Yesterday on the show we debated the conservative movement to put the "Christ" back in Christmas. Lots of conservative talk show hosts and writers are on a rampage about people who say "holiday" when they mean "Christmas."
The discussion we had just makes a story I read in The New York Times today that much more intriguing. It seems that a ton of the Evangelical megachurches are closing their doors on Christmas Day, choosing to offer Christmas Eve or Christmas Week services but nothing on the actual day--which happens to be a Sunday this year.
First I needed some explanation on what a megachurch was. Apparently it just means a huge congregation--sometimes 20,000 members attending services at one time. It's like every Sunday is Superbowl Sunday and you're on God's team.
Anyway, one of these huge churches, the Willow Creek Community Church, is handing out a DVD of a church service for people who want to watch at home on the holiday.
I laughed out loud on the bus when I read that.
Why didn't the Catholic Church think of that? If I could have just popped in a tape all through my childhood instead of sitting through the seemingly endless Masses, just think of all the many things I could have done with those free hours.
The churches say that the decision is family friendly, as it allows people to spend the day home with loved ones instead of running around to churches.
Among the religious, there is a sharp divide on the issue. People of faith out in the blogosphere are weighing in today, as usual.
The Anchoress thinks this story will just give the critics of Evangelical faith the "hammer of hypocrisy" to throw around. In other words, in the midst of this big "call it Christmas" campaign, you'd really better get your ass into a pew.
Ann Althouse raises another very valid point. Some people don't have families. For them, the time spent in Church may be the only human interaction they have all day. It doesn't seem very Christian to leave people out in the cold so you can have a day off.
As for the DVD, I'm still laughing.
Today on the show, a look at the controversial PR war being waged in Iraq. Should the Pentagon be paying for good news stories? We already know that the insurgents use the Internet and television to spread their hateful messages. Why shouldn't we use our resources to spread good news? It's a war, right?
And later, the new film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe debuts today amid some controversy. Is it really a religious film being masked as an adventure? if so, why are the filmmakers trying to downplay that?
Join us for our final show.
Thanks to all of you who have written to say kind things. We've spent the last year bringing you quality programming--the kind of political debate show that you don't really see anymore.
As for me, the opportunity to get to know the blogosphere and meet so many great bloggers has been eye opening.
At this time of year, media outlets begin to assemble their "year ender" stories--the big stories of 2005.
No doubt the hurricanes and natural disasters will top every list. But what comes next? Some would say the war in Iraq. Others might say the search for Natalee Holloway. No doubt the year enders you'll see on television will include the Holloway story, maybe Tom Cruise and his Scientology freak out, perhaps the death of Terri Schiavo.
What would the bloggers say?
I did a quick Blogpulse trend graph on some of the top stories we've covered to see which ones have gotten the most discussion on the blogs.
I typed in "Natalee Holloway, Sam Alito, and WMD." Hands down, WMD wins, followed by Alito. A distant third is Miss Holloway.
Interesting, isn't it?
I'm going to keep blogging, and watching the blogs. I encourage you to do the same.