[ExI] Tolerance

[Emlyn]

2009/12/10 JOSHUA JOB <nanite1018 at gmail.com>:
>>> He aligns himself with “cultural Christians,” and even goes along with
>>> singing those treacly, annoying $$$mas carols.  Gads, there’s just no
>>> accounting for some people’s taste.
>>
>> Me too, I guess!
>>
>> I think it's important to separate religion into culture +
>> metaphysical beliefs; they're not as tightly bound together as it
>> might seem. The metaphysical beliefs are the crazy stuff, culture is
>> the tradition+ritual+values which live separately from the crazy
>> beliefs, and are what underpins community.... I'm happy to do christmas &
>> easter and all that stuff (although I'm not cool with consumerism, a
>> separate issue). Just don't expect me to *believe* this stuff; it's myth,
>> culture, stories...
>> Emlyn
>
> I don't really like Easter, because I see no real point in the tradition in
> and of itself (I don't want to celebrate fertility or spring or the harvest,
> I enjoy fall and winter far more, myself).

I'm a fan of chocolate eggs.

> But I do celebrate Christmas.
> Generally don't do most of the religious carols, but some, depending on what
> they say and so forth (I generally just equate God with goodness and that's
> basically the same).

Yes, same here, although there are some particularly God heavy,
onerous carols which drive me up the wall.

> I celebrate Christmas because it serves as a special time to be with those
> you care about and show you care through the exchange of gifts.

Exactly. There's the cultural aspect right there.

> I happen to
> think its wonderful that it is consumeristic, because, provided you don't
> pile up debt in order to pay for your gifts, it is a display of how
> productive you've been.

LOL! I'll have to disagree with you here. Consumerism is almost by
definition entirely detached from productivity. Really productive
people don't tend to me all that consumeristic in my experience, and
productivity and money definitely do not share a 1:1 relationship.
But, you know, if you want to show off your bank balance, you could
just email people a copy of your bank statement.

> Its one big celebration of productivity and the
> trading of values (caring, gifts, etc.)! Just about as close to perfect a
> holiday as you can get, in my opinion.

Shopping isn't productivity. Caring is something that doesn't have
much of a monetary component. Gifts are nice though.

-- 
Emlyn

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