{"id":2060,"date":"2006-12-12T07:36:00","date_gmt":"2006-12-12T13:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lordandrei.com\/blog\/?p=2060"},"modified":"2006-12-12T07:36:00","modified_gmt":"2006-12-12T13:36:00","slug":"morning-rant-how-many-seattillians-can-i-annoy-at-once","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.lordandrei.com\/blog\/2006\/12\/12\/morning-rant-how-many-seattillians-can-i-annoy-at-once\/","title":{"rendered":"Morning Rant: How many Seattillians can I annoy at once?"},"content":{"rendered":"

For those of you outside Seattle, you may have missed this season’s “World Crisis”<\/p>\n

So a recap.<\/p>\n

A Rabbi requested a Menorah (that the local Jewish league would pay for) be added to the Christmas Tree display at SeaTac airport. For 2 months he was given the run around and blown off. It would be too complicated<\/i> to put a Menorah up. The Rabbi’s lawyer then brought up the fact that there was a potential for lawsuit over this. Rather than opening talks, the airport quickly stripped the trees down crying lawsuit. As a result local Jewish league began getting hate mail and abusive calls and threats from angry residents. The Rabbi finally stated he wouldn’t file suit and the trees came back. SeaTac will examine their policy after the first of the year (read: after the ‘holiday season’… read “Rabbi loses”)<\/p>\n

Now… here are some of the reasons this whole affair has me really oiked off.<\/p>\n

First: The stupidity of the people towards the Jewish community.<\/p>\n

The following comments have actually been made by the local media:
\nChristmas Trees aren’t religious symbols.<\/i>(Thus the sudden push to call them holiday trees) ((And don’t get me started on the symbolic origin of said Yule<\/u> items))
\nI’ll put this quite honestly. If you want to represent the season… then do it with snowflakes, coloured lights, and presents. Maybe some photographs of some rather unethical behavior towards your fellow man inside malls. Otherwise, you are representing a subset of our societies religious observances (no matter how far the symbols may actually have travelled from the actual holiday celebrated)<\/p>\n

Threatening to sue over this issue during this time of the year misses the whole spirit of Christmas<\/i>
\nYou know.. with this one… I was absolutely waiting for some moron in the media to finally pronounce that the Rabbi had lost sight of what it meant to be a “Good Christian”… Granted style of comment always amuses me because 99+% of the time it comes from someone who not only isn’t one but wouldn’t know a “Good Christian” if he blessed him on the leg. I know some very wonderful Christians and even they would get riled up over the stupidity of this.<\/p>\n

Pushing back against the tradition misses the spirit of the holiday<\/i>
\nWere I not in Washington state where I’d be committing a felony for betting online, I’d offer money that 90+% of the non-Jewish media has no idea what the whole idea of Chanukkah (I’m in a pi&#y mood, don’t argue the spelling) is even about. Just a note here, Hannukahh is a holiday commemorating a miracle to help preserve faith in the eyes of a time when others were out to roll over the Jewish faith and leave them without a way to observe their beliefs. (hmmn, let’s think about that in context)<\/p>\n

Finally on this issue… The fact that everyone got angry at their fellow man for wanting to be heard in a season of celebration rather than at the Airport administrators for waffling and not doing anything beyond inciting anger… strikes me as ‘most people missing the spirit of the holiday’<\/p>\n

But lest you think I’m just sticking up for the religion I was brought up with… there is yet more OIKAGE.<\/p>\n

I’m really oiked at how this was handled by the Rabbi and especially his idiot lawyer.<\/p>\n

Listening to the Lawyer interviewed directly, I’ve never heard a wash of bad stereotype, avoiding the issue, legalese bul#@hit in my life. This guy couldn’t answer a question directly. Are you suing? “Let me explain the situation… the holiday…”
\nDid you threaten a lawsuit? “You’re not letting me explain the situation… we came to ”<\/p>\n

Repeatedly the lawyer explained that he’d drawn up papers for a lawsuit to show the airport the potential of the situation.<\/p>\n

