Religion, who the hell cares?

Religion, who the hell cares?

Recently, I was told that kids were no longer allowed to sing Christmas carols in school. I had a feeling that our schools were getting nuttier, but this?
Seriously, what? Who cares? Why do parents care soooo much?
Were they not kids themselves once? DId they remember being brainwashed by “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” Did “What child is This?” cause them to pray for hours on end in the 3rd grade? Or, were they perhaps like myself and had no clue what we were REALLY singing about but simply enjoyed the songs for the melody and the way the lyrics flowed from our mouths?
I seriously don’t understand why some people treat anything remotely religious likes its the plague. What’s wrong with learning about Jesus? He doesn’t seem all that bad. We could even look at the Bible as history if you want. What if the kids learn about morals? Who cares how they learn morals? What’s the big deal. Jesus seemed like a really cool guy, that’s the impression that I received as a child.

When I was in public school on Thursdays we were bussed to church school. We called it Thursday school. How odd is that? A public School bussing kids to church during school hours? Nowadays, that would give parents heart attacks. We were divided into 2 groups, the catholics were bussed to the catholic church and the protestants to the protestant church. Guess what, I wasn’t brain washed, no one was. In fact, we had a blast. All I remember is singing and making crafts and hanging out with kids from other schools. At Christmastime we would do little shows. We ate brownies and cookies and drank punch. (Another thing that has been banned from school, the eating of treats)

I really don’t see what the big deal is. Of course, there is the other side to religion. There are the religious fanatics. C’mon, do you honestly think that your 4th grade son is going to be recruited into some giant cult like church for singing “Away in a Manger” at Christmas?

What’s wrong with learning about Jesus? He has some really great stories. He can teach you about kindness.
What about Gandhi? Can we not learn about Gandhi? Gandhi is religious. Gandhi was kind too. What about Mother Theresa? She was catholic, should her life story be banned from school?
Where is the Christmas tree now? Are we allowed a tree? Is Santa banned? Where has the magic of Christmas gone?

Are we depriving our youth of what we grew up on due to our own ignorance and fears regarding religion as adults?
Because religion didn’t help us in our own adult lives we think it won’t help our kids. Isn’t it their decision to make? We keep them from learning about religion like its a plague. They are kids, children. All they care about is the next fun thing. Perhaps the parents are too damn lazy to help their children understand that religion exists so instead of helping them learn about it they simply take it away and plop them in front of the television to learn if Sponge Bob lost his Square pants.

But, what if its just the one parent with the one kid in class? This I don’t understand. There is one atheist in class and now no one can sing Christmas carols? Why can’t the atheist learn about Christmas carols as historical pieces of music? Why can’t the parent tell their atheist kid (who by the way didn’t choose to be atheist yet cause he is just a kid) their belief and that there is more than one view of the world. What about a Jewish child? Can’t we sing the dradle song and learn about Judaism? Kwanzaa, teach me about Kwanzaa.

Okay, so what if the atheist kid sings “O little Town of Bethlehem.”
I have a feeling the kid won’t lose it. In fact, he might learn some pretty song that he probably won’t understand but when he grows older he would have been exposed to something and have fond memories of singing this carol. Perhaps he learns about the Dradle song and Hanukkah, perhaps Kwanzaa. Perhaps, we will end up with a kid in our society that is well informed & fulfilled because he got to sing “O little Town” and the "dradle" song. He’ll be nostalgic when he hears those pieces. He’ll have memories. Right now all anyone is doing is robbing children of good memories. I remember the Christmas our class sang “O little town of Bethlehem” will he?

hello & still sans TV!!

No I have not retreated into TV land I have been writing an article for a magzine, my first one and currently have 3 blogs in the making & just need to spell check and finish up. They will be coming later this week!
Am still thriving and loving life sans TV!!
Take care!!

My brother runs with a broken heart. Day 50

My brother runs with a broken heart.

Today my brother completed the half marathon in Chicago in an hour 40.
3 years ago he had open heart surgery at the age of 21, which sucked by the way.
The look on my little brother..s face before heading off to the room where a Dr. would fix his broken heart is a look that I never want to see again.
It was a combination of fear and sadness that no one should experience.

The night before his surgery Andrew and I hung out, we went into chicago and had dinner at the Grand Luxe . On the way back cold play was on and it depressed us.
I told him that they would shave his chest so we decided that I would do it instead to cut back on time spent in the waiting room and possibly letting some nurse nick him. My father was sitting there and we were making jokes while my girlie razor cleared a path to his heart. Shaving cream was everywhere and we laughed and made sarcastic comments. Laughing is medicine in my family without it I think I would have pushed someone down the stairs. When my grandfather lay dying all anyone did was laugh around his bed. I suppose that sounds insensitive but life is insensitive enough I don..t need to stand around and soak up the horrendous experience presented before me. There is plenty of time for that.
My brother came out of surgery, the Dr. said that there was more damage than they had thought but that they fixed his heart and all was good.
He was born with his problem, he was born with a broken heart. He is pretty sensitive, my little brother, so he came into the world already a little sad. But, something different drives Andrew, he runs. He has always ran and lifted weights. Weeks before he was told he needed surgery he carried me me up a hill while we were hiking out here in LA. Yep, I probably caused a gasket in his valve to blow riding piggyback that day. Andrew is 6 2 and I, 5..6. Yep, probably blew a gasket.

When Andrew started running again after his surgery he told me that he almost cried cause it felt like knives stabbing him in the chest. He probably did cry but my tough brother doesn..t want anyone to know that.
Most people would have given up. Most people would never have started to run after open heart surgery. Not Andrew he kept on running and today finished his first marathon. The heart is pretty resilient after all.
Andrew inspires me to exercise and everyday that I work out or run he enters my mind. Without andrew perhaps I..d be laying on the couch watching someone else running on television.
Think I'll have me a run.