Is The Free Market The Real Reason For The Season?

The Christmas season has now started regardless of which generation's seasonal calendar one uses. For people my age, Christmas season always started the day after Thanksgiving.  But times have changed. And though I don't know when the change occurred, some younger generations now recognize the day after Halloween as the beginning of the Christmas season. No doubt some even recognize the Christmas season as starting some time before Halloween. And it isn't unrealistic to think that the Christmas season will eventually last all year long if it keeps being extended.

Now if Jesus is the reason for the season, then we should note that Christmas shopping is the reason for the long lines we face in traffic and many stores. And in America, Christmas is more about Christmas shopping than it is about what the New Testament says about the birth of Jesus Christ. This unbiblical center of Christmas does invite and enable the celebration of Christmas to be more inclusive and thus involves a great diversity of people as well as includes more people. But that inclusivity comes at an extremely high price for the Gospel.

Christmas shopping enables many retail stores to remain in business. I remember way back when I use to sell pianos and organs in a mall, we were told that we depended on Christmas sales to continue to exist. Unfortunately, sales of pianos and organs were down during that time period.

Again, for most of America, Christmas is more about shopping than it is about the Gospel. And what follows is that Christmas is more about making a profit than it is about faith. This is yet another example of how the Free Market and its values invade an institution or tradition so that its values change how that institution operates or how a tradition is observed. 

This blog has stated more than once that the Free Market has changed how Democracy is viewed and practiced more than how Democracy has changed how the Free Market is allowed to operate. And what is being said here is that Democracy is not the only victim of the Free Market. The Free Market has a greater influence on how we observe Christmas, even among many Christians, than how the Christian Faith and the story of the Nativity has affected how we utilize the Free Market.

If what is being claimed here is true, then America is spiritually lost to all the trappings of materialism and all that it is included with living as a thing-oriented society. To a thing-oriented society, things are more important than people. Thus, such a society resists changing any part that would increase the priority we put on people over things. This means that we will protect an economic system that is increasing wealth disparity among its people from change. This means that we will resist safeguarding and ensuring social safety nets if that includes having less money in our own pockets. This means that we will be fearful of immigrants emigrating to our nation lest they benefit from society and its system more than they contribute. And this means that we will be more interested in the sale of weapons both at home and abroad than we will be in on those who are the victims of the use of those weapons. Here, one only needs to think about how President Trump rejected the idea of even confronting Saudi Arabia for the murder of Khashoggi because of the vast amount of money involved in weapons contracts with that nation.

While many of my fellow religiously conservative Christian Americans search hard to find scapegoats for the fall of America, we need only to look in the mirror for the true guilty party. For as the old saying goes, 'we have met the enemy and they are us.' And the enemy is us when the Free Market has a greater say over how we celebrate Christmas than the New Testament has. But that is hard for us to recognize since we have so often conflated the America we grew up in with our faith.




 

The Reason For The Season

The recent debate that some churches have waged within themselves about whether to have Sunday services on Christmas day shows how far we have drifted from the true meaning of Christmas. While much of the Western World redefines Christmas so as to make it as much an inclusive celebration as possible, the true meaning of Christmas is being missed. R.C. Sproul (click here for a bio) gave a talk about what Christmas is about. His talk and a transcript can be found here.

His opening line says a lot about what Christmas is about. Sproul says:

What we celebrate at Christmas is not so much the birth of a baby, as important as that is, but what’s so significant about the birth of that particular baby is that in this birth we have the incarnation of God Himself.

In celebrating Christmas, we are not to celebrate family, peace and good will to all, or some idealism that unites as many people as possible. It isn't as if those things should be dismissed. It is that Christmas has a specific meaning and that meaning revolves around the birth a one particular baby who was God with us. And that was a feat that the birth of no other child could accomplish. In terms of defining Christmas based on who Jesus is, Sproul does a wonderful job and what he said is well worth listening to or reading.

