Fun With Play-Dough

While we are knee-deep in our Purim festivities, the Christians are getting ready for Easter.

This time of year always makes me wonder; how do you celebrate a holiday like that?

I know about Easter, what it stands for, what it means. From an outsider’s perspective, it seems like a bloody mess. Explaining Christmas to your kids must be a lot easier; a baby, animals in the stable, a twinkling star; of course, presents and pretty pageants at the church. All good things that make for warm fuzzy feelings.

But Easter? How do Christians explain to their children about somebody who was murdered by being nailed to a cross, was buried in a cave, and came back as if he was the villain in a horror movie who just won’t die?

I am not being entirely facetious; I really wonder about this. Is it the cruel nature of the story that warrants the onslaught of spring-themed decorations? Lambs, chickens, bunnies, cute little flower baskets and Easter lilies, pretty lace dresses with matching bonnets; all in a variety of pastel colors, of course, dominate the stores. Try to buy your daughter a nice dress this time of year that’s not a flowery nightmare, and you’re screwed.

I do have a fondness for the Easter lily, but that might be because of Anne Rice.

Seems to me this is turning into just another Christmas, except with slightly better weather. I’ve seen gift baskets bigger than my three-year-old. And why is there an Easter Ham? What does a ham have to do with the crucifixion? It’s all very puzzling.

And are there orthodox Christians who refuse to let the shopping frenzy interfere with their true celebration of their holiday, ignore the pressure to give ever bigger and better baskets to their kids or organize the biggest egg hunt in town? Who absolutely refuse to hand over their hard earned money for the worldly trappings, and donate to charity instead? Teach their children the value of giving over the value of that Barbie Easter basket? Just wondering.

Governor Richardson endorsed Obama overnight. He gave Obama’s speech on race as part of the reasons, and mentioned that as a Hispanic, he was particularly touched by it. He also added that the ‘demonization of immigrants’ has bothered him for a long time.

I’m paraphrasing.

Maybe this could further the discussion that we need to have in this country; and maybe we can finally discuss the dirty little secret surrounding the illegal immigration debate. Much of this debate sounds so reasonable; of course people shouldn’t break the law, you’re supposed to respect the borders and the laws of the land you move to; you should learn the language, you should respect the local customs.

Having said that, I moved here legally, went through hell and high water to obtain my green card; I have never broken the law, and speak decent English. Yet, why do I wince whenever the word ‘immigrant’ is used? I shouldn’t identify with somebody who crossed the border in the middle of the night and doesn’t speak English, should I?

But I do. I think this is because I know what it’s like to be a ‘stranger in a strange land’. I know what it is like to constantly be asked: “Why did you come here?” An innocent question that continues to put me on edge. I know what it’s like to board a plane when I travel home to see my family, and be picked out of the line by some anonymous border guard at the airport, again and again; to have to defend myself for moving here just because my passport has a different color. All my papers are in order, I am completely legal, and yet I sweat each time I have to visit the Immigration and Naturalization Service, a place most Americans born here have never seen the inside of.

I know, I sound whiny. The plain truth of it is, most days I really like it here; every once in a while, being an immigrant sucks. So yes, I sympathize with immigrants, legal or not. Because, with the exception of the real hard criminals, most are people like you and me.

And I think that the more we talk about them as faceless, anonymous nobodies, the more likely we are to forget that they are human, every last one of them. There, I said it: the current climate surrounding immigration is dehumanizing, and it’s getting worse by the minute.

Nation of immigrants, my ass.

By the way, did I hear that right? Scooter Libby disbarred? That’s all?