I'm Rudolph!

He's always been my favorite, so I suppose this comes as no surprise. Thanks Susan (aka "Donner") for the link to this very festive quiz.

According to these very scientific findings, I am:

Sweet and shy, you tend to be happiest when you're making someone else happy.

Why You're Naughty: You sometimes stick that nose where it doesn't belong

Why You're Nice: Christmas would be a sad affair without you!

Hey, Santa! Are you paying attention?

Merry Mish-Mash

I've heard all the hullaboo about retailers requiring sales clerks to replace "Merry Christmas" with "Happy Holidays" or "Seasons Greetings." Heck, it seems even America's First Family avoided the hub-bub by sending a White House "Holiday" Card.

All good fodder for debate, I suppose. But, this takes secularization of the upcoming holidays to a new level.

Happy Chrismukkah! That's the wish for us all from a faithless religious movement called Universism. Before you learn more about this mish-mash holiday, you might want to know a bit about the Universist Movement.

The Universist Movement is an international nonprofit organization focused on individual wellbeing, social progress, personal responsibility and the promotion of existential questioning.

I just love existential questioning! I spent hours practicing it in college. Then, one day, I had to get a job.

Now, more about this faithless holiday, from it's very own site.

Chrismukkah is the way millions of people experience the December holidays together... with elements of both Christmas and Hanukkah. While you won't find Chrismukkah on the calendar, it's as real as you make it. Chrismukkah is Santa Claus and Hanukkah Harry sitting down at the bar together after a long night's schlep with a Christmas ale and a He'Brew beer. Chrismukkah is a celebration of what we have in common, not what makes us different. Chrismukkah is a state of mind for the season... a multi-cultural, mish-mash of the cherished holiday rituals we grew up with. Chrismukkah is a way intermarried families of Christians and Jews can share the holidays. Chrismukkah has no dogma or rules. It's customizable to suit the individual celebrant and their extended family. Chrismukkah is a global gumbo of flavors from all the December holidays: Christmas, Hanukkah, Winter Solstice, Kwanzaa, Shabe Yalda, Bodhi Day... even Festivus.

Uh huh... I have just one question. If it's not on the calendar, exactly how many shopping days 'til Chrismukkah?

Timely Topic

Lots of airtime is being dedicated to the death penalty today. It's a topic I wrestle with, I must admit. I was curious to know the Catholic Church's most recent thoughts on the topic. Thanks to Boston Globe Columnist Jeff Jacoby, my thirst for knowledge has been quenched.

Last month, by a vote of 237-4, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops adopted a pastoral statement calling for an end to the death penalty. The 11-page document makes a number of claims. Among them: that the execution of murderers ''violates respect for human life and dignity," that it fuels a ''cycle of violence [that] diminishes us all," and that ''we have other ways to punish criminals and protect society." The bishops acknowledge in passing that Catholic teaching has never banned the death penalty outright or declared it ''intrinsically evil." Nevertheless, they insist, since the modern state ''has other nonlethal means to protect its citizens, the state should not use the death penalty."

Now, I know.

Puzzled

I've been busy, but that doesn't mean I haven't been paying attention.

This news from Rome a couple of weeks ago has me puzzled. It was well-covered at The Pope Blog. and the New York Times.

A new Vatican document excludes from the priesthood most gay men, with few exceptions, banning in strong and specific language candidates ''who are actively homosexual, have deep-seated homosexual tendencies, or support the so-called 'gay culture.' ''

O.K. Wait just a minute. Isn't the priesthood supposed to be for men who are celibate? And, if you're celibate, does your sexual orientation really matter?

Just wondering.