Maggie's Farm

We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.

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Easy for you to say: To the elites on mass immigration
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Wednesday, December 7. 2022

Christmas trees

The Science of Christmas Trees:



 In Germany, the Protestant religion was sometimes dismissed as “the Tannenbaum religion.” (The Vatican didn’t put up a Christmas tree until 1982.) Americans today buy some twenty-five million Christmas trees a year, but Puritan settlers once viewed the trees with suspicion. In 1659, the government of Massachusetts Bay passed a law that “whosoever shall be found observing any such day as Christmas or the like, either by forbearing of labour, feasting, or any other way . . . shall pay for every such offence five shillings, as a fine to the county.”





Posted by Bird Dog in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation at 17:41 | Comments (2) | Trackbacks (0)

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The Puritan ethic of taking great, righteous satisfaction in the banning of fun & enjoyment in all things, lives on in the tiny hearts of Massachusetts public administrators everywhere.

We normally get a live tree and bask in the scents of fir, even though it's an aggravation - especially when stringing lights. Worth it though.
#1 Aggie on 2022-12-07 17:50 (Reply)
The last word on that goes to H.L. Mencken: “Puritanism: The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.”

Anyone who hasn't read Mencken is in for a real treat when they get around to him.
#1.1 Hairless Joe on 2022-12-08 08:31 (Reply)

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