The first thing I’ll do as state senator is figure out how to prevent corporate cafeterias whose kitchens are closed for remodeling from putting out such a bad selection for lunch. Tomorrow, I’m bringing my lunch.
While eating my so-called lunch of a chicken salad wrap (I consider tortillas kosher l’pesach, as they aren’t risen), I was reading about the kerfluffle about Google changing their logo yesterday to honor Cesar Chavez, a leader who didn’t rise from the dead, instead of Jesus, who apparently did. Of course, I see it differently. In my eyes, Google changed their logo to honor Chavez on Cesar Chavez Day, a legal holiday in California, where Google is headquartered. I’ll note that if Google hadn’t changed their logo at all yesterday, no one would have been upset. It is only because they chose to change it, and didn’t change it to honor Jesus, that a number of self-righteous Christians have gotten upset.
Google is a private company. They can choose to honor whomever they want to honor. If people don’t like it, they can take their business elsewhere, although Google makes that extremely sticky. They could take their business to Microsoft, which honored the religious nature of Easter by putting up pictures of… eggs. Oh, right, eggs were a pagan custom, not mentioned in the Bible. Just like Christmas trees.
Personally, as someone who is not Christian, I’m glad that Google kept their doodle non-sectarian (just as the state should). For those that choose to worship Jesus, there’s a place to do that. It’s not on the Internet and it is not in Government offices or schools. It is in your local Church. There you have the experts on his teachings, in a house where he resides, free of the influence of the marketplace and the government.
Easter is not made by a Google doodle. Easter is made by an individual’s faith. So please stop picking on a successful California business that recognizes the wide variety of people that make up this great state.
Religions often preach that we should turn the other cheek, that we should not let perceived insults get under our skin. They preach that we should love one another. But far too often, these are words not practice. If it is our religion to which we perceive an insult, we go to war. We are willing to love, as long as it is those like us. Don’t believe me? Those who are often the most vocal about theocracies in the Middle East are often equally vocal about how this should be a Christian nation, and who get offended and go on the virtual warpath when a corporate doodle honors a non-sectarian leader. To my religious friends I say: If you want your religion to be a beacon to the world, then you have to live your life to be that beacon. The Christian faith, as I understand it, is more than eggs and trees, and family dinners. It is words and deeds and doing good in the community — doing good for the poor, needy, and downtrodden. It is those good deeds (what in Judiasm is called Tikkun Olam – repairing the world) that government can do.
At least those are my thoughts. Remember to vote for me for your state senator, and help to contribute to my campaign as soon as I get the Kickstarter site set up. Plum patronage positions will be available.
Best part were the idiots whom thought that google was honoring Hugo Chavez.