Away

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Note: x-mas= Christmas. I am not trying to push my religion on you, I am mostly speaking to those who celebrate this wonderous holiday.

Where are you Christmas
Why can’t I find you
Why have you gone away
Where is the laughter
You used to bring me
Why can’t I hear music play
- ‘Where Are You Christmas’ Faith Hill

What has happened to the true meaning and spirit of Christmas, everything has become commercialized. We have lost the true meaning of Christmas. We do not have to completely belive in Jesus, it can also be about being with our families or caroling or just old fashioned cheer. X-mas has become about who can get the nicest presents or have the flashiest decorated house it is about the birth of Jesus Christ, Imanuel! For those of you who have forgot the story of Christmas, I have included it below.

The Nativity Story (made easier for those of you who can’t understand the bible)

About two thousand years ago, in the town of Nazareth, there lived a young woman named Mary. She was engaged to be married to Joseph, a carpenter. One day an angel appeared before her and told her she had been chosen to have a special baby. The baby would be God’s son and she must call him Jesus.

Soon after the angel’s visit, Mary and Joseph were married. Mary was due to have her baby when they were told they had to go on a long journey to Bethlehem, which was where Joseph came from.This was because they had to pay a special tax. Mary had to ride on a donkey for a few days over the hills of Gallilee.

At last Mary and Joseph arrived in Bethlehem. It was crowded with other people who needed to pay their taxes. Mary was very tired and needed a place to stay. At each inn, the story was the same. There was no room for them. Eventually, one kind innkeeper said he had a stable where he kept his animals. They were welcome to stay there.

And so it was that a few hours later, Mary gave birth to her son in that stable. She wrapped Jesus in strips of cloth and laid Him in a manger full of hay.

At the same time, on a hillside overlooking Bethlehem, some shepherds were watching over their sheep. A bright light appeared in the sky. They were very afraid. It was an angel sent by God. The angel told them not to be afraid, because he had some good news. He said the Son of God had been born and they would find Him in Bethlehem.

The shepherds wanted to go and see the baby. When they arrived at the stable, they were filled with joy at seeing Jesus lying in the manger. They knelt down and worshipped Him. They told Mary and Joseph how the angel had appeared in the sky and told them that Jesus was to be the Saviour of the world.

Far away in the East, Wise Men saw a new star shining high in the sky. These men studied the stars and they knew this was a very special star. They studied their scrolls where it said that whenever a bright new star appeared it meant that a great ruler had been born.

The Wise Men decided to find this new ruler. They went to Jerusalem to see King Herod, as they thought the baby would be in the palace. They asked to see the child that would be King of the Jews. The king was troubled. He thought this new king may take away his throne. He told them to return when they had found the baby so that he could worship the child himself.

The Wise Men set off to find the baby. They were guided by the star to the stable in Bethlehem. Here they knelt down and worshipped Jesus. They gave him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. That night, the men had the same dream where an angel warned them that King Herod wanted to kill Jesus and told them not to go back to his palace.

The Wise Men went back to their own country without calling to see Herod. Soon after Joseph had a dream where an angel told him to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt as King Herod had ordered that Jesus be killed. They left Bethlehem right away. When the wise men did not return, Herod ordered that baby boys in Bethlehem be killed. They did not find Jesus as he was safe.

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What has happened to the freedom of speech, it is the 1^st Amendment, on the bases of what this country was founded on, freedom. Why do we discourage this? GET OVER IT!!!!! You can say what you want to, theres no law against it! The only reason we discourage it now is because we know that they are mostly right (at this point I am talking about incidents about the President (Kanye West, Dixie Chicks, ect.) sorry to reopen a wound if you like Bush.)  I think that they are over protective of their so called “reputation,” but if some one said this in the 60’s or 70’s it would have been just brushed off.  We HAVE lost the freedom and power of speech.  People cannot say what they want to out loud, but through other forms of communication, such as writing, music, or movies (the perfect example, Fahrenheit 9/11Michael Moore really speaks out about President Bush and the “War” on Terrorism, but guess what, he didn’t say 12 little words agaist Bush, he said a whole lot and won awards for it!) We over react so much just because someone expresses the opinion of the majority or minority.  This is perfectly stated in a peice of the lyrics to Not Ready to Make Nice: (if you don’t like country this is still a great song if you read the lyrics)

And how in the world can the words that I said
Send somebody so over the edge
That they’d write me a letter
Sayin’ that I better shut up and sing
Or my life will be over

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
— The First Amendment to the U.S. ConstitutionThis IS the first amendment so we shall have the freedom of speech wether we like it or not.Remember the National Freedom of Speech Week is Oct. 27- 28And PLEASE!!!!!! remember and use OUR freedom of speech!!!!!!!!!!!!!As the video trailer for the movie Shut Up & Sing says, In the land of the free, Can You dare to be brave? Remember that.