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“Offensive Ideas” – Campaign for Free Expression PSA #1
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Happy Memorial Day
Memorial Day is a “United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May (May 31 in 2010). Formerly known as Decoration Day, it commemorates U.S. soldiers who died while in the military service.[1] First enacted to honor Union soldiers of the American Civil War (it is celebrated near the day of reunification after the Civil War), it was expanded after World War I.”
Yet somehow, Jesus gets a shoutout.
Guess what I'm going to do this Memorial Day? Nothing. Sit down and read my bible and soak it all in.
On my way to work. Happy memorial day!! I'm remembering JESUS!! And how he died and ROSE!! How he's YET alive! Have an awesome day guys!!
On Memorial day, as we remember those who gave their lives for freedom, we find comfort that Jesus did the same thing, in Him we rise again.
On Memorial day I remember Jesus as "soldier of the cross". Thank You for dying for me on Calvary. Help me always remember You set me free.
Memorial Day always feels like Good Friday to me. I always think of the sacrifice Jesus made for me first. Then of the people who have :" (
HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY my peeps! Just remember Jesus Christ was the ultimate patriot..'He whom the Son sets free....is FREE INDEED'!
Jesus and the American soldier are the only two people whoever willingly gave up their lives for you. Happy Memorial day!!!
I can’t wait to see if they can somehow make Arbor Day or Groundhog Day into a Jesus holiday.
Happy Zombie Day
Awesome turnout for the Easter hunt. Glory to GOD!
Easter! Jesus is alive! how do we know? how do we prove that Jesus lives? look for the stories. changed lifes. radical transformation.
Easter, the day Jesus kicked some serious ass
HAPPY EASTER ...JESUS IS BACK
I love Jesus, do you @justinbieber? cause I sure do 
Happy easter
O Christ, the Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world; have mercy upon us and grant us your peace. Amen.
So Steve Jobs releases the iPad the day before Easter...way to steal Jesus' shine.
the lamb of God has taken my sins away!! Jesus Christ is the only way to forgiveness!! the only way to salvation, the only way to Heaven!
What do the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus have in xommon? Jesus.
and now for a little “win”….
At Tescos with a blowtorch and low self-esteem melting easter eggs, then smearing them over my body. This is your fault Jesus.
Have a piece of zombie chocolate
When I was a child, despite growing up in a quasi-Catholic household, religious holidays were less about religion and more about the commercialized pagan aspects. Christmas was about Santa and reindeer and presents, and Easter was about dyed eggs and the Easter bunny. I had a vague idea that Christmas was about the birth of christ as I had to attend Sunday school until I made my first communion, but my mother was more interested in the “fun” stuff. I’m very fortunate for that. Holidays for me as a child were wonderful, and I have my mother to thank for that.
Looking back, the only religious thing we really did on Easter was visit the cemeteries (if that can even be classified as religious). I recall dressing up for Sunday dinner, usually with extended family. I remember egg hunts, a couple small toys like a battery operated jumping rabbit, and of course a basket full of Cadbury. But on Sunday morning after Mass (if we went) we drove out to the Catholic cemetery where my mother’s first husband was buried and the beautiful hillside cemetery where my father’s first wife rested. The latter was my favorite (if you can have a favorite graveyard). It was large, well-kept, and sat on several rolling hills with lots of trees that flowered in early spring. A row or two in front of my father’s first wife was a memorial stone in the shape of a park bench. I would sit there and play with my stuffed bunny or whatever toy was most special that day while my father had a conversation with his first wife and my mother walked around and complained about the way the cemetery staff were trimming the hedges or mowing the lawns.
So aside from paying tribute to the departed, Easter was about spring, lambs, eggs, bunnies, chicks and colorful early blooming flowers. It was about being able to ride the new bike I got for Christmas or my birthday and going outside for the first time without a coat on. It was not about Jesus, and certainly not about this morbid fascination with his purported torture, execution, burial and unlikely resurrection. Like Christmas, the most beloved elements of the holiday come from the ancient pagans who rightly celebrated the Earth and the change of the seasons.
So because I never really correlated the death and resurrection of Jesus with cute fuzzy bunnies (is that why magicians pull rabbits out of hats? a continuation of a magic trick?) I probably never noticed any religious themed Easter candy. I have an obscure memory of a chocolate cross or two, but I don’t quite remember anything like what we recently saw in Wal-Mart:
a nice collection of execution devices made of chocolate
some candy Noah's Ark, not sure how this relates to Easter
Hershey's even has the traditional Jesus fish on their chocolate cross
chocolate for a funeral?
even Whitman's got in on the action
I tried to do a little research on how and why candy at Easter began. Some say the original Easter candy was actually the hot cross bun which was very popular in medieval times. The pastry is pre-chrisitan, the “cross” actually represents the four quarters of the moon. It was later re-interpreted as the crucifix. It wasn’t until the introduction of the cocoa bean when the more popular seasonal treat turned to chocolate eggs. This transition happened during the Victorian era when most of our present day holiday traditions began. Throughout the ages there seems to have been a constant struggle between the church and the masses in regards to celebrating fully functioning pagan holidays with christian aspects or a christian holidays with pagan aspects.
Well, anyway, as we watch the ghoulish Christians celebrate the bloody execution and improbable resurrection of their feeble hero, we can find a little time to remember how grand nature is and celebrate the rites of spring.
Happy Zombie Day!
It’s Mardi Gras…grab your plastic baby Jesus!
Happy Valentine’s Day
That Lousy Canuck gets hitched…
Filed under: AaRB News, Facebook, Fun, Holidays & Observances, Humanism, Recommendations, Round Up, Science, Twitter
A big huge heartfelt congratulations to Jason and Jodi on their wedding tonight. Welcome to the club! People will say what they will about marriage, but it was the best choice I ever made. Being with the one you love is the best thing in the world.
…and a special thanks to @JSWadley and @cyberlizard for live tweeting the glorious event!
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Don’t feed the trolls
