Pious bullies tarnish season's beauty

12/25/05

COMMENTARY, Steve Branda

There's an old expression, the "ugly American."

It was used to denote loud, garish and arrogant, historically ignorant and jingoistic visitors traveling abroad from our culturally dominant society.

Now these charming attributes have re-emerged domestically, and are found in what can only be termed the "ugly Christian."

They can be found bullying, boring and blathering all over the media, a media that is all too willing to cover sensationalistic cultural conflict, and even fabricate and promote such conflict when profitable, e.g., the war on Christmas. Yes, these poor members of that tiny religious sect are under persecution.

Reflecting on what those in the forefront of this "Christianity" have promoted in recent times, here's what I find: assassination of foreign leaders when economically sensible; gambling away millions of dollars for relaxation; congressional intervention in end-of-life decisions made jointly by married couples; blaming natural disasters on gays and "sinners;" and even bombings and assassinations of doctors for performing legal medical procedures that violate, of all things, their sense of ethics. Creationism vs. evolution is currently a real beaut as well.

I hate to tell you, but all of this is part of the zeitgeist of the political party currently controlling every branch of government, and it's all mixed up with some new, sick "my way or the highway" definition of patriotism -- a descendant of a deeply thoughtful mentality from the 1960s, expressed as "America: Love it or leave it."

And don't tell me I'm anti-American. I would simply like to feel assured that if I ever wind up in court in Alabama, I won't be pre-judged guilty as a pagan when I decline to place my hand on a 2-ton, chiseled granite monument of the Ten Commandments because my 12 years of Catholic education didn't take.

Some time ago, the seasonal complaint was about taking Christ out of Christmas by using the abbreviation Xmas. Now, if a happy holidays greeting is heard in a store, the problem is that Christ has been taken out of their shopping; and yes, that's right, they say they will refuse to conduct commerce in an establishment that doesn't acknowledge the sanctity of the season which, of course, is why they are out there making transactions for material goods.

Ladies and gentlemen, I implore you.

Happy holidays to all.

The author lives in Santa Barbara.