Most of the time, I have to struggle with two independent and opposing thought processes. There’s Conservative Christian and Liberal Atheist, who vehemently disagree on just about everything. But the one thing that they agree on is that the “War on Christmas” is stupid. Naturally the liberal and atheist parts of me would think so – after all, it’s furthering the secularization of the nation, right? But the conservative Christian parts of me agree completely, and that’s something worth noting.

Believe it or not, the separation between church and state was designed to protect religion. And the attempts to maintain that separation, while sometimes ham-handed, are in the church’s best interests. The best rule of thumb for any conservative Christian opening his yap to decry the War on Christmas is whether they would be okay with any other religion doing the same thing. For instance, the same people who are furious that cashiers no longer say “Merry Christmas!” get just as furious if a snarky cashier says “Happy Hanukah!” or “Have a good Winter Solstice!” When a Muslim prayer is said in the White House, conservative Christians get angry, then they get angry when their traditional Christian prayers are removed.

America’s history is mostly a Christian one, I’ll give you that. But one borne partly of religious persecution within the Christian ranks (one philosophy against another within the Christian religion). Many ordinary people came here in order to practice their version of Christianity in peace. However, although America ’s history is predominantly Christian, which makes it a part of American culture, the more belief systems we brought in, the less exclusively Christian we became. The US was Christian culturally, but while talk of God and even Jesus was common even in state discussions, Christianity was never the official religion anymore than English was the official language. The separation of church and state existed in order to let religion develop freely, without interference from the state. And it existed in order to let the state develop freely, without interference from religion that would, in turn, cause the state to interfere with religion.

The so-called War on Christmas is, therefore, in within the best interests both of the state and Christianity.

I ask you, soldiers for Christmas, why you want your nativity scenes in government buildings. Most of your government officials are already Christian, but the government is still a lean, lying, hypocritical, bureaucratical institution. I understand that you probably want your Christian heritage endorsed by government, but is that really a ringing endorsement? Do you really want your religion represented by politics?

I ask you, soldiers for Christmas, why you want your religious Christmas carols in your schools when you don’t want Hanukah and cultural Kwanzaa acknowledged, calling it politically correct (and Winter Solstice is out of the question, devil’s neopagan children). Do you really want your schools responsible for teaching Christian values? I thought that was the purview of the home and of Sunday school. I present my church/state rule of thumb again: if another religion wanted to do something like this during their holy time, especially outside of the December, would that be okay to you? For instance, what if the school lunch system shut down during Ramadan, to make fasting during the day less of a temptation to Muslim students and in deference to the holiday? Would you support the schools in celebrating melting pot American culture then?

I ask you, soldiers for Christmas, why you exclusively want “Merry Christmas!” in stores. Dude, that is the last place I would think that you want your religious Christmas. So many conservative Christians decry the secularization of Christmas, yet insist on placing ridiculous importance on religious Christmas in the places of society that encourage – nay, demand – overconsumption, selfishness, greed, stress, parking lot rage, debt, and waste. I would want my Christmas out of that institution post haste. Let them keep their secular Christmas.

Frankly, even when I was conservative Christian, I grew to like the phrases “Happy Holidays” and “Winter Break” or “Winter Holidays.” They seemed to encompass the season so much more effectively. From a liturgical standpoint, most of the time that we say “Merry Christmas” isn’t Christmas at all. It’s Advent. The liturgical Christmas season starts on Christmas Day and goes on for another eleven days. Saying “Happy Holidays” covers Advent, the general season, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, the twelve days of Christmas, New Year’s Eve, and New Year’s Day. From a culturally inclusive standpoint, it always opens up the holiday spirit to Hanukah, Kwanzaa, and Winter Solstice, as well as secular Christmas. Many minority religions and cultures can feel excluded from the holiday spirit when they aren’t acknowledged, like a party going on public building that they weren’t (and should have been) invited to.

The secularization of Christmas in state institutions is something to which Christianity is unaccustomed. They aren’t used to being nudged out of places that they probably shouldn’t have been in the first place. I say that because the secularization of many Christian holidays, the same secularization that conservative Christians hate, is a product of that lack of separation between church and state.