But I would add one more point to what Sproul said in his talk. Christmas is about the birth of one particular baby within a specific context. That context was God's love reaching out to a fallen world. Now describing the world as 'fallen' does not do emotional justice to the state of the world both then and now. And because it does not do justice to the state of the world, it also does not do justice to our own individual states. God came to us in person starting with the birth of Jesus because of His love for us and how sinful we are. The problem of our fallen sinful state could in no way be remedied by some moral nerd who could teach us how to live better lives--though we should always appreciate those moral nerds who do. Rather, our sinful state required that God Himself must repair the damage that sin has done and He came to us up close and in person to do just that. 

The inclusivity of how we celebrate Christmas today diverts our attention from the birth of the one particular baby named Jesus.  Also, the conjunction of that inclusivity along with our consumeristic approach to celebrating Christmas distracts or even blinds us from the sinful state that Jesus came to rescue us. Because of the inclusivity of and our consumeristic approach to celebrating Christmas, Christmas time has become merely another escapism that is joined by so many other forms of escape. And what we are trying to escape from is seeing Christ for who he is and ourselves for who we are. For seeing Christ for who he is can be frightening and seeing ourselves for the sinners we are can be too painful. In addition, seeing ourselves for the sinners we are robs us of the relief we get from focusing on the sins of others.

So please either read or listen to the talk Sproul gives about the meaning Christmas. I deliberately did not comment too much on what he said so that people reading this would listen to or read Sproul's own words. 

ONIM For December 19, 2016

Christian News

• How London Churches Are Battling The Housing Crisis -- Christian Today (UK)
• Pope, Bishops Called On To Break Stalemate In Democratic Republic Of Congo -- Christian Today (UK)
• Church Asked To Mediate Between Indigenous People And Chinese Mining Company In Ecuador -- Christian Today (UK)
• Here's What Happens When Christmas Falls On A Sunday -- Christianity Today
• Bombing Of Cairo Church's Sunday Service Kills Dozens On Muhammad's Birthday -- Christianity Today
• Kirsten Powers: Becoming A Christian Ruined My Love Of Christmas -- Christianity Today
• Church Discipline And Forgiveness -- Reformed African American Network
• Between Two Worlds -- Reformed African American Network
• Raise Up A Transcendent Voice In A Partisan World -- Gospel Coalition
• Some Things I've Learned Along The Way -- Prophets Of Culture
• Who Are Egypt's Coptic Christians? -- Yahoo News
• Rev. Graham: ACLU's War On Christmas Continues--Man Has 'Unwelcome Contact' With Cross, Causes 'Irreparable Harm' -- CNS News
• We Can't Be Pro-Life If We're Not Anti-Poverty -- For The Church
• The Head Of The Household Called To Do Women's Work? -- Mortification Of Spin
• Trump Rallies The Faithful Against The 'War On Christmas' -- Yahoo News

