Christmas and Me

I am an atheist and therefore I do not believe very much of the biblical Christmas story. If there were a Jesus -and that is possible- he likely was not born in a manger in Bethlehem. It makes for a good story, but it’s just as likely that he was born in a tiny rented room, or even a fairly large rented room. A manger sounds good because we like our various saviors, heroes, etc., to come from modest means. It is also highly unlikely that there were wise men, shepherds, and so forth. Probably the most unlikely element of the story is that Jesus was born to a virgin. Virgins are considered pure and unsullied. In most religions, virgins are highly prized. It was true back when the Bible was being written, and it’s true today, albeit to perhaps a lesser degree. Point is; there is a reason why Christian religions state that Mary was a virgin, and it’s not because she actually was a virgin. But to the bigger issue; there is no evidence that Jesus was the “son of God”. Truth is; there is scant little evidence that Jesus existed at all.

But despite the possible lack of religious validity, I like Christmas. We have home movies from Christmas 1957 featuring my three sisters and me when we were tiny kids. There was a hobby horse, a fire truck, a jack-in-the-box, the board game Candyland, not to mention various uninteresting gifts such as new socks and hair brushes.

One of those long ago Christmases, Santa Claus came to our door. He came right in and perched himself on our sofa. We kids were terribly excited. We all got to sit on his lap and tell him what we wanted for Christmas. Twenty years later I learned that the Santa was in reality my Uncle Wilber.

I think that once a person has really great Christmas memories, Christmas will more than likely be special forever. My mother and father are now gone but my three sisters and I get together and exchange gifts. About every other year we pull out the old home movies, now on video tape. These days some of the youthful excitement is missing, but we still have fun. 

So even if a person does not believe in god, Jesus, and so forth, that does not mean the person cannot enjoy Christmas. I could probably argue that I enjoy it more as an atheist than I did as a theist. As an atheist I do not feel guilty for not going to church on Christmas. Come to think of it, when I was a Methodist I did not feel particularly guilty either.        

Our Never-Ending Pursuit of Women

I’m going to tell any would-be blog reader a simple fact, albeit a largely unrecognized fact; men do almost everything with women in mind. There you have it. Many times it is one woman in the mind of a man, but it is almost always a female of the human species, be it one or many.

I first heard this simple statement of truth as it was spoken by a friend of mine when we were 17 years old, about 45 years ago. We had been drinking malt liquor at the time and the alcohol worked to expose our philosophical sides. When my friend made this pronouncement, I quickly agreed with him. I had come to the same conclusion over the preceding year or two.

The first order of business in the mind of a heterosexual man is to satisfy his survival needs. So the initial priorities are food and shelter. Then comes women. Almost every man alive is capable of procuring one woman or another. The idea is to secure the best woman possible. As far as men are concerned, this involves two general categories that pertain to all women; physical appearance and mental state.

Almost every man prefers a gorgeous woman to a homely one. The man who insists he would choose a Rosanne Arnold over a Natalie Portman is a man who is either blind, crazy, or lying. Generally such men are lying. They are trying to give the appearance of being deep, and complex. Ironically, they are very possibly doing this to impress a pretty woman.        

As far as men are concerned, the second category; a woman’s mental state, would be more a matter of personal choice. There are more than a few men who would prefer a rather unintelligent woman. There are other men who would want the intellectual stimulation of a knowledgeable, creative woman. One thing is certain; the vast majority of men would opt for a woman who is non-hostile. Cooperation in women is also valued by most men.

So, a man’s lot in life is to impress women. When a man has put in a respectable effort and believes he has found the best woman possible for him, he then tries to secure her permanently by proposing marriage. However, even if both parties submit to wedlock, this by no mean ends the man’s desire to impress other women, for the yearning is innate. It will be part of his psyche on into middle age and beyond, albeit at a less intense level. 

I remember many decades ago, seeing my then-recently expired Uncle Monty resting comfortably in his coffin. As stated in his directives; he was dressed in a fine, new suit. I knew which gender he had been thinking of at the time of his post-life clothing selection, and it wasn’t the male gender. Even when there was no longer a breath in his body, Uncle Monty was trying to appeal to women. We men just can’t seem to shut it off.    

An Opinion On Social Diversity

I'm thinking that someday someone might read this blog and when they do, I ought to have some actual opinions in it. So here's one of those opinions...

Social diversity is all the rage. It's been that way for a while now. Companies are pushing for ethnic and cultural diversity, universities are too. The yearning for diversity is everywhere... well not quite everywhere. I'll tell you one place where right this second it is not lovingly embraced; that's right here in the room where I am sitting alone, writing this blog entry.

I have seen diversity. In a lot of places it is a good thing. I go to a Thai restaurant a couple of times a month. Believe it or not, the food is cooked by a guy from Thailand. It's great food. But he does not interact with his customers particularly well. Why? Because he does not completely understand the culture. It limits and weakens his customer interaction. In effect, he is a soldier of diversity, and he is losing-out, ever so slightly, to the socially assimilated Thai restaurateur down the street. As an American entrenched in the American mainstream culture, I want the Thai restaurateur to be personable specifically to me. I want him to understand my humor, and be able to deliver humor of his own, humor that I can grasp and appreciate. I want him to at least understand my interests even if he does not share them.

The Thai restaurant owner feels the same way. He would really like to have me understand his cultural nuances. The trouble is; both he and I are in America, so my need to understand his culture is not acute. Though he understands that, it still saddens him.

This whole diversity thing really stems from the many African-Americans who feel uncomfortable among white folks in this post-Civil Right Revolution America. Consequently, the larger culture has allowed blacks, who unlike the Thai man, have been Americans for generations, to essentially self-segregate. Consequently, many blacks do not interact within the mainstream culture as fluidly as do whites. This hurts their chances of finding job opportunities, let alone such things as workplace advancements. On the other side of the coin, many white people are not thrilled with the idea of multicultural integrated school, hence, the rise of home schooling.

How about this; we as a society promote assimilation. We advocate that the Thai man, and the African-American woman, assimilate into the larger culture, and in so doing, they bring along elements of their own cultures. The end result; an American culture that has elements from around the world, blended into new, unique creations, and people who can freely interact with each other without cultural hardship. It could be done with a little work. After all, we as a nation are undertaking a mammoth campaign to end smoking. Why not have something similar aimed at becoming a nation with one, unique culture that includes all of us?

All right, there's an opinion for you.