Christmas Lights From Hell

Many people of the 21st century create their own innovative Christmas traditions for a variety of reasons. They have left home and married, with kids of their own, and need something to call their nuclear family's own at the Holiday Season. Some do this in order to escape the chain of dysfunctional holiday behavior and commercialism, and this is a smart thing to do as well, with good motivation. Or --

Perhaps they have no family and are the last of their altogether, so they do something unique. Some go on vacation to tropical climates from Christmas to New Year's and have fun alone or with friends. They make new friends on Grand Cayman Island or in Iceland.Or, they volunteer in Holiday soup kitchens.

There are so many things that can be done during the period between Thanksgiving and January 6 in America, that there are plenty of choices. Commercial Christmas or Christian Christmas - celebrate one, both, or none. It would just be nice if the choosers of each the three options would refrain from criticizing the choosers of any of the others.

Like bad TV, if you don't like it, don't watch it.

Some people travel to Israel in December to see what it's all about. Amazingly, Jewish Temples and the Wailing Wall, The Holy Sepulchre (the supposed empty tomb of Jesus) and the Mosque of the Rock (where Abraham did not have to sacrifice his son Isaac) sit in the same vicinity -- Three major religions - Jewish, Christian, Muslim - one place. More interesting is the tradition that traces Judaism back to Abraham's son Isaac and the Muslim foundations back to Isaac's half brother Ishmael. Some Jews today are saying, "We were given the land, the Arab/Muslim countries were given the oil, and we must learn to get along." I think that beats nuclear catastrophe.

Yearly, extremists travel to the Mosque and try to build a tent on top of it in order to reconstruct the Hebrew Temple (originally a large tent) on the spot where the Mosque now stands in order to usher in the final stages of the End of Days. On New Year's Eve 1999, heavy security and police enforcement were necessary, because the extremists dedicated themselves to building the temple made from a tent. I marveled at the TV coverage of a small portion of that scenario on one of the Christian networks.The tent builders failed at the end of 1999 and they have failed every year since that time...

This yearly scene may seem amazing and even ludicrous, but it is interesting.

However, one of the biggest religious and Christmas Atrocities is that of the slavery of Chinese Christians in some parts of China (not the whole country, but some of it) and their enforced slave work of assembling strings of tiny Christmas lights by hand, without tools, for 14 hours a day. These lights are sold by the thousands in American stores, often for as low as $1.00 or $0.50 a box for a string of 35 lights at Big Lots.

In Sudan, when a Sudanese person declares themselves a Christian, their arms are often cut off by the government's soldiers. Our church has sent missionaries there for years to help fight this atrocity, but more help is needed. The film footage sent back to us is horrific.

Many people hate Christians that have operated in their faith wrongly, by browbeating and comdemning non-Christians, by having killed so many in the Crusades, by all manner of events. Is it not also wrong to take Christians that do not do these horrid things and cut their arms off or enslave them to make Christmas Lights?

War is hell, but holy war is worse. The perpetrators of religious atrocities are wrong.

This year and every year hereafter, if you purchase Christmas lights, why not purchase from America manufacturers, purchase vintage American Made lights, or go with another form of decoration entirely?

The only American Made Christmas lights I can find that are currently in production are available through a Florida company called The Lights Before Christmas at www.thelightbeforechristmas.com. Several Italian companies manufacture and export lights as well.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

NO MORE MADE IN CHINA- Find the low down on harmful products made overseas and how to find what you need in America at http://www.nomoremadeinchina.com/

One listing on the site above offers to search out American Made products, including green products. See www.USAEarthmart.com.

Read the TIMELINE OF AMERICAN CHRISTMAS LIGHTING at http://www.oldchristmaslights.com/timeline.htm.

American Made Gifts across the nation and from the state of Ohio.

The first Christmas tree lighted with small lights was reportedly lit in 1882 by an associate of Thomas Edison.

By 1966, the final large American manufacturer of Christmas lights went bankrupt - just 84 years later.

The few remaining manufacturers of Christmas lights in America in the 21st century are expensive in their products..

Lights produced in China are cheap, but those produced in the US and countries outside the USA besides China are generally more expensive or very expensive.

I will think about China and Sudan when I see lights at Christmas.

This year, I plan to celebrate the 12 Days of Christmas, attend an Orthodox candlelight celebration, enjoy 12th Night, and participate in some of the trappings of Mardi Gras that begin on 12th Night - I love to make the Masks - without purchasing lights or other goods that have resulted from the inhumane treatment of workers or the use of slaves.

That's a tradition I can live with.

I pray that holy wars and Christmas Atrocities be ended soon.

Merry Christmas to All!