 
World News

• Joint DHS And ODNI Election Security Statement -- Office Of The Director Of National Intelligence
• Secret CIA Assessment Says Russia Was Trying To Help Trump Win White House -- Washington Post
• Julian Assange's New Platform: RT -- Columbia Journalism Review
• What Is Russia Today? -- Columbia Journalism Review
• When Spooks Were Reporters And Reporters Were Spooks -- Columbia Journalism Review
• Demagogue-In-Chief -- Truthdig
• Trump's Capricious Use Of Power To Denigrate And Even Endanger His Critics Must End -- Truthdig
• Mikhail Gorbachev On The Collapse Of The Soviet Union, Democracy In Russia And Putin's Popularity -- Newsweek
• India Arrests 12 For Not Standing During National Anthem -- Fox News
• Huge Mysterious UFO Disk-Shaped Object Captured Crossing Moon's Surface Was Alien Spaceship, Say ET Hunters -- Fox News
• Bernie Sanders: Donald Trump Won Because People Are Tired Of Political Correctness -- Reason.com
• Scientists Are Frantically Copying U.S. Climate Data, Fearing It Might Vanish Under Trump -- Washington Post
• Greg Palast: By Rejecting Recount, Is Michigan Covering Up 75,000 Ballots Never Counted? -- Democracy Now
• Israel Puts Celebrated Palestinian Activist On Trial -- Huffington Post
• EPA Finally Concludes Fracking Pollutes Drinking Water -- Common Dreams
• Putin Himself Involved In US Election Hack: Report -- Yahoo News
• Israel's West Bank Tourism Drive Makes Palestinians Invisible -- ZNet
• Brazil Senate Approves Austerity Package To Freeze Social Spending For 20 Years -- ZNet
• Dylann Roof Convicted Of All Counts In Church Slaughter -- Yahoo News
• A Collection Of Thoughts About American Foreign Policy -- Anti-Empire Report
• Canada's Liberal Government Stands By Plan To Use Military Against Pipeline Protests -- World Socialist Web Site
• Artists Around The World Respond To Donald Trump Becoming USA's President-Elect -- True Activist
• Days Of Revolt: The Corporate Coup D'etat With Ralph Nader -- Real News
• While Decrying "Massacre" In Aleppo, US Steps Up Bloodshed In Mosul -- World Socialist Web Site
• If Donald Trump Is So Upset About Iraq WMD Lies, Why Would He Want to Hire John Bolton? -- The Intercept
• Russia Destroys Most ISIS Heavy Weaponry, U.S. Promptly Airdrops 50-Tons Of Weapons Into Syria -- Mint Press News
• U.S. Election Agency Breached By Hackers After November Vote -- Yahoo News 
• Trump Picks Mick Mulvaney, South Carolina Congressman, As Budget Director -- New York Times
• Trump Corruption Grows As Senators Nail Education Pick For $5.3 Million In Unpaid Fines -- Politicus USA
• There's A Huge Education Drop-Off With The Trump Cabinet Picks --  Daily News
• Monica Crowley, Trump's Latest Addition To National Security Team, Believes In Fighting Islam 'The Way We Fought The Nazis' -- Yahoo News
• Car Bomb Kills 13 Turkish Soldiers On Bus; 7 Suspects Held -- Yahoo News
• Accessnow.org's Open Letter To Top Tech Executives -- Raging Chicken Press
• Extinguishing Free Expression In Algeria -- New York Times
• On Campus, Trump Fans Say They Need 'Safe Spaces' -- New York Times
• Europeans Greatly Overestimate Muslim Population, Poll Shows -- Guardian
• Trump Chooses Hardliner As Ambassador To Israel -- New York Times
• Jammeh Must Step Down, Say West African Leaders -- Yahoo News
• Trump Is Still Not Very Popular, And His Problem With Women Could Return -- New York Times
• Trump Names Andrew Puzder, A Fast-Food CEO And Critic Of Substantially Raising The Minimum Wage, To Head The Labor Department -- Washington Post 

 
Standing Rock Sioux - DAPL News

• Miles From Standing Rock, Pipeline Rupture Spills Unknown Amount Of Oil In North Dakota Waterway -- Free Thought Project
• Pipeline Spills 176,000 Gallons Of Crude Into Creek About 150 Miles From Dakota Access Pipeline -- Yahoo News
• Cops Are Finally Being Sued For Illegally Spraying Standing Rock Protesters With Water In Freezing Temperatures -- Counter Current News
• Wikileaks Calls On Obama To Submit Proof Of Russian Hacking For Verification -- RT
• Did Senator Wagner Shutdown Unemployment Centers -- Raging Chicken Press
• At Standing Rock, No One Goes Hungry -- Yes! Magazine
• Seattle Takes Steps To Divest $3 Billion From Wells Fargo Over Standing Rock -- Yes! Magazine
• Iowa: Residents Fight Dakota Access Pipeline Use Of Eminent Domain In Court -- Democracy Now

