Archive for December 18th, 2009

One agnostics thoughts on Christmas

Posted by Matt Perkins, December 18, 2009 * Comments(0)

Christmas is my favorite holiday (Halloween is a close second because of the horror movies of the same name).

But, for me, it is not a faith-based holiday.

In fact, the date of Jesus’ birth has been concluded by some scholars to be in the spring, based on biblical references to shepherds watching over their flock day and night.

But that is besides my point, which is that I find myself, as an agnostic, easily offended when people use the holiday to promote Christian values over those of other faiths.  There is almost an air of superiority that exists when people of faith talk about the holiday and the moral lessons it provides.

I imagine it is very difficult for a person of faith to temper his/her moral superiority complex, but it’s just as difficult for a non-believer to temper his/her inclination to adopt an intellectual superiority complex.

I will keep my complex in check if you will do the same with yours this holiday season.  I will also spend money on non-essential goods to boost the economy.

Posted by Gary Larson, December 18, 2009 * Comments(0)

Following are opinions from Mille Lacs County Times  editor-sports editor Gary Larson, reporter Luther Dorr and former Times intern Logan Marxhausen who’s now on the sports staff at the St. Cloud State University Chronicle. Note: This feature is written on Monday each week.
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ASK THE SPORTS WRITERS

•Question:  The Vikings bounced back from their loss at Arizona by handling the Cincinnati Bengals 30-10 Sunday at the Metrodome. Your thoughts on the game? Read more »

Big Ten expansion explored

Posted by Gