This season has been beautiful in many ways, especially with the rains, the green and a bright sunny walk by the ocean on my Christmas Birthday.
The darker side was shown by scammers and frauds. An elderly person I work with was “taken” by a phone scam and lost hundreds of dollars. A professional woman I know was contacted by an “officer” threatening arrest if she didn’t give money. Another man was approached by a fake IRS agent.
All during the holidays, at Christmas time.
If I believed in Hell, there would be an especially HOT place reserved for these crooks.
This caused me to reflect for a few minutes on the Frauds of Faith. . .
the Sacred Scams.
We’re raised to believe in an obese white fellow (who lives in the land of dark-skinned natives!) who flies around in a bright red suit with super-powered reindeer and somehow squeezes down sooty chimneys (or some kind of breaking-and-entering if you don’t have a chimney) all over the world to bring “just what I wanted!” to millions of children.
Then, we grow up and Poof! We laugh and move on.
Billions more are raised with fantastic stories of holy babies, ladies in nightgowns floating and singing in the sky and stars that “stop” over one special barn on the planet. All to teach us to believe right and to believe enough so we’ll get to go to a golden city in the clouds when we die.
Is there a Number I can call to report this?!
(Happy postscript: the elderly lady who was scammed received a call from a news station that donations poured in after her story appeared and she will get back every dollar she lost! I very Merry Christmas for her! I guess we could say there really is a “spirit of the season”. . .with no harps and wings)
Secular Chaplain 