O-ver, Ra-ted, Clap, Clap, Clap-Clap-Clap

I've decided that Christmas is overrated.

One thing that gets me is that you have the rampant commercialism that this season has become. I mean, you get all of these stories about how people just go insane on Black Friday, in an effort to get some cheap Christmas shopping done. Or when there are toy shortages. You see stories of price gouging, and realize that it's just the market at work, since you wouldn't have people raising prices exponentially, unless there were buyers. I just sit back and wonder why people insist on trying to cover up ugly holes in their souls and lives by buying things that they can't afford for people that they should have treated better throughout the year. After all, simply buying stuff isn't going to fix everything that's wrong in their lives. That's the job of alcohol. And gambling. And meaningless sex. Which is great, ordinarily. But on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day? Not so hot. Because everything's closed.

On a completely different track, I think that Christmas is extremely overrated in a religious sense, as well. After all, the idea of Christmas is a celebration that is intended to celebrate the birth of Jesus. In my mind, that's not a watershed point in the Christian faith. I think that Jesus always was. There seems to be some evidence within the Bible that points in that direction. Okay. So his arrival on earth in human form is a small blip, not a big blip. I'd say that it would be like seeing a little dot on the map of the U.S. that says "Little Rock." Not the big dot that says New York City.

Where the existence of Jesus really gets interesting is a few decades later. I tend to think that Good Friday is a more important day to the Christian faith than Christmas. For those of you not familiar with the Christian narrative, the idea is that Jesus Christ, son of God, was crucified for the cumulative (past and present) sins of Man, allowing for the redemption of Man before God. Good Friday commemorates the death of Jesus. That was when at the very least, a good man, who was likely at least a prophet, and possibly even the Son of God was killed by Romans, at the request of the Jews. It is his death that I believe is more interesting to the Christian faith because it is the death of a clean soul that allows for the payment of Sin.

But where the story gets better is actually 2 or 3 days later (3 days in the Bible, 2 days how we observe it), on Easter Sunday, when Jesus' burial site is empty, when Jesus actually rises to fulfill the old prophecies as the One who redeems. I don't think that Easter gets enough buzz. And that's just strange to me. Because this is the point where the Christian faith stands alone. Until that point, the Christian faith and the Jewish faith are virtually the same. It is at that point where things really change based on your faith. It is at that point where Christianity makes it's claim that it is different, set apart from the all else, the singular path to God, through Jesus Christ. It is the idea of a man, who was also God, allowing Himself to physically die in order to save Man, and then overcoming death by shedding the burial shroud to walk amongst the living days later.

Why does Easter seem more solemn? I have no idea. I think that it's because very little is done on Good Friday. If there was a time to be solemn, Good Friday would be it. But Easter Sunday? If there was a time to party, I don't see why Christians don't choose Easter. In my mind, if I was a Christian, Christmas would simply be an excuse to party, while Easter would be a reason to party. Easter is when Christ was born in a revolutionary way. If you wanted to buy presents, why not give them on Easter to symbolize the treasures in heaven that will await us?

So, when I become dictator, you're going to see some changes. For one, the bars and restaurants will be open on Christmas Eve. You'll have Fat Thursday immediately preceding Good Friday. And the Monday and Tuesday day after Easter will be mandatory detox days. And Christmas? We'll have that replace President's Day, since we won't have any need for GW or Honest Abe in my new theocracy.

So, here's to Easter - the new Christmas.

-Chairman