Porn Royalty

The route I take home from work passes by a house that is brightly decorated for Christmas each December. Last year, along the 100 foot fence lining the yard, the phrase “Jesus, the Reason for the Season” was written with lights. At the very end of the fence, however, was a large statue of Santa Clause emerging from a chimney and burdened with the requisite sack of toys. This juxtaposition of seemingly contradictory “reasons” for the season (setting aside “reasons” such as harvest festivals, the winter solstice, the birth of Mithra, not to mention capitalism/consumerism) I find amusing, and perhaps even unsurprising. Like so many of the stated values and actions that are justified with Christianity, the “reasons” for the season expressed by the owners of that home are varied and incompatible, and the homeowners are likely not even aware of those incompatibilities. And I think that’s why I have such a problem with the influence and power of “Christianity” in the United States.

This past holiday season, the same house had a new message. It was supposed to read, “A New Born King.” (Santa was conspicuously missing this year.) Instead, however, some of the lights had gone out, and were never noticed by the homeowners. The message read, “A New Porn King.” Now I’m not sure if that was a statement about the occupant of the house having launched a career in the entertainment industry, or merely a(n) (un)fortunate glitch in the wiring, but it’s definitely a celebration I could get into.