No offense… Wait.. No. Complete offense meant here. When a lawyer comes up to you and says, “Here’s what a lawsuit I’m researching from us will look like”… You’re threatening a lawsuit.<\/p>\n

The rabbi was no better on this issue.<\/p>\n

The Rabbi performed the ultimate backpedal. In an interview he acquiesced that “Christmas trees” aren’t religious icons and neither are menorahs<\/i>… That’s right… A Rabbi (Read: Religious leader in a religious community) would like to add a symbol from his faith’s holiday in the holiday season that isn’t really a religious symbol, next to the trees representing Christmas.. which aren’t really symbols of a religious holiday.<\/p>\n

WHAT THE F&#*??!?<\/p>\n

Is this where Judaism has gone? Double speaking their religion with the same finesse as a Falwell or other Televangelist. If I loop the truth in double speak it’s all okay now? Political Correctness be thou hallowed?<\/p>\n

Okay folks really simple like. TREES are up for CHRISTMAS. Because it sure as heck isn’t the Buddhists complaining when they get taken down. MENORAHS are for CHANUKKAH. Because most non Jews don’t know what it means. They are icons of your (ir)respective religious<\/b> holidays. Grow some balls and admit it. You’re supposed to be a religious leader. Be one.<\/p>\n

Then the Jewish league told it’s local synagogues to step up security due to threats received because of the ‘non-lawsuit-threat-of-no-action-maybe-causing-the-not-really-christian-trees-go-away’… which was okay.. because the city hadn’t really seen any deadly violence toward the Jewish community for at least 4 months<\/a><\/p>\n

Well, with all this Christmas Spirit of loving one’s neighbor, the Rabbi said officially, “No, there will be no suit”<\/p>\n

The Airport which had made the statement that putting up a menorah would be far to complicated… quickly replaced the trees that they removed. Because we know that 10 trees are far easier to remove and replace than one candelabra.<\/p>\n

What really oiks me off about the situation was that… despite a grinch like demeanor on this whole thing; (and if you watch ‘How I met your mother’ I revel in being a Grinch today)… the Rabbi should have sued.<\/p>\n

Now to be honest… I am a quiet little anarchist<\/i>. I can say that with a straight face because any one of those three terms would get people laughing at me, but together they are true.<\/p>\n

I would love to see a lawsuit brought by one major religion against one state institution in the name of the first phrase of the first amendment. If it were the Randians, or the Scientologists, or {pick your own deity} help us the Moslems… the state would really hem and haw. But despite whatever you consider about the Jews. They are a real, religious organization. If they wanted to stand up and protest 1st amendment violations… the truth is… they’d win. I’m not saying the others aren’t. I’m saying that U.S. society recognizes Christi-olicism, Jewdaic Inheritance, and now begrudgingly is acknowledging that Hinduism\/Moslem is practiced by people other than extremists. (This latter fact really is screwing up the government’s propaganda campaign to support our involvement in someone else’s civil war… but that’s not the point of this post). Anyone who’s pagan… well, they still need to wait their turn.<\/p>\n

But the real reason I’d love to see that.. is because of the immediate chaos that would cause. Because the one thing the gov’t has so dearly tried to avoid (and Arlington Cemetary is the place the battle is being quietly fought) is the inrush of religions claiming legitimacy.<\/p>\n

I want to see this thing go to lawsuit so that either the “Christmas based” iconography has to be struck (which I really don’t want) OR any religious icon MUST be displayed regardless of religion. See I want to see a day where the seasonal affectations come out and someone has put out a Baphomet, or a Green Man (in it’s proper season), or even a Hot Dog on Friday.<\/p>\n

Religious protection is only religious protection if we really want to protect people believing in what they believe in… regardless if we believe in it or practice it ourselves. Otherwise, personally, I think we’re being more destructive in the name of freedom than constructive.<\/p>\n

A Pax on you in this season.<\/p>\n

-Me<\/p>\n

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