In the process of secularizing our government, schools, and stores, there will be missteps: for instance, it took a copyright law for a school to start saying just the word Christmas in secular Christmas songs like “White Christmas.” I would be the first to argue that there are two Christmases, the secular and religious, and that the secular form is open to more than just Christians, so there should be no problem singing secular Christmas songs, just as there’s no problem singing the dreidel song or something that represents Kwanzaa. I would also argue that it doesn’t hurt anyone to include a few religious favorites, as long as it represents the full range of religious importance during the general winter holidays (include religious Hanukah songs and maybe something echoing neopaganism if you’re going to include “O Little Town of Bethlehem”). I also don’t think that secular Christmas traditions like trees, garlands, ornaments, candy canes, and similar staples should be abandoned outright.

It may take some pushing of boundaries (i.e. when atheists put an easel explaining their policy on Christmas next to a nativity scene in a government building, followed by other religions putting their winter holiday symbols there, too – it continued until religious displays were banned) from both ends, but I think that after this “War on Christmas” is over, we will end up where we should have been in the first place: religion and state separated so that each is protected from the other.

Second rule of thumb: If you don’t want the state in your religion, keep your religion out of the state. We all see how poorly that marriage failed in the Republican party. The secularization of the winter holidays is not to take something away from Christians – they aren’t trying to get into your churches or your charities or your minds (they ruled in favor of free expression on candy canes). You can still have your Christmas Eve services. The judges who rule in favor of secularization will probably be going to one or two of those services themselves.

The truth is, even with its faults, there are some good aspects of secular Christmas and the acceptance of more than one winter holiday. The childlike spirit of the Santa story, the excitement on Christmas morning, bringing the family together (be they biological or not), the wonderful food, the eggnog, the lights and decorations, the willingness to enjoy childlike wonder, the celebration of snow and winter weather, being taught about many different ways of having a celebration during bleak weather, the collective enjoyment of the holiday regardless of religion.

Even as an atheist – and one violently wary of Christianity these days – I enjoy both a secular and religious Christmas. There’s something about the carols and the friends and family and the Candlelight Service and the story of both Jesus and Santa that still gets to me. I eagerly wait for the day after Thanksgiving to come so that I can have my radio on the Christmas station and so I can listen to my Christmas playlist on my iPod. I love decorating the tree. I love the Advent season: hope, peace, joy and love are universal aspirations. I love buying or making presents and food for others as much as I like receiving presents and eating the food. It’s all interconnected with me, interconnected in a way that is still good, that is still mostly guilt-free (although how guilt-free remains to be seen, since that’s getting worse all the time).

There is no “War on Christmas.” There is an opening of minds and hearts. There is a removal of religious Christmas where it doesn’t belong in the first place, and an embracing of a more far-reaching cultural tradition. You still have your Christmas in your homes, hearts, and churches. Give the rest of us a little space, too, and don’t fill your holiday season with your vitriol. That kind of attitude hurts you more than it hurts us.

Oh, and Merry Christmas!
For those who don’t celebrate it, Happy Holidays!
I take it either way.

AFA’09 – Anime Festival Asia

Date: 22.11.09
Venue: Suntec Convention & Exhibition Halls
Camera: Olympus FE-310

AFA’09 – Anime Festival Asia

Date: 22.11.09
Venue: Suntec Convention & Exhibition Halls
Camera: Olympus FE-310

AFA’09 – Anime Festival Asia

Date: 22.11.09
Venue: Suntec Convention & Exhibition Halls
Camera: Olympus FE-310

AFA’09 – Anime Festival Asia

Date: 22.11.09
Venue: Suntec Convention & Exhibition Halls
Camera: Olympus FE-310

AFA’09 – Anime Festival Asia

Date: 22.11.09
Venue: Suntec Convention & Exhibition Halls
Camera: Olympus FE-310

O crap. Its a Af-af thought.

Ok here are the official photos from AFA committee and Danny Choo.

All credits goes to the AFA committee and Danny Choo. I m only showing the photos for my blog private useage.

1st up some god-like shots the AFA photographers has taken

Ok so the rest of it goes here onwards .

What do you do with Business cards after an Event?

Obtained a few Name Cards during AFA’09… Thanks for giving them to me!!

Name cards are not just for contact information. It is also a image of what you want people to think….

Wow. Gordon's Name Card

Just look at Gordon’s name card! He wrapped 2 cards, one of it the 501 Garrison’s and the other his personal, into a Card protector!

