Mr. Garner Goes To Washington

Rousing from an unplanned nap near 1am Saturday, my cellphone blinks in receipt of a message. I assume it's spam to the work email account. Instead, it's a text message from 12:22am. It reads: Baby Pierce got his angel wings today at 3 o clock. News began to circulate around 4pm and trickled to Caringbridge at 11:40pm Friday night. An outpouring of love to the family was already in progress on Facebook and continued through the weekend.

You may have heard the age old axiom from your parents. "Never talk about politics or religion." My guess, this was a mantra to avoid uncomfortable dinner parties 30 years ago. Hard to believe but people actually met IN PERSON to talk and catch up, instead of sitting at their computers or using their phones to text and tweet. Not bringing up the topics of politics or religion, especially when in mixed company, helped keep everything pleasant and calm. Few chances for awkward moments when talking about the weather, food, kids, and the lawn. But why are people so passionate about these topics? Why do they cause such conflict in discussions?

With Christmas slowly fading from your memory, did you find yourself this year taking a stand for Christmas? I'm not talking about stealing the stand beneath the Christmas tree. Perhaps you missed it but 2009 was the year of sticking it to retailers who refused to display or say "Merry Christmas!" Boycotting secular businesses because they aren't promoting Christmas: righteous or ridiculous? I'll vote for both.