[plug] Xmas

[Peter J. Nicol]

>  My forefathers fought in two world wars for freedom & freedom of
>  speech!

And your point is?

What about your foremothers?

I am fighting right now, in this life, for freedom and freedom of speech.
Some of my 'forefathers' (well, actually, my Grandfather) fought in wars,
most did not.  So what?

This situation, that is, the 'removal' of Christmas decorations for fear of
'offending' people is patently absurd.  I don't need the legitimacy of being
descended from semi-mythical 'forefathers' to recognize that.

This nonsense, the notion that as Christmas may offend some members of the
community, it can't be celebrated, must be resisted, as, in its logical
conclusion, will result in the de-facto banning of all expressions of
religious belief.  Why should Christians now be expected to tolerate any
other religious decorations, etc etc etc.

Personally, as a non-religionist, I can't stand Christmas, and I find its
crass commercialism extremely offensive.  But, as a principled believer in
various freedoms, I fully respect the right of anyone to believe in anything
they want, and to express such beliefs.

I actually think that this discussion could almost be 'on topic' in this
list also.  Capital "F" Freedom is one of the things that the GPL is all
about.  I am not sure how deep the ideology of the FSF permeates into the
average Pluggers psyche, but is resonates deeply within me.  If we want to
keep the freedom to use Linux, that means some things like the freedom to do
what we want with our machines.  Some of these are being taken away, and
more is planned (like not being able to record TV shows, play DVD's etc
etc).

It may be a long bow to draw, equating the right to celebrate religious
festivals, with the ability to legally use your computer, but for me, it is
part and parcel of the same thing, that is, the freedom to ... well ...
basically, the freedom to think, and to express oneself.