 
Pick(s) Of The Litter

• Russian Hackers Acted To Aid Trump In Election, US Says -- New York Times
• As Legacy Media Cuts Back On FOIA, Digital-Only News Outlets Step In -- Columbia Journalism Review
• US Judge Rejects Green Party's Pennsylvania Recount Case -- Yahoo News
• Senate Finally Approves Flint Aid At Expense Of The Golden State -- Truthdig
• Vowing To "Stop Political Correctness," Gen. John Kelly To Head Department Of Homeland Security -- Democracy Now
• Britain Has A New Official Definition Of 'Anti-Semitism -- Business Insider   
• Syrian Government Reportedly Kills Dozens Of Civilians In Aleppo, Some 'On The Spot,' UN Says -- Yahoo News   
• Suspect Arrested After Two Officers Shot During Traffic Stop In Georgia -- ABC News
• There Is More Than One Story To Tell In The Heartbreaking Story Of Aleppo -- Independent
• ICC Accuses UN Council Of Failing To Act On Darfur Fugitives -- Fox News
• Reversing Course, E.P.A. Says Fracking Can Contaminate Drinking Water -- New York Times
• Muslim Restaurant To Feed Homeless And Elderly For Free On Christmas Day -- CNN
• Socialism For The Rich, Capitalism For The Poor -- ZNet
• 'Unlike Western Mainstream Media, I've Spent The Last Three Days In East Aleppo' -- RT
• Trump Pick For Ambassador To Israel Supports Israeli Annexation Of West Bank And Calls Liberal Jews 'Kapos' -- Mondoweiss
• Report: Chemical Leak Reported Week Before Public Was Warned -- Yahoo News
• The Master List Of US 'Regime Changes' -- Global Research  
• Muslim Civil Rights Group Honors Jewish Counterpart With Award -- Huffington Post
• I'm A Scientist Who Has Gotten Death Threats. I fear What May Happen Under Trump -- Washington Post 
• Israelis, Moved By Scenes From Aleppo, Click To Donate To Their Syrian Neighbors -- Christian Science Monitor

ONIM For December 5, 2016

Christian News

• Why We Need To Be More Like Children To Really Understand Advent And Christmas -- Christian Today (UK)
• Religions Freedom 'Deteriorated Tremendously' In 2016 -- Christian Today (UK)
• The Bible Never Says 'All Men Are Created Equal' -- Christianity Today
• How Fidel Castro's Death Will Affect Cuba's Christian Revival -- Christianity Today
• 5 Ways Christian Institutions Of Higher Education Can Avoid White Supremacy -- Reformed African American Network
• Where Should Our Women Be Discipled? -- Mortification Of Spin
• No Little Women Introduction -- Mortification Of Spin
• 'An Epic Moment' -- Billy Graham Evangelistic Association
• Evangelical Vote Fuels Historic Election Result -- Billy Graham Evangelistic Association
• Hope For America Despite Signs Of Death -- Gospel Coalition
• Bachman Says Islamic Migration Is A 'PLANNED Invasion' To 'DESTROY Christendom' -- Compatriot News

