Re: Odin Is The Reason for the Season.
From: Jim Blair (jeb_at_wisc.edu)
Date: 12/21/04
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Date: Tue, 21 Dec 2004 13:28:21 CST
"Quirk" <quirk@syntac.net> wrote in message
news:4e20d3f.0412160251.7db6e3a6@posting.google.com...
> CHURCH OF ODIN TAKES BACK CHRISTMAS
> ...and wants to ban Santa Claus too
>
> Odin Is The Reason for the Season.
> by Dmytri Kleiner
>
>
> Do you love Christmas, but feel distanced from Christianity? Has it
> ever seemed to you as if Jesus of Nazareth didn't really fit in with
> the whole Christmas thing? After all, what's with all the fixation on
> snow, sleigh bells, and evergreen trees? Certainly not the sorts of
> things we find in the biblical world. Well, if you believe Fritz
> Lieber from the New Reformed Church of Odin, it's because Christmas,
> or Jul - the original name of the Holiday - has nothing at all to do
> with Christianity!
>
.....
> But welcoming back the descendants of Odin worshipers is not enough,
> the New Reformed Church of Odin is launching an unprecedented legal
> attack on Christendom. The Church is planning to use Intellectual
> Property law to take back all of the Church's symbols, which include
> the Christmas Tree, Mistle Toe, and Christmas Stockings.
>
> "We feel our case is very strong" explains Mr. Lieber. "We can clearly
> demonstrate prior-art on all symbols in questions and our demands are
> simple: stop using our symbols in connection with Jesus Christ or any
> other Christians, including Saint Nicholas."
Hi,
But it is various Christian groups that are also complaining about the
secularization of Christmas (X-mas?)
>..... Our Mistle Toe is like your Crucifix, Baldur
> was killed by Mistle Toe,
Or maybe it was a tow missile?
> Copyleft Idiosyntactix, all rights detourned.
>
I'll add my annual ode to Christmas.
Santa Exploits Elves!
The early Dutch settlers of New Amsterdam (now New York) revived the
memory of a (perhaps mythical) Saint Nicholas from the 4th or 5th century
AD, and transformed him into Santa Claus. He supposedly supervised
Elves in the production of toys for children, and personally delivered them
all over the world using a reindeer pulled flying sled.
This was seen as being a GOOD thing at the time: the children got the toys
and it didn't cost anything.
But today, if he were to do that, Santa would find that attitudes had
changed, and he would be in trouble on several fronts. The toy
manufacturers would protest that he was providing unfair competition, and
organized labor would agree, and demand that he pay union wages to his
elves.
The US government would insist on minimum wages for the elves, and
want to verify their green cards, if the toy factory was in Alaska.
There would likely be some concern expressed over his relationship with
the little elves, and rumors that he must be some sort of a pervert.
And he is the wrong race. Now US law does not permit anyone but
certified "Native Americans" to own reindeer.
Times have changed.
Santa is Exploiting Elves AGAIN!
Recently I posted the letter above to several political/economic
newsgroups.
One reply pointed out that since Santa KNOWS who is naughty and who is
nice, and distributes his favors based on that knowledge, children who
don't get gifts for Christmas may assume that they are not "nice" and suffer
from a loss of self esteem. A good point, and one I had not considered.
The other reply recognized that "Santa" was intended as a metaphor. But
for what? Dlj took Santa's elves as a metaphor for child labor. And while I
didn't intend it that way, the reference to Santa as a pervert certainly
does
suggest the elf/child connection.
But since the elves produce the toys around the clock and without pay, I
see them (and Santa) as a metaphor for robots; the logical extension of
automation. Is it GOOD or BAD that technology permits the production of
ever more and better goods using ever less human input? See my review of
"The End of Work" for a discussion of this.
The ORIGIN of the Elves
The lastest theory on the origin of those North Pole elves: there were a
group of dyslexic devil worshipers who, in exchange for immortality, sold
their souls to Santa.
And a final note: one of my favorite cartoons from the 1980's was printed
shortly after Presidential advisor Martin Feldstein was sacked. It shows
Reagan as Santa supervising the elves in toy production. Little elf
Feldstein had just been kicked out, and was sitting in the snow with a
startled and hurt look on his face as he says:
"All I said was, Who is paying for all of this?"
,,,,,,,
_______________ooo___( O O )___ooo_______________
(_)
jim blair (jeblair@facstaff.wisc.edu) for a good time, call
http://www.geocities.com/capitolhill/4834
And two added notes:
It was pointed out by Edward Flaherty that when (if?) the Byrd
Amendment taked effect in October 2001, if Santa continues to
"dump" toys on US kids at Christmas or any other time, he can
be fined by the US government and the money collected paid to
US toymaking corporations.
AND:
>From: Karen Nielsen <nielsen@calshp.cals.wisc.edu>
>Subject: Fwd: Reindeer Games
>
> >
> >According to the Alaska Department of Fish and game,
> >while both male and female reindeer grow antlers in
> >the summer each year (the only members of the deer
> >family, Ceridae, to have females do so), male reindeer
> >drop their antlers at the beginning of winter, usually
> >late November to mid December. Female reindeer retain
> >their antlers till after they give birth in the
> >spring. Therefore, according to every historical
> >rendition depicting Santa's reindeer, every single one
> >of them, from Rudolph to Blitzen........had to be a
> >girl.
> >
> >We should've known. Only women would be able to drag a
> >fat man in a red velvet suit all around the world in
> >one night, and not get lost.
ADDED December 2003:
bealrabbitslayer@hotmail.com (Beal):
PETA has quested Santa's treatment of his reindeer. Though they
allege that this elf cannot possibly provide adequate shelter, food,
and games for his animals, they lack the evidence to prove their case.
Lawyers for the activist group are seeking to file discovery
lawsuits, though they have been unable to find a proper governing
body. Santa does not live inside the borders of any recognized state,
so he is defacto President of his own country, makeing it difficult to
sue the man.
As the recognized leader of this oppressed city state, it is clear
that Santa has not been elected to his position of power. Indeed his
citizens are unpaid workers in what could only be described as a labor
camp. The centuries-old dictator shows no sign of relinquishing power
any time soon. The UN continues its trade embargo amidst US
accusations that France has been illegally supplying the North Pole
nation with sleigh parts.
Though Germany continues to support the embargo, any talk of military
action, it claims, would just be "all about the toys".
- Next message: royls_at_telus.net: "Re: Income from a tax on land."
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- In reply to: Quirk: "Odin Is The Reason for the Season."
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