Talk about Details!!

Name cards shall go into the "Folder of Card names"!

Other than collecting Figures, maybe i should start on collecting Namecards too! ;P

Filing!

Now, this is a large Name card!

^^; Unfortunately for me, The S.TFS postcard will not fit into the folder…

However, i have thought of other uses for it!

Tada!

Rejuvenating your eyes during a boring lecture!

Inspiration for you when doing your jappy homework!!

A Little Kagamiku to end it off!

Gotta think of more stuff to make for these cuties! Wonder if i can get my hands of the Figma Clothes maker MK I (Looks at user66b).

I received an email today from the AFA President, Tim Wildmon. It appears that for all action AFA members took on behalf of advertising against the GAP’s Christmas policies, the GAP has relented and will acknowledge the National Holiday of Christmas as it should. Copy as follows:

“Your actions make a difference! Gap says “pro-Christmas” ad to air this weekend
November 24, 2009

According to Bill Chandler, vice-president of Gap corporate communications, Gap’s Old Navy division will launch a new television commercial this weekend which “has a very strong Christmas theme.”

Chandler responded to AFA last Friday, after a poll showed 90% of AFA supporters wanted to continue the boycott as a result of Gap’s initial “holiday” ad that mingled Christmas with the pagan “Winter Solstice” holiday.

Gap says the new ad will include the popular Supermodelquins proudly cheering “Merry Christmas”, and features Christmas trees, lights and ornaments as well.

In good faith, AFA is suspending the Gap boycott until it has an opportunity to view the new commercial this weekend.

As a result of your dedicated actions, we believe Gap is beginning to realize that Christmas is not just another “holiday” and will begin to advertise in a way that is respectful to Christians and Christmas shoppers.

Here is the last call to stand with us and proclaim to our communities that Christmas is not just a winter holiday focused on materialism, but a “holy day” when we celebrate the birth of our Savior. We can do it in a gentle and effective way by wearing the “God’s Gift – Merry Christmas” button. Don’t wait! Place your order by December 1 to receive it before Christmas.

Thank you for your vigilance. My prayer is that you and your family will have a meaningful Thanksgiving Day celebration.

God’s Gift – Merry Christmas
(click to order) Say “Merry Christmas” to you friends, your church, your school or your whole community by giving away these beautiful Christmas buttons or displaying a Christmas sticker on your vehicle. They are a great reminder that Jesus was God’s gift to the world and that He is the one we celebrate at Christmas.
Sincerely,

Tim

Tim Wildmon, President
American Family Association”

Now as I see it, if one organization can adversely affect a trio of store chains with a campaign within a week or so, I know the individual effects of various organizations are influential upon the current administration.

Arkansas had its own Statewide Tea Party Conference Call. We know other states have had theirs. We also know there are many organizations out there that need to combine efforts: the 912ers, Conservatives, Libertarians, Oathkeepers, Christians, Reaganites, etc. We need to get together now and stop the idiocy of Washington on the Terrorists Trials in New York City, the Health Care Bill, the pussy footing around with the Terrorist of Foot Hood, and the overall hoodwinking of these United States of America. Who will make the merge, so that we can surge forward and be heard?

Well seriously, i didnt take much photos this year at AFA… Either i met with forum friends, or was traveling around like from home to Suntec and bak home and bak to suntec. But most of it was spend of watching the panels which i think is a pretty good exp for me . Knowing how ppl do presentation and like K-on gals, WS seiyuu, Kaname cosplay panel, Xing box etc etc.

Without jus concentrate on taking photos, u get to enjoy more .

Same rules apply, if u wan HD photos or u wan ur photos removed, plz do not hesitate to email me at holydragon0411@hotmail.com

Here we go fags!

Yay! My very own photo with Danny Choo! Also the only human photo of me u fags get to see once in a blue moon.

Hi guys, I’m still in Singapore after AFA 09 – I’ll be going home tomorrow.

I’m not posting about AFA yet because I want to sort and edit the photos on my laptop (back at home), as I don’t trust the communal pc in this hostel.

I managed to got autographs from Danny Choo and KANAME☆(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), as well as photos "with" them, can you believe it?!. And I also have a photo with Aniki!

I’ll go through my f-list later this week.

One more day, one more day.

