Bashing Christmas is really old...

and not funny anymore.
I just read a post on reddit.com about "Atheist Billboards I'd Like to See". So, I clicked on it. I'm always up for good religious humor. After all, if you can't poke fun at your religion, what good is it?! Not only were these pictures not funny, it was a lame attempt at satire and completely unoriginal. Newsflash - you're not the first person to figure out that many of the world's major religions share common traits so don't hold your breath waiting for the Nobel people to call. Additionally, the author would like to point out that Christianity "highjacked Judaism and shamelessly tacked on the New Testament". I'm not even sure where to begin this one. Let's keep it simple so that James H. Pyle will be able to understand. We didn't highjack, steal, pilfer, or abscond with the Hebrew Scriptures. We acknowledge not only their validity and sanctity in and of themselves but accept them as an integral part of our faith history (seeing as Jesus was a Jew and all). James H. Pyle is clearly 10 times more ignorant than he assumes the average Christian is. Finally, the picture of Santa nailed to the cross - does anyone else remember the uproar over the completely insensitive cartoon of the prophet Mohammad? While I would be the first person to back free speech and press, I am also a proponent of common decency and taste. But Let's move beyond that issue. Was that mocked up billboard really an attempt at likening Jesus to a beloved character out of childhood holiday stories? We get it. You think that God functions like Santa - ask one of them for something and if you're good, you get it. Well, God does work like that...if you're five years old!!! Only those with absolutely no working knowledge of any kind of faith tradition believe that adult Christians see God in this way. Faith is a complex ever evolving notion that develops over one's entire life. So, on behalf of those "simpleton" Christians you're poking fun at, I'm pretty sure we have the last laugh. "Look what this fool wrote and what he thinks of us. What an idiot. Joke's on him".
In closing, I believe in God, the Father/Mother almighty and yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.