Bunny from Kansas thinks Christmas is ruined

As the Senate passed comprehensive health care reform legislation by a vote of 60-39, C-SPAN's call in show was taking opinions from people about the legislation.

Bunny from Parsons, Kansas, was so distraught about the health care vote that she took down her Christmas tree. But that's not all.

It wasn't just Bunny's tree that went. "I have taken my Christmas wreath off my house. I have taken all the lights down," she said. "This is supposed to be a nation under God, and it isn't. They absolutely have ruined Christmas."

I'm not very clear on how health care reform has "ruined Christmas". Christmas is a holiday because it celebrates the birth of Jesus. That didn't retroactively not happen because of a Senate vote.

As I've noted previously, the Bible does not speak against helping the sick. Not at all.

Jesus never said "screw the poor". Nor did he preach that one should be more concerned with the amount of taxes he or she personally pays more than one should be concerned with the health of others. Quite the opposite, actually.

Recall Matthew 22:15-22 (...Then he said to them, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's.")

Henry Van Dyke, who chaired the committee that wrote the first Presbyterian printed liturgy, The Book of Common Worship of 1906, wrote the following poem.

I am thinking of you today because it is Christmas
and I wish you happiness.
And tomorrow, because it will be the day after Christmas,
I shall still wish you happiness.
My thoughts and my wishes will be with you always.
Whatever joy comes to you will make me glad.
All through the year
I wish you the spirit of Christmas.

Christmas is not about being hostile about health care reform because you believe the inane and self-centered ramblings of the tea baggers. Christmas is about wishing happiness and joy to others.

An organization called the Advent Conspiracy has the stated purpose of bringing back the true meaning of Christmas.





As they note on their website:

When Jesus loved, He loved in ways never imagined. Though rich, he became poor to love the poor, the forgotten, the overlooked and the sick.

Christmas isn't ruined by a Senate vote. And certainly not a vote which aims to help provide health care to millions who are without care.