You Didn’t Hear This From Me, But . . . Merry Christmas

Well, it’s that time of the year again: time for Christ-phobes to complain about Christmas celebrations in public places. Once again we must endure weeks of whining about how seeing a Nativity scene and hearing the words “Merry Christmas” creates an exclusionary, hostile environment that leaves non-Christians feeling threatened. 2008’s first incidence of Christ-phobia takes place in Long Island, NY in the town of Patchogue.

On Nov 23 the town will hold its 15^th annual boat parade along the Patchogue River. Last year the name of the parade was the Patchogue Christmas Boat Parade. This year the name has been changed to the Patchogue Holiday Boat Parade because of “complaints that the use of ‘Christmas’ seemed to make the parade less inclusive.” (http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gfA-XFWFSZjLAt-oIzxwehAhx4xgD9409U000) Organizers tried to justify the change by arguing that “the parade has had several names over its roughly 15-year existence”, but one group who rejected that explanation is the Grucci fireworks company. Last year Grucci donated $5,000 of fireworks to the parade. This year the parade will get zilch:

“The company's vice president, Philip Butler, who has criticized the secularization of Christmas in the past, said parade organizers were ‘using all the themes of Christmas and plagiarizing all those themes.’"

Bravo to Grucci. Not only should Patchogue Christians boycott the parade, but they should spend that evening decorating their property with as many Nativity displays and “Merry Christmas” signs as they can fit.

Merry Christmas . . . and get ready for a ridiculous two months.

Donald Tremblay

Adaptation and Desensitization – Two Sides of the Same Coin

Mankind’s ability to adapt is one of its greatest gifts. Put people into the most difficult situations and somehow they manage to survive—and in some cases even thrive. Yet, the very characteristic that enables us to endure as a species is also the characteristic most responsible for the disintegration of our societal mores and values.

The problem with adaptation is that too often it leads to desensitization, as is the case with the incessant images of violence and sex that bombard our minds daily. Our minds adapt by hardening against the increasingly disturbing images, creating a shield over our sensitivity to moral outrage. Without this shield people would be unable to satisfy their innumerable daily responsibilities in this hectic world. The shield is a defense mechanism, a survival method—one that is best summarized by the expression, “I have my own problems to worry about.” Hence, over time the same images that would have offended us barely register on our inner moral radar. The state of video games is a prime example, as indicated in a New York Daily News article today:

“The over-the-top Saints Row 2 encourages players to butcher cops with chain saws, smoke drugs, annihilate rival gangsters and run prostitution rings. . . . Players earn money or street credibility in a host of criminal and despicable ways, like mutilating cops and enslaving women.” (http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/arts/2008/10/13/2008-10-13_letting_game_players_kill_cops_and_smoke.html)

Nice, huh?

NYPD union boss Patrick Lynch appropriately argues that “these horrible and violent video games desensitize young people to violence while encouraging depravity, immorality while glorifying criminal behavior." Saints Row 2-designer THQ is clearly trying to out-deprave the granddaddy of all tasteless video games, Grand Theft Auto. GTA is now in its fourth version, and its latest “has sold more than 6 million copies since April.”

There will be no uproar about Saints Row 2. People will argue that it is just a game. And months from now when THQ has earned several million dollars in sales from this trash, we will once again wonder why children are committing violent crimes at ever younger ages and why these same youngsters refer to women as “bitches and hos”.

Don’t blame the children. They are just adapting to their circumstances.

Donald Tremblay