From The Mouths Of Babes

	I've heard some interesting things from the mouths of children. I recall
watching the Bill Cosby show, in which Mr. Cosby would interview children. The
things they said were often embarrassing, amazing and profound....sometimes just
silly. However, I heard something recently from a young boy that stopped me dead
in my tracks. The child was asked about the Christmas season. Looking very serious
and sincere, he looked up and said, "Nana says children that celebrate Christmas are
killed by Jehovah."

	Wow. I was so surprised by the matter-of-fact way in which he said it that
I missed the next part. However, I tuned back in for the end of his monologue:
"...people who celebrate Christmas follow Satan."

	Now, anyone who knows me well knows I'm not a big fan of Christmas. I don't celebrate
the season, I don't hang my stockings by the fireplace. However, far be it from me to prevent
others from celebrating the season. The very idea that a person would tell a child
not to celebrate Christmas rubs me the wrong way. I cannot imagine the mentality which
would cause a person to tell their grandchild that God would kill him if he tried to celebrate
the birth of his Savior.

	When I first told my family I didn't want to celebrate Christmas anymore, I think they
took the news well. They were, I think, disappointed I didn't want to join them in their
happiness. However, not one of them told me God would strike me down should I not agree with
their beliefs. No one told me I was evil or that I was no longer welcome in the family. I
don't even recall being told I was an agent of Satan. And I was in my teens by then. This
child had to be younger than ten. Who threatens a little kid with death for wanting to
decorate a tree?

	Look, I know I'm treading too close to a religious line here. People should be allowed
to practise their religions in their own homes in peace. I support the right of that family
to say "No Christmas in this house." But to both threaten and lie to the child? I don't pretend
to know if there is a God or not. However, I know (personally) of a few hundred children who
celebrate Christmas on a yearly basis and not one of them (not a one) has been struck down 
by an act of God. What is going to happen in a few years when this little boy learns that
other children his age enjoy Christmas without Jehovah spanking them with lightning bolts?

	I suppose we'll just have to imagine for now. Perhaps in another ten years
I'll have the opportunity to talk with him again.