 
World News

• Looking For Someone To Blame. It's Not Third Parties -- The Guardian
• We Must Rethink Globalization, Or Trumpism Will Prevail -- The Guardian
• The Clinton Campaign Was Undone By Its Own Neglect And A Touch Of Arrogance, Staffers Say -- Huffington Post
• Angela Merkel Issues Not-So-Subtle Warning To Donald Trump After His Presidential Win -- Huffington Post
• The Palestinians Political Future Could Change This Week -- Los Angeles Times
• Trump Abandons Campaign Promise To Penalize Outsourcing, Offers Tax Breaks Instead -- Think Progress
• Lessons On Defeating White Nationalism From The Anti-Racists Who Stopped David Duke -- Waging Nonviolence
• Donald Trump: Flag Burning Should Be Illegal -- Yahoo News
• Trump SCOTUS Pick William Pryor Would Let States Jail LGBT People For Having Sex In Their Homes -- Raw Story
• 'Can You Name One White Nationalist Article At Breibart?' Challenge Accepted! -- Washington Post
• Those Who Failed To Recognize Trump As 'Greater Evil' Made A 'Bad Mistake': Chomsky -- Common Dreams
• Facts On Updated Overtime Rule -- Economic Policy Center
• No Kaddish For Castro -- Religion News Service
• The Limits Of Sanctuary Cities -- ZNet
• 'Tomorrow Is Too Late'--When Fidel Castro Urged Climate Action At Rio In 1992 -- ZNet
• The Times Responds To Discrepancy Between Trump Transcript And News Coverage -- Columbia Journalism Review 
• Attention All Journalists: US Border Agents Can Search Your Phones -- Columbia Journalism Review
• Canadian Journalists Who Covered Rob Ford Offer Tips On Trump -- Columbia Journalism Review
• Remember, America: Hating The Press Is Not American -- Columbia Journalism Review
• United Kingdom Passes 'Snooper's Charter,' Giving Tremendous Surveillance Powers To Agencies -- Truthdig
• 'Professor Watchlist' Names Progressive Academics Who Supposedly Show A Liberal Bias -- Truthdig
• Charting Americans' Beliefs And Practices -- Pew Research Center
• Hillary Clinton Won Latino Vote But Fell Below 2012 Support For Obama -- Pew Research Center
• Trump's Treasury Pick Foreclosed On A 90-Year-Old Woman...Over 27 Cents -- Daily Kos
• Trump Promised He'd Make Carrier 'Pay A Damn Tax.' Instead He's Doing The Exact Opposite -- Think Progress
• Preserving Independent Journalism And Fighting The New McCarthyism -- Truthdig
• The Northwest Braces For Its Own Standing Rock -- Crosscut
• Hillary Clinton's "Corrupt Establishment" Is Now Advising Donald Trump -- The Intercept

 
Standing Rock Sioux - DAPL News

• Protesters Blockade Trains Carrying Fracking Materials To North Dakota -- Democracy Now
• Indigenous Activist Zip-Tied & Locked In Dog Kennel For 6 Hours For Protesting Dakota Access Pipeline -- Democracy Now
• Dakota Access Pipeline Protests Spread To 300 Cities As Pipeline Owner Sues To Continue Construction -- Democracy Now
• Sheriff On Pipeline Protests: 'My Job Is To Enforce The Law' -- Yahoo News
• Pipeline Executives Serve Standing Rock Protesters A Crop Dusting For Thanksgiving -- American NewsX
• Army Corps Clarifies Eviction Notice To Standing Rock -- EcoWatch 
• Tensions Mount As North Dakota Governor Cuts Services, Orders Evacuation of Standing Rock Camp -- Common Dreams
• Veterans To Serve As 'Human Shields' For Dakota Pipeline Protesters -- New York Times
• Veterans Serve As Human Shields For Dakota Pipeline -- ZNet
• Thousands Of Veterans To Join Dakota Pipeline Protest -- Voice Of America 
• 2,000 Veterans To Form 'Human Shields' To Protect Standing Rock Protesters -- Huffington Post
• Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Chairman Responds To Governor's Executive Order -- Stand With Standing Rock
• #NoDAPLE Live Blog: 13 Sioux Officials Pen Letter To President Obama -- Truthdig
• Chris Hedges Meets The Resistance At Standing Rock -- Truthdig
• Trump Supports Completion Of Dakota Access Pipeline -- Yahoo News
• Trevor Noah: Maybe This Time The White People Can Move -- EcoWatch
• Army Corp Denies Easement For Dakota Access Pipeline -- NPR
• Trump Supports Dakota Access Pipeline. Did We Mention He Invested In It? -- Huffington Post