Som vanligt försökte Vänsterpartiet med undergrupper förstöra ett demokratiskt möte. Filmen visar slutet på en sekvens där vänster-aktivister (AFA?) fysiskt attackerar Vellingebor som hade fräckheten att med applåder visa att de sympatiserade med de åsikter som  bland annat Erik Almqvist framförde.

Bloggen bevittnade hela händelseförloppet. Åhörarna tog emot flygblad från SD och hade applåderat ett tal. Kommunisterna tålde inte detta och fyra-fem antidemokrater ställde sig provokativ framför dem för att skymma sikten och avkrävde Vellingeborna flygbladen. När inte detta medgavs attackerade killarna i gänget Vellingeborna som trots detta stod kvar.

Vänstertjejen på filmen agerade hysteriskt när polisen gick emellan och lyftes bort av sina egna. Killen som drar undan tjejen deltog i den fysiska konfrontationen men syns bara på filmen dra undan vänstertjejen, detta enbart för att undvika ett polisomhändertagande.

Congrats to the winner - 00 Emotions!

When Kaname Came out, dcal teleported... Wonder to where?

Mr Kaname was doing a Simon Galaxy Mode Cosplay (Im guessing its because of Shoko-Tan ;P).
Was Amazed to see that Cosplay could actually reach to such levels!

First up was ST Revolution from Singapore.

Thats yuri right?

Presented a emotional performance to the audience. How emotional? Look for yourself!!

2nd Group – Sekai no Gumi from Malaysia.

They did a spoof of Prin Eu looking for her Knight – Spinzaku.

3rd group, The Endless Illusion from Indonesia.

Wow. Kira Kira under lighting!

Elf Ears!

The villian? Hmmmm... Not very familiar with Linage II

*BISH!*

There were many Cameramen in-front, near the stage area!

But for me, thanks to dcal’s 55-200mm Lenses, i was sitting down happily! ;P

4th Team – 00 Emotions from Singapore.

He did Gundam Exia last year! ^^;

A pity that his GN Drives dropped off… Wonder if it was intentional?

the Suit’s really well made! The places that are supposed to shine are Shining!

He Even did TransAM at the end!

5th team – Houshin Enqi from Thailand.

They made their mounts themselves! Amazing!

Last Team – Witchblade, Alodia and Ashley from The Philippines!

Sexy Babes with LED Costumes!

Thanks to Hexlord for recording all the videos!

Mr was giving Free Hugs! *Spots an Angry Dcal*

Hug 1

Hug 2

Most Epic HUG!

Mazinger Z!

Once again, Congratulations to 00 Emotions who won!!

TENGEN TOPPA!

;P Shoko-Tan was also there to…. ^^;

All credits for the video goes solely to Hexlord.

He setup his D300 with a Tripod infront of the stage to accomplish this!

My thanks goes to Dcal for lending me Her 55-200mm so that i could just sit down and shoot!

So, a more detailed report on how my AFA 09 Day 1 experience!

Since this was the second time I was doing Doll, the costume just needed a little bit of touching up (more hotgluing and some painting).

I hotglued the flowers on my headpiece again, so that they don’t drop out. Not that worked very well though … … I guess suicidal roses remain suicidal eh ._.

And yes, the painting bit was a bitch. Because of the lack of vertically striped socks locally, I resorted to painting the black lines on myself. That meant wearing the sock, then painting. Needless to say, my leg got painted as well. OTZ.

Anyway, more of that in the AFA progress post. Now, day 1 was pretty awesome!

Met reiyu-verse at city hall mrt, before making our way to the toilet to get ready. That was about 8.30a.m. While we were putting on makeup and stuff, jesuke comes into the toilet, making us laugh a lot (we were talking about how someone would react if someone came in see, so yea.)

