Pagan Strong: A Response to My Governor’s New Ad

Iâ€™m not ashamed to admit that Iâ€™m a Pagan, but you donâ€™t need to dance naked in the moonlight every 28 days* to know thereâ€™s something wrong in this country when the Pagan in my household is the one dragging the Christian out to buy a tree and sing carols around it. And with the stringing of lights and singing of “Oh Come, Oh Come Emmanuel” this Pagan joined President Obamaâ€™s (and John Stewartâ€™s) WAR ON CHRISTMAS for 2011.

I write this assuming youâ€™ve seen Governor Goodhairâ€™s, er, Rick Perryâ€™s,** latest ad. If not, take a looksie. And then take a looksie at my favoriteÂ [NSFW-sound starts immediately]Â of the many, many, oh-so-many parodies this ad has inspired, spoken by Jesus himself (a very nice Jesus; the kind my Christian friends would be pleased with, I think).

I watched a lot of parodies today. Some were funny, some just, well, rude, but after awhile I got tired of the snark. The wounds between differing viewpoints and cultures in our country arenâ€™t going to heal when weâ€™re picking at them. So here is The Pagan Princesses’ response to Perryâ€™s ad. It doesnâ€™t even mention him – thatâ€™s been done enough, I think – but it is heartfelt. I’d like to thank k! for her awesome work filming and doing all the tech. She continues to amaze us! And if you like the music (“Sileisian Melody” played by Frozen Silence), you can get it here.

What are your thoughts on the ad or the supposed War on Christmas?

* Which is good, â€˜cause I donâ€™t do that dancing naked in the moonlight thing. Yes, Iâ€™m a prude.
** I actually feel bad for Perry at this point. Who thought that ad was a good idea? Where were his campaign advisers who should have put the kabosh on that bad boy from the get go? Did somebody with a terrible sense of humor purposefully pick a coat that looked like it came from Brokeback Mountain, or is that really some horrific coincidence? (Or maybe LokiÂ showed up on the set!)

+ Image:Â GlÃ¦delig Jul, ca 1910 from the National Library of Norway

GlÃ¦delig Jul, ca 1910

13 comments

David Dashifen Kees says:

Dec 13, 2011

Well done!

Jax says:

Thanks! It was harder to stand still than I thought; I have a new appreciation for movie actors. 🙂 But k!, the woman who built our site, did all the hard technical work. She’s amazing!

Yeah, i’d love to do something similar and also wanted to take part in the “I’m a Witch” videos that Star Foster and Peter Dybing started back during the 2010 elections, but I don’t have a camera other than my phone or my laptop’s webcam so the quality would probably be pretty poor.

We wanted to do something for the I’m a Witch meme as well, but like you we don’t have a camera and got stymied by that. Lucky for us we have a generous friend who does have all the cool tech! 🙂 Making this with k! and GG has inspired me to look for a camera. Making a video was fun!

Meagan says:

I’m teary! Why did that make me tear up? Nicely done, Jax and GG 🙂

(By the way…we got in our first order of Paidom beef–delicious! Thanks for the recommendation!)

Aw, thanks Megan!

And I’m glad you like Paidom. We’ve been sooo thrilled with them. I don’t ever want to go back to store-bought meat!

Kristina says:

You guys are awesome. I think people who get offended at a holiday greeting are silly. People should be able to be as specific or non-specific as they wish to be. If someone wants a Christmas tree, go get one! If they want a holiday tree, as they don’t celebrate a specific holiday or don’t wish to offend someone, that should be fine too! Why does it seem more people get offended at gestures that are made to be non-offensive?! There isn’t anything wrong with political correctness in moderation, or at least I think so.

Aw, thanks Kristina! I completely agree with the whole getting overly offended thing. I thought Jon Stewart’s bit on it was hilarious. (But then I usually find him hilarious, even when I disagree with whatever he’s saying.) And while I do think that political correctness can be taken too far (as you said, all things in moderation!), its heart is in the right place. Treat people with respect, as if their culture, beliefs, and heritage have equal value to your own. Seems so simple, and yet… so hard apparently.

Brad Sullivan says:

Dec 14, 2011

Thank you, GG and Jax. I needed to read / see that. Especially that “after the longest night of the year, the new day brings a sense of joy and hope, a renewal of spirit, and tightening of bonds between you and your loved ones.” Yup, I feel better now. You two continue to be spirutual guides / mentors for me. The Lord bless you and keep you,

Brad

Blake says:

May 29, 2012

Anthony, I’m not sure whether to begin with tknhas and praise or congratulations!I appreciate, first of all, the fact that you care enough about the liturgy and the institutional church to have to struggle over this. Your honesty and commitment to living the truth is a great witness to all of us, and helps us feel sane even when we are pushed to make insane choices so that we can eat. It is difficult to know, sometimes, what choice is the best to make in all this. Your words here, your listening, and your example have been very helpful as I have charted my own path. I have chosen, whenever I talk about the new missal, to be bluntly honest about it: some of the final product is good, some of it bad, most of it a choice among equally valid possibilities; the process which is supposed to govern translations is good, but there remains in the hierarchy a codependent and often abusive tendency to engage in boundary-violating control tactics, which tendency the hierarchy shares with the vast majority of human beings; if we approach liturgy with the sole purpose worshiping the all-holy and life-giving Trinity, we can move beyond the imperfections of the coming translation just as we did the imperfections we didn’t know about for the last forty years. I have found that once I acknowledge the defects of the translation, as well as those of the people and dysfunctional processes that begat it, people look relieved that I don’t expect them to maintain a happy-happy’ pretense about it. This makes it easier for them to accept what good may come of this admittedly imperfect moment in our history, and to continue to pray for the ongoing conversion of our whole church, including especially our hierarchy. May we all, each and every one, grow to embrace more fully our call to be disciples of Jesus. Standing up for truth is an essential part of this discipleship. Thanks so much for your witness to this!20ea