Editor, Times-Union: I want to thank the two wonderful ladies who work behind the counter at Schoops for their warm hospitality! My car broke down last Friday afternoon in the rain. They made me feel welcome and comfortable in what could have been a miserable experience. Thank you for kindness.
Cindy Taylor Pierceton via e-mail
Reason For The Season
Editor, Times-Union: Well, it seems to be that time of year where xians are all saying remember the reason for the season. Once again I am here to say exactly that, "remember the reason for the season," the real reason. It is time for the holiday known as Easter. The question remains. Is Easter xian. Most believe to be a good xian you should observe Lent, "holy week," "good Friday," to buy hot cross buns, to have colored Easter eggs and to even attend Easter sunrise service.
All of these things only lead to the worship of your xian god through pagan practice. Let us start by taking the name Easter itself. Most think Easter would mean "the resurrection." Easter is a mere slightly changed English spelling of the name of the Assyrian goddess Ishtar, pronounced exactly the same as the English Easter. The Babylonian name of the goddess was Astarte, wife of Baal, the sun god, who is denounced by God in the Bible. Easter in Websters dictionary you will find (Anglo-Saxon) name of old teuton goddess of spring. So already we find that the xian holiday is named after a pagan goddess. True xians should observe Passover, the 14th day of the first month of the sacred calendar. Passover is a memorial of the crucifixion of Christ.
Now modern xians commemorate the death of their savior by substituting in its place a pagan festival in honor of Ishtar (Easter) the idolatrous "queen of heaven." Easter does not honor your Christ. Now let us take a quick look at the ever present Easter egg. Ancient Druids bore eggs as the sacred emblem of their pagan order. In the mysteries of the Greek god Bacchus celebrated in Athens they consecrate the egg. In Japan it is an ancient custom to make their sacred egg a brazen color. In China dyed or painted eggs are used in sacred pagan festivals. In ancient Egypt and Greece eggs were used in religious rites. So how can millions call themselves xians yet they dye eggs at Easter? Do you think your Bible ordains such an action of pagan/heathen customs? There is not a word of it in your New Testament. God calls such things an abomination.
What about Lent? Jesus the Christ observed no Lent. The apostles and the early true church of God observed no Lent. So how did Lent come to pass? Lent comes from the worshipers of the Babylonian goddess. It is still observed today by the Yezidis or pagans devil-worshipers of Koordistan who have inherited it from their early masters the Babylonians.
What about the hot cross buns? Yes, these are pagan as well. The "buns" known by the same name were used in worship of the "queen of heaven" the goddess Easter, as early as the days of cecrops, the founder of Athens, 1,500 years before Christ. One of the reasons God drove the Jews into Babylonian captivity was this very idolatrous worship, in making and offering hot cross buns. Just read the entire seventh chapter of Jeremiah.
So in all of this I have to just say to you: What does a rabbit laying colored eggs have to do with the resurrection of your Christ. If you are a true xian you will observe the Passover.
In vain they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men (Mt.15:9). When you substitute pagan customs, practices and dates you are guilty of worshiping your God in vain. For he instructed you not to worship him in the same manner as the heathens worshiped their gods. If he forbids it to the Israelites entering the land of Canaan, he forbids it now also.
Skot Diablo Claypool via e-mail
Daylight Saving
Editor, Times-Union: Daylight-Saving Time is a joke and the people who whine about most of Indiana not participating are just plain whiners! What a relief last week that I didn't have to go around the house and waste my valuable time changing clocks in my VCRs, wristwatches, cell phones, computers, TVs, stereos and then go to the garage and change the clocks in my cars.
The people who whine about living in Indiana and working in Michigan, Ohio or Kentucky, and dealing with two time zones have it easy compared to what I've gone through. I'm an airline pilot with a major airline in Chicago and flew for 8-1/2 years from O'Hare Int'l Airport to Europe. From late October to early April I'd drive from Indiana (first time zone) to Chicago (second time zone) then fly an airplane that has three clocks all set to Greenwich Mean Time or Zulu (third time zone). I'd fly the airplane to Paris, France (fourth time zone). The next day I'd fly to Los Angeles (fifth time zone). The next evening I'd fly in my airplane (sixth time zone) back to Paris (seventh time zone) and finally fly back to Chicago (eighth time zone) and then drive home to Indiana (ninth time zone). This over only a six-day period. My crew and I handled this whole process with relative ease and without complaint.
An aspect of the DST fervor not discussed: time zone maps. Yes, Arizona, Hawaii and most of Indiana do not observe DST. But look at a time zone map of the U.S. Half of Kentucky, Tennessee, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska and Idaho plus parts of Florida, Texas, Oregon and Kansas are split in different time zones. Some even in a ridiculous manner. Even the provinces of Canada are split in goofy time zone ways which affects their DST observance. If anything, Indiana should be on Central Time rather than Eastern Time.
Our children go to school for about 10 months out of the year (mid-August to mid-June). If Indiana stays on Eastern Standard Time and then observes Eastern Daylight Time, our children would spend five months under DST. This means the early morning schoolbus pickup now at 7 a.m. EST would be at 7 EDT, which is actually 6 a.m. EST and sunrise is now at 6:18 EST. This would place our kids in the dark for just about those full 10 months. Let's keep the kids in the safety of daylight especially at the early morning hours of people rushing to school and work and keep the status quo.
People say Indiana should get with the rest of the country. I say they're wrong. The rest of the country should get with Indiana!