 
Pick(s) Of The Litter

• Warplanes Bomb Children's Hospital After Assad Renews Aleppo Offensive -- Chicago Tribune
• Trump Could Face A Nuclear Decision Soon -- Politico Magazine
• Waiting For The Barbarians -- Truthdig
• A Declassified CIA Paper Shows How Close The US And The Soviets Really Came To War In 1983 -- Business Insider
• Priebus Confirms That Climate Denial Will Be The Official Policy Of Trump's Administration -- Think Progress
• We Let Technology Into Our Lives. And Now It's Starting To Control Us -- ZNet
• Syria's Grim Alternatives -- ZMagazine
• Arctic Tipping Points Put Earth At Risk -- Truthdig
• Cornel West On Keith Lamont Scott Case: Yet Again An Officer Gets Away With Killing A Black Man -- Democracy Now
• America's First Sustainable Agrihood Is Growing In Detroit -- Detroit Curbed
• Jury Can't Decide If Shooting A Fleeing, Unarmed Black Man Five Times In The Back Is A Crime -- Above The Law

 

It's A Star Wars Christmas This Year

The first sign that this Christmas was going to be a Star Wars Christmas came sometime around Halloween when the Star Wars merchandise went on sale. Of course, if you were shopping for kids, young or old, you had to pick up at least one such item. We did this for one of our grandchildren and the son in-law.

Now that the movie is out, the cycle is complete. Many will go see the movie throughout the Christmas season. And if you are like the son, you will see this movie multiple times. By the end of the Christmas season, the son will have seen this movie at least 5 times.

But we should notice something else here. That for many people, the significance of the newest Star Wars movie is the same as Christmas and Christianity in that it will be meaningful for some regardless of truth of the stories being told. In other words, that both would be regarded as fiction doesn't stop the stories from being meaningful to some. And that is fine when talking about stories that were written to entertain or teach us something. It is not good for the Christian faith. This is because for the Christian faith to maintain its intended meaning, it must be factually true. This includes the facts celebrated at Christmas.

What will stop people from believing the facts presented by Christianity? For some it will be Christians like myself, my family, and some of my friends. It will be because we are so busy at this time of year celebrating a Universal Christmas, a Christmas anyone can enjoy regardless of their belief in the Gospel, that people looking at us will become confused. They will be asking themselves this question: Which Christmas are Christians celebrating? Are we celebrating the birth of the Savior who came to deliver us from and die for our sins, or are we putting more effort into celebrating the Universal Christmas by what we spend on ourselves? 

Now I am not suggesting that we turn into the Puritans of old who persecuted those who celebrated Christmas. There is no need to exercise exclusive-or thinking here. Rather, what I am suggesting is that we observe how we celebrate Christmas to see which celebration is receiving more of our energy and involvement. With how we celebrate Christmas, are we more focused on the part of the Gospel story that explains why and how Jesus came to be born, or will be more focused on the gifts and food with which we will gorge ourselves.

At this point, I would like to refer to what might seem to be an unrelated quote by Martin Luther King Jr.  In his speech against the Vietnam War, King said the following:

I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin the shift from a "thing-oriented" society to a "person-oriented" society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.

With our belief in what Jesus did on the cross and what that means to our future after death, it would seem that we Christians should be the first to join the moral revolution to which King referred. We should be the first to be more concerned about people than about things; but unfortunately, that is not true. And because we have too often cared more about things than people, we have given others good reason not to believe historical facts of the Gospel such as how and why Jesus was born. And in doing that, we've made Christianity and the Gospel as meaningful to some as the newest Star Wars movie.   For by our actions, we've taught people that stories don't have to be true to learn from and be enjoyed.

As for King's moral revolution, for the world to change into a place that is not just survivable, but worthwhile to live in, his moral revolution is absolutely necessary. For without that moral revolution, no political structure such as Capitalism or Socialism can save us from ourselves.

ONIM For December 22, 2014

Christian News

• Christianity Under Fire Here At Home -- Newsmax
• A Christmas Survival Guide -- Christian Today (UK)
• Testimony: How I Found Faith Through The Nativity Story -- Christian Today (UK)
• Justin Welby: The Only Certainty In Life Is Christ -- Christian Today (UK)
• What Forgotten Christmas Tradition Should Churches Revive -- Christianity Today
• 150 Million Bible Readers Were Searching For Love Most In 2014 -- Christianity Today
• India Intervenes On Christmas Conversion Of Thousands Of Christians To Hinduism -- Christianity Today
• 'American Church Is Addicted To Personal Peace, Comfort, And Affluence' Says US Pastor In Iraq Hoping To Engage Islamic State -- The Christian Post
• American Nuns And The Vatican: More Pain Than Promise -- Religion Dispatches
• Can Religion Professors Save The Planet -- Religion Dispatches
• After Ferguson: America Must Abandon "Sick Christianity" At Ease With Violence -- Religion Dispatches

