Uptight Neighbors?

[Rising Dead Man]

Again a great quote and the movie is When Ghood Ghouls Go Bad. It's got Christopher Lloyd and it's awesome.

[Demonic Duck]

I'll put it on my always growing to watch list.

[NeverMore]

Ha ha! Good Girls Go Bad. Wonder what's on my mind?

[Rising Dead Man]

Ha ha! Good Girls Go Bad. Wonder what's on my mind?

Same as mine?

[Pumpkin_Man]

What ever happened to "live and let live." It seems that people are finding any tiny excuse to get angry these days, be it Halloween decorations or using expressions like "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Easter." I think they should continue to put up their Halloween decorations, and the neighbors should orient their little girl to the reality, that all of those things are not real, but are just in fun.

Mike

[VanHelsingStandIn]

Boy! Advice columns have changed a lot since Dear Abby!!!

This lady handles Halloween etiquette. Saving the worms, and boob jobs!

If this were MY column, my advise would have been as follows:

1)The reason the people across the street are REALLY angry is because they lack (pick one or more) the money, time, desire or work required to put up a good outdoor display and being the jelous little twists they are, want everybody to suffer.

2)Worms are to be used to catch fish and if that bothers vegan morons...TOUGH!!!

3)Girl wants boob job and is going from an A cup to a D cup but doesn't know how people will react? They're going to stare at you dipstick!! Further more YOU WANT THEM TO STARE THAT'S WHY YOU'RE GETTING THE BOOB JOB IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!

Where can I go to apply for a job as an advice columnist? I think I'd be really good at it!

[Boogeyman]

I know you can't see me so I will tell you I am giving you a standing ovation.

[Pumpkin_Man]

I'm giveing you a standing ovation, too, VanHelsing. I am truely sick of 'political correctness' and the twits who allways have to be offended by what some one else likes to display on their own property. It's just like these morons who tail gait on the free way. If some one's gumming up the works by blocking the left lane, then they might have a point, but when I'm in the right lane, there's plenty of room for him to pass on the left, and he blinks his high beams at me and blares his horn at me anyway, I hit the break and slow down. Thats how I react to intimidation attempts.

Mike

[NeverMore]

Heard on the radio this morning about some guy who had Obama hanging from a tree as part of his decorations. The neighbors got upset and called the authorities. Even though he immediately took it down he still got a visit from the Secret Service. They told him that it constituted a threat to the President's life and as a result he is now on the person-of-interst list, basically blacklisted. This will most likely affect everything he does from now on... getting a loan, flying, applying for a job, ect.

To be fair, he also had Romney boiling in a witch's cauldron. I think it's funny. Only thing missing was having Santa Claus getting his head ripped off by a rabid reindeer.

I remember reading in the history books that there was a time in this country when you were allowed to express your displeasure with the current government.

[Murfreesboro]

Well, you know, since he also had Romney represented in a "threatening" scenario, I think the authorities over-reacted. Now, if he had just shown Obama in that way, I would have thought he had crossed the line. As far as I know, there have always been special laws about threats to the president, any president, so I wouldn't want to go there myself.

[ValerianCat]

I don't think this really has to do with the neighbors' religious views on Halloween. Perhaps the neighbors already have a history and pose unfriendly attitudes towards one another. If that is the case, then it is no surprise that they would get angered by classic Halloween decorations.
I agree that if these parents were genuinely worried about their child's well-being, they would teach her to overcome those fears and enjoy the holiday, instead of knocking on someone else's door and confronting the neighbors about something that isn't their problem.

[Pumpkin_Man]

Not only is it not their problem, it's none of their business. It's the perogative of the home owner, not his or her neighbors, whether or not to put up Halloween, or any other decorations in their yard. What really erks me is the question of....What's next? Will atheists and agnostics start complaing about neighbors who put up manger scenes at Christmas time? Will animal rights activist neighbors start complaiing about people who pur up turkey decorations at Thanksgiving? Or maybe we should stop displaying the American Flag on patriotic holidays like Memorial Day and the 4th of July, because it might offend some of our non patriotic neighbors.

NO THANKS!!! It is my God-given RIGHT to express myself in what ever manor I please, and I think it needs to be realized by all these paragons of "political correctness," that one of the prices we pay for our liberties is the need to be tolerant to the liberties of others. You cant say "Freedom of expression, except for a Christian, or except for a Halloween lover, or except for an atheist." Those rights are for everyone, and tolerance is part of the price we pay.

Mike

[Murfreesboro]

I agree with you, Mike, but we certainly are living in touchy times.

In the South, of course, there are many people who love the old Confederate flag, while others are very offended by it. I recall an incident that happened here in TN, shortly after we moved back here in 1994. A young man (late teens/early 20s) had put a Confederate flag across the back window of his pick-up truck, something which is actually not too uncommon in the South. A car of three young black men pulled up next to his at the stoplight and noticed that flag in the rear window of his truck. One of those guys shot him dead, either at the stoplight, or shortly afterward, because he/they disliked the flag he was displaying. They didn't know him, and he didn't know them.


All three of those guys were later sent to prison for their murder of the guy in the truck, who turned out to be a young father. The law decided their attack was unprovoked, and that he had had the right to display that emblem in his truck if he wanted to. But how safe could anyone feel doing so, after something like that?

The Confederate flag is still incorporated into the state flag of my home state, Mississippi, as far as I know. The last referendum I heard about to change that flag was soundly defeated. It reminds me of home, and I feel sentimental about it. But I would think long and hard before I displayed one publicly.

[Pumpkin_Man]

[ Murf, I don't have any feelings one way or the other regarding the Confederate flag. I think if people want to display it, it's their business and no one elses. I can definately understand your sentimental attachment to it, and would never begrudge you or anyone else displaying it.

My things, is I do not take kindly to some one who tries to intimidate me. Like you, I have traditions that I love, and I will not give them up simply because some one might be offended by some so called "meaning" behind that tradition. I am a Christian, so I celebrate Christian traditions, such as Christmas and Easter. The guys who shot that man in the truck SHOULD have been sent to prison. A Confederate flage is not an indication of bigotry. To many Southerners it's a symol of the pride they take in their home land. I have actualy seen African Americans display that very flag, because it symbolises their home land.

The lesson to be learned here is that bigotry is a two-way street.

Mike /color]

[Murfreesboro]

[

The lesson to be learned here is that bigotry is a two-way street.

Mike /color]

That's true.

We are getting into the season when people will be talking again about when/whether they can wish each other "Merry Christmas," display Nativity Scenes in public spaces, etc. I recall, last year, I saw a billboard on TV or the 'net that some atheist group had paid for. They were taunting Christians with an image of the Wise Men, saying something like, "You know it's a myth."

In this part of the country, we are not very likely to see billboards with messages like that. And I guess one could argue that any group of people can post a message they pay for in a commercial space. But can they, really? If the message were directed against Mohammed, would that be allowed? If it were a message of racial/ethnic disparagement, would that be allowed?

Personally, I think there is a lot of historical specificity in the Biblical story of the birth of Jesus. To the extent that things can be verified historically, they appear to check out (see http://www.bethlehemstar.com for an in-depth discussion). So I think it is highly presumptuous of anyone to say that I "know it's a myth." I don't know any such thing, although I agree that the story has taken on mythic dimensions over the centuries.