The Sea-Tac Tree Flap: Beyond Ridiculous
Well, it's been a good few days now since the news broke initially that the Port of Seattle had decided to remove its Christmas, holiday, or whatever you want to call 'em trees out of SeaTac International Airport.
The Port is now sheepishly putting them back, and its excuse about responding to a lawsuit has collapsed like a house of cards.
Putting the specifics of this dispute, and the harmful backlash it's caused against Jewish organizations aside, it's appalling that this is the kind of the thing that so easily dominates the media, and society's collective consciousness.
Port officials didn't exercise much restraint...or common sense... but it doesn't end there. Unhappy airline employees took it upon themselves to stir up a media controversy. Local TV stations eagerly gobbled up the story, and it exploded from there. And now it's the topic du jour.
The story is - not joking - top news on major news aggregators as of this morning. Close to eight hundred stories from almost as many news sources by one count. Right wing media, especially FOX jumped all over the story yesterday, and the traditional corporate media followed suit.
How can so many people be in an uproar all because a bunch of fake, plastic trees were removed from public display? The horror! For shame!
There's absolutely nothing wrong with decorations, but the way people have reacted, it's as if there had been a series of terrible monstrosities committed. It's ridiculous that real tragedies happening abroad get just passing mentions in the press while idiotic controversies like this are the top headlines in newspapers and at the top of the hour on television and radio stations.
Not just in Seattle, but across the country.
If Jesus Christ were here and among us, in the flesh, he would not be concerned with the question of whether or not plastic trees are displayed in an airport. Just think for a moment about all the suffering and disparity in the world, amid so much wealth, and it's easy to realize what we should really be concerned about - what Jesus wants us to be concerned about.
"Love thy neighbor as thyself?" Hardly reflected in the Bush administration's domestic and international policies, even though many of the people running the executive branch in this country profess themselves to be devout Christians.
Instead of goodwill during these weeks before the day when billions will celebrate the Nativity of the Lord (myself included), a surprising number of people are throwing a fit about plastic trees. So where is all the outrage about what's happening in Darfur? Where's the sense of urgency about bringing peace to the Middle East? About doing something to stop global warming?
If so many people can get all hot and bothered over whether a few large, green, cone-shaped decorations are on public display, then surely there is a human force strong enough summon the will to do something about the great problems which confront us and the planet we are slowly polluting...and destroying.
There is no "war on Christmas" but there are real wars, real conflicts happening around the world which are taking innocent lives and inflicting tremendous damage upon the Earth.
We Americans really don't understand how good we've got it. True, not every American is well off, but quite a large percentage of us are abundantly blessed compared to the rest of the world's population. The holidays (notice the plural - even most Christians celebrate New Year's, also a feast day for Mary) are indeed a time to celebrate and give thinks, but also to reflect.
How can we be content when we know that so many people are starving, that there are still so many languishing in poverty, that valuable ecosystems and habitats are being lost or destroyed daily by unthoughtful carelessness?
When I think about challenges like those, a brouhaha over the display of plastic trees in an airport pales in comparison. That there has been such a storm of controversy over this, much of it manufactured or encouraged by right wing media, is regrettable and beyond ridiculous.
The Port is now sheepishly putting them back, and its excuse about responding to a lawsuit has collapsed like a house of cards.
Putting the specifics of this dispute, and the harmful backlash it's caused against Jewish organizations aside, it's appalling that this is the kind of the thing that so easily dominates the media, and society's collective consciousness.
Port officials didn't exercise much restraint...or common sense... but it doesn't end there. Unhappy airline employees took it upon themselves to stir up a media controversy. Local TV stations eagerly gobbled up the story, and it exploded from there. And now it's the topic du jour.
The story is - not joking - top news on major news aggregators as of this morning. Close to eight hundred stories from almost as many news sources by one count. Right wing media, especially FOX jumped all over the story yesterday, and the traditional corporate media followed suit.
How can so many people be in an uproar all because a bunch of fake, plastic trees were removed from public display? The horror! For shame!
There's absolutely nothing wrong with decorations, but the way people have reacted, it's as if there had been a series of terrible monstrosities committed. It's ridiculous that real tragedies happening abroad get just passing mentions in the press while idiotic controversies like this are the top headlines in newspapers and at the top of the hour on television and radio stations.
Not just in Seattle, but across the country.
If Jesus Christ were here and among us, in the flesh, he would not be concerned with the question of whether or not plastic trees are displayed in an airport. Just think for a moment about all the suffering and disparity in the world, amid so much wealth, and it's easy to realize what we should really be concerned about - what Jesus wants us to be concerned about.
"Love thy neighbor as thyself?" Hardly reflected in the Bush administration's domestic and international policies, even though many of the people running the executive branch in this country profess themselves to be devout Christians.
Instead of goodwill during these weeks before the day when billions will celebrate the Nativity of the Lord (myself included), a surprising number of people are throwing a fit about plastic trees. So where is all the outrage about what's happening in Darfur? Where's the sense of urgency about bringing peace to the Middle East? About doing something to stop global warming?
If so many people can get all hot and bothered over whether a few large, green, cone-shaped decorations are on public display, then surely there is a human force strong enough summon the will to do something about the great problems which confront us and the planet we are slowly polluting...and destroying.
There is no "war on Christmas" but there are real wars, real conflicts happening around the world which are taking innocent lives and inflicting tremendous damage upon the Earth.
We Americans really don't understand how good we've got it. True, not every American is well off, but quite a large percentage of us are abundantly blessed compared to the rest of the world's population. The holidays (notice the plural - even most Christians celebrate New Year's, also a feast day for Mary) are indeed a time to celebrate and give thinks, but also to reflect.
How can we be content when we know that so many people are starving, that there are still so many languishing in poverty, that valuable ecosystems and habitats are being lost or destroyed daily by unthoughtful carelessness?
When I think about challenges like those, a brouhaha over the display of plastic trees in an airport pales in comparison. That there has been such a storm of controversy over this, much of it manufactured or encouraged by right wing media, is regrettable and beyond ridiculous.