World News

• Dick Chaney Refuses To Call CIA's Brutal Interrogation Techniques 'Torture' -- Yahoo News
• It's Not The Law--But Prosecutors--That Give Immunity To Killer Cops -- Truthout
• Lakota Sioux Nation Leaves America -- White Wolf Pack
• After Police Killed John Crawford, They Threatened His Girlfriend With Jail -- Yahoo News
• Police Altering Tactics After Killings, Protests -- Yahoo News
• Pakistan Taliban: Peshawar School Attack Leaves 141 Dead -- BBC
• Walmart Must Pay $188 Million In Workers' Class Action -- The Chicago Tribune
• Bush 'Intimately Involved' With CIA Torture, Says Rove -- Common Dreams
• Obama Will Sign Russian Sanctions Bill Despite Reservations -- BBC
• Wall Street Firm Where Chris Christie's Wife Works Is Pulling In New Jersey Pension Fees -- The Daily Kos
• New York Bans Fracking After Health Report -- Reuters
• Opponents Call For Putin's Exit As Russia Slides Into Crisis -- Reuters
• Chevron Cancels Canadian Arctic Drilling As Oil Prices Slide -- Reuters
• 6 Freedom Owners, Managers, Employees Charged; Company Takes Plea Deal With Feds -- The Charlestown Gazette
• Iran Unveils A Memorial Honoring Jewish Heroes -- The Washington Post
• The CIA Just Didn't Torture, It Experimented On Human Beings -- The Nation
• DeBlasio Fights For The Right To Mass Arrest Peaceful Protesters -- The Gothamist
• Pennsylvania Town Poised To Make All Public Schools For-Profit Charters -- Aljazeera
• Obamacare Counselor: "On The Surface, People Have Choices. But It's A Complete Farce" -- In These Times
• Hurricane Sandy Victims Will Get Cash For Rent From City's Build It Back Program -- New York Daily News
• The NYPD Beats A Black Male -- Refinery 29
• Dumping The South? -- ZNet
• Paris Wants To Keep Central Neighborhoods From Becoming 'Ghettos For The Rich' -- Citylab

Pick(s) Of The Litter

• Naked Capitalism: The Attack On Pensions -- Seniors For A Democratic Society
• Rev. Edward Pinkney Imprisoned For Fighting The Whirlpool Corporation -- Truthout
• Learning To Leave The Planet Gracefully -- Waging NonViolence
• Angela Davis: There Is An Unbroken Line Of Police Violence In The US That Takes Us Back To Black Slavery -- Films For Action
• "Can We Save Our Democracy And History?" -- ZVideo
• Samah Jabr: The 'Invisible Damage' Of Life Under The Occupation -- Middle East Monitor
• Two NYPD Officers Killed In Ambush-Style Shooting -- USA Today
  

ONIM For December 1, 2014

Christian News

• Hobby Lobby's Bible Course Is Cancelled By Oklahoma School District -- Christian Today (UK)
• Pope Francis Prays In Mosque During Trip To Turkey -- Christian Today (UK)
• Church Member Denied Funeral Due To Non-Payment Of Tithes -- Christian Today (UK)
• Read Why David Robertson Is Wishing For A "White Christmas" -- Christian Today (UK)
• Can Wheaton College Require ROTC Program Be Run By Christians? -- Christianity Today
• The End Times Are Here And Began With The Reestablishment Of Israel, Says David Jeremiah -- The Christian Post
• Happy Progressive Thanksgiving: How 'Gospel Progressives' Transformed American Culture -- The Christian Post
• America's Racist God Meets Miss Celie: Darren Wilson Not Indicted -- Religion Dispatches
• Hagee Calls Obama "The Most Anti-Semitic President Ever" -- Religion Dispatches
• What Ferguson Protests Mean For Religious Progressive Activism -- Religion Dispatches

