, gold coins depicting Heraclius from the 600s CE were found by a tourist volunteering to help with an archaeological dig. I'm impressed at the number of things that continue to be found in that area of the world. I hope that more will be found to increase our knowledge in ancient history.

Now, I know that many people are upset with the snow and ice, but there are better ways to get rid of it than to try and melt it off your porch. At least it was his own house that he set on fire...

Here's another fun story. This South Salt Lake man tried to steal a fire engine in order to drive home to see his mom for Christmas... in Washington. Hopefully he wasn't in a hurry to play the Wii. He could get hurt doing so, or, even worse, could ruin their game system:



In a Hanukkah-related story, a man in New York won a latke (potato pancake) eating contest. Pete Czerwinski scarfed down 46 of the pancakes, coming in at a whopping seven pounds total. Latkes are extremely tasty, so, while I'm surprised at the sheer quantity Czerwinski was able to eat, I'm not surprised that someone like 'Furious Pete' could nom them down.

And, in the overwhelming spirit of the holiday season, scientists found that people will deliberately torture others if told to do so by people with authority. How disturbing is that? It's interesting, given the history of people during wartime and just plain greedy people as well; other people are always looking to seek approval from their superiors. Sadly, this is how the majority of bad things happen - craving approval, greed, fear. In the future - no matter how overwhelmingly idealistic I am - I hope that people can be more like the religious and political figures they idolize and act like decent human beings, not because they are told to, but because they know it's the right thing to do. And that should be the real message behind the holiday season - being a good person because it's the right thing to do, not because of rewards in this life or the next.