Those Troubling New Year’s Resolutions

Just for Fun

Most people make them.  Few people keep them.  Whether kept or not, those New Yea’rs resolutions are, well, troubling.

Lose weight!  Get organized!  Save money!  Eat healthy!  Will someone please tell me why resolutions have to be so unpleasant!  So troubling!  Even happy ones like having more fun, getting more rest, and spending more time with friends still seem like another item tacked onto our growing to-do lists.

A few years ago someone wrote a book about “margin.”  The author argued most Americans book their lives at 120% of what they have time for. Instead, he proposed that we operate at 80% and have time and energy to spare. Not a bad idea!  In fact, maybe, I’ll make that my New Year’s resolution for 2014.  On second thought, figuring out how to do 40% less and still get everything done might be more trouble that it’s worth.

I suppose that brings me back to my point: New Year’s resolutions really are troubling.

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U.S. Supreme Court Puts a Stay on Federal Judge’s Ruling

Marriage,

Last month a federal District Court judge issued a ruling against Utah’s ban on same-sex marriage, resulting in the issuance of marriage licenses to same-sex couples in that state.

Today, however, the U.S. Supreme Court placed a stay on that ruling, meaning marriage in Utah will remain one man to one woman while the lawsuit over Utah’s marriage amendment progresses.

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins summed up the implications of this decision in a statement today, saying, “The Supreme Court has today signaled that it will not allow state laws defining marriage to be set aside by a lone judge without a careful consideration of the issues involved.”

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War on Christmas Extends into January

Christmas,

The war on Christmas has spilled over into January.

According to the Baxter Bulletin, on Wednesday of this week (New Year’s Day), an atheist group wrote a letter to Baxter County Judge Mickey Pendergrass, Mountain Home Mayor David Osmon, and Mountain Home attorney Rick Spencer. The letter complains about a Nativity scene on the courthouse lawn in Mountain Home, and threatens legal action if the Nativity is not removed.

Now, Christmas is already over and the Nativity scene (which you can see here) will be “removed” soon anyway, if it has not been already. Just the same, this group wants to be assured the Nativity, which has graced the courthouse lawn for the past fifteen years, never will be put up again.

But the Nativity is well within the bounds of the U.S. Constitution. According to Alliance Defending Freedom, courts have ruled that government offices can place Nativity scenes and other decorations with a religious connotation on their public property–especially if non-religious decorations are present as well.

The display in Baxter County includes a large Christmas tree with a Santa Claus standing next to it — neither of which is a religious decoration. In the background, an arch of holly is visible surrounding the doors to the courthouse, and red bows are visible on the building — both are Christmas decorations, but not religious.

The courthouse’s Christmas decorations are not exclusively religious; in fact, they are exactly the kind that judges have ruled constitutional.

We keep saying it: Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. It is also an official holiday in this country. Why would our government be free to recognize Christmas as a holiday; give its employees time off from work on Christmas day; put up decorations commemorating Christmas; but not even mention the very event Christmas celebrates? It’s ridiculous.

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