religious controversy

Two things that are never easy to discuss; religion and politics. No two people are alike. You may agree on many things, but for sure not everything. When it comes to law making and faith, people have very firm opinions and this makes for difficult conversations.

I've never been one to shy away from either though. I have my own opinions and I respect that not everyone agrees with those opinions. Do I get frustrated? Sure. That's normal. But I'm open minded enough to listen to others, and sometimes my opinions may even change.

Keeping with the theme of this post...The whole "Season" billboard controversy caught my eye a couple of weeks ago. The American Atheists came up with a billboard that they saw fit for the holiday season:

A Catholic group came up with theirs:

From a personal perspective, I don't think taking something that so many believe in and twisting it around is respectful. Atheists have the right to believe what they want, by why take the Christian belief and show it in a teasing kind of way? If you want to show your opinions/beliefs, why not come up with your own original designs and messages? Just like some want to exercise the right to not believe in God, others want to exercise their right to believe in God. It's all about respect. We don't need a billboard war.

From a Muslim perspective, Christmas is not celebrated for one simple reason. Muslims do not celebrate prophets' birthdays. Muslims believe in Jesus (as a prophet), they believe he was born to Virgin Mary, and they believe he will return again. There is no agruement in the importance of Jesus from Muslims.

I personally think Christmas is a wonderful time of year. People spending time with loved ones, the beautiful decorations, giving, and of course special food. ;) I miss this time of year as it is not celebrated in Saudi. I heard that it is in nearby Dubai (hmmm, would hubby go for a last minute weekend trip there?). One year I want to go to the US for Christmas. I want little guy to experience all of the wonderful sparkle of the season.

No matter what your religious beliefs are, you can't deny the sparkle. ;)