World News

• Here's What Happens To Police Officers Who Shoot Unarmed Black Men -- Mother Jones
• No Indictment For Darren Wilson Is No Surprise -- The Guardian
• Protesters Shut Down New York Bridges Over Ferguson Decision -- Business Insider
• 41 Men Targeted But 1,147 Killed: US Drone Strikes--The Facts On The Ground -- The Guardian
• US Increases Number Of Troops In Afghanistan Yet Again -- RT
• My Struggle With Black Rage And Fear After Ferguson -- Salon
• Darren Wilson Tells ABC He Has A 'Clean Conscience,' And He Would Shoot Michael Brown Again -- Raw Story
• Employers Keep Shifting Costs Under Affordable Care Act -- ZNet
• US To Send 3,000 Smart Bombs To Israel -- Middle East Monitor
• Guiliani: Michael Brown Death Should Have Never Gone To A Grand Jury -- Yahoo News
• Cleveland Police Officers Waited Minutes To Give First Aid To Tamir Rice -- Cleveland.Com
• Report: Walmart Workers Cost Tax Payers $6.2 Billion In Public Assistance -- Forbes
• White Supremacy So Deeply American That We Don't Even See It -- Raw Story
• JP Morgan CFO Admits $7 Billion Of DOJ Settlement Is Tax-Deductable -- Buzz Flash
• Did Police Set Autos On Fire During Ferguson Protests? -- Popular Resistance
• America The Beautiful, America The Violent -- Christianity Today

Pick(s) Of The Litter

• Why It's So Hard For Whites To Understand Ferguson -- ZNet
• Black Reality And White Denial In America -- ZNet
• Against Thanksgiving -- ZNet

ONIM For Dec 9, 2013

Christian News

• No Sign Of Recovery For Poorest, Says Foodbank Operator -- Christian Today (UK)
• Secular Scotland -- Christian Today (UK)
• South Africa After Nelson Mandela: The Church 'Has Its Work Cut Out' -- Christian Today (UK)
• Getting New Yorkers To Hear The Word -- Christianity Today
• Some South African Pastors React To Mandela's Death -- Christianity Today
• Rick Warren On Redefining Marriage -- The Christian Post
• David Jeremiah Draws Thousands To NYC -- The Christian Post
• Christmas And Consumerism -- The Christian Post
• Remembering Nelson Mandela -- Religion Dispatches
• Civility, Unity, Tolerance And Other Dangerous Terms -- Religion Dispatches

World News

• Fukushima's Radioactive Water Will Be Dumped Into Pacific Ocean -- ABC News
• How Many Minimum Wage Hours Does It Take To Afford A Two Bedroom Apartment In Your State -- Upworthy
• Staff Accuses UN Of Violating Human Rights -- IPS
• 36 Aid Groups Demand End To House Demolitions By Israel -- Palestine Chronicle
• Press Body Accuses Israel Army Of Targeting Journalists -- Yahoo News
• The Gap Between The Rich And The Poor In South Africa Remains The Same -- The Independent
• Mass Murder In The Middle East Is Funded By Our Friends The Saudis -- The Independent
• All Syrian Chemical Weapons Munitions Destroyed, Says Watchdog -- Haaretz
• Ukraine Opposition Seeks Million-Strong Rally In Kiev -- Reuters
• French, African Troops Try To Halt C. Africa Republic Killings -- Reuters
• US Fast-Food Workers Strike Over Low Wages In Nationwide Protests -- The Gaurdian
• Indonesia's Volcano Erupts -- Extinction Protocol
• Turkey Warned Of Potential Eruption Hazards From 14 Active Volcanoes -- Extinction Protocol

Most Important Story (or Pick Of the Litter)

• Nelson Mandela: Loved Universally In Death -- But Not In Life -- National Journal