At about 11, we were officially ready to go! And yes, that is probably the earliest we will ever be for an event, HAHAHAHA. We collected our free tickets, then proceeded in, only to realize the changing rooms were meant for finalists only. This meant that we have NO PLACE to put our baggage without having to enlist the help of others to look after them D:

Thank god for flozen-lime and sara-lynn who helped us look after out bags while we walked around the event! *gives lotsa love*

It was definitely BIGGER and MORE CROWDED this year, as compared to last year. Would have taken more photos, but my phone died )8 but enjoy whatever I took before my phone died I guess.

with Ashteyz as Lelouch! (sorry, blur ttm oTL)

AND THEN I SAW THE EPIC VOCALOID TEAM. (of course, my hp photos don’t do any justice to their costumes ;o;)

with Cvy as UBER CUTE RIN <3

With Lenneth as UBER GORGEOUS LUKA *A*

with Golden-feline as UBER CUTE LEN <3

I would have retaken the photo if my phone did not die, so there. I DID NOT TAKE PHOTOS WITH THE LAST MEMBER, Kanasaii as GAKUPO  *weeps* but I guess seeing them irl was awesome enough for me! <3

Even though very few people recognized our characters, it’s funny to see their reactions (mostly or “omg the flowers! ” ). Of course, there were those who recognized us, and it was so heart warming to have them tell us that we look good! <3

Sorry to all those I bumped into because I was half blind, and to those who I didn’t respond to because I’m deaf -_-

We changed out at about 4pm because we got really tired and wanted to walk around the event unrestricted by the costume. So, sorry to those who didn’t manage to catch me ;o;

Alright, that concludes my Day 1 event. really. Day 2 coming up

第二天没整天待在会展厅里面，有下楼一两次w

好大…

ウッーウッーウマウマ(゜∀゜)

和风大好~

超辛苦的，午餐都还没吃就得赶到会场了（佩服

只是个路过的假面骑士

进入会场时发现昨日的涂鸦板贴上去了w

下楼时看到BlazBlue组合，让我“喔哦哦！！！”了好几下

タオカカ是棍机，大家都来行正义

ライチ什么时候进去的我都不晓得

（关于旁边的奈叶WSMDBZD

第二天没什么，主要待在卡拉OK摊位和涂鸦板那里。听God Knows..听到不想再听了，囧

福山さん和May’nさん的表演方式有天渊之别。福山さん比较朴素，弹着吉他让自己的歌喉当主角。May’nさん比较喜欢耀眼闪闪的舞蹈配合，还请了一些人做跳舞配角。

管音响的人好像故意在May’nさん的表演时把声音调大，害得我得蹲下保住我的听觉

可是Lion开始响起的时候我不管那么多了，直接跳起来ww

最后合唱的Dynamite Explosion燃了全场

演唱会完了，再次返回涂鸦板，发现某微妙的东西

请问那アリス的绘师是谁求交往

My Version of the many posts in the interwerbs.

This year’s AFA was really epic except for the traps. The program outline’s really fruity and succulent!
My version of the AFA entry will be split into 3 Parts
1 ) The DC x GSC Experience.
2 ) Personal shoots.
3 ) Regional Cosplay and other Whatnots.

So lets get the first one started!

Mirai and her Bike.

Kodomut really did a great job for the bikie!

BRS

Really a joy to see it up close!

Excellent crafting!

Trust me. All the delays shall be worth it.

Peek!

Figmas

I Love Ani-Song ;P

らきすた！

Posing by: Akiyama-San.

Hmmmm...

The White Devil with Pink Feathers.

Puchi Puchi!

iM@s

Deathnote Puchies

Nendoroids

Moe Moe Kyun!

Her hat attaches on via a magnet!

More stuff about the Event:

Dcal
Ederuferuto
Kodomut
Maverick
Scorchnroses
BanzaiEffect
XS-27
Alafista
Figure.fm
LEon

Here are some pictures of Mr. Mamoru Hosoda’s upcoming movie, Summer Wars, Booth at the AFA09. I also added some pictures of my lucky loot^^

After attending Mr. Mamoru Hosoda’s Summer Wars Q & A Session, I went out to the AFA Booth to grab a copy of the movie book and was lucky enough to get my hands on the last copy at 12.12pm. Then the lady at the booth told me to rush to booth A07 for Mr. Mamoru Hosoda’s autograph session which will start at 12.15pm and only the first 15 fans will get it.

I rush there as quickly as I could and started queuing at 12.16pm. And guess what, I manage to be the 15th fan to get his autograph xD Later I got a little chat with him in person. Of course, with the help of his translator as my Japanese is still a long way to understand what Mr. Mamoru Hosoda was saying but I can understand a little though^^ I also got to take a photo with him^^ (Not showing xP)

Can’t wait to watch his upcoming movie. I really hope it will be aired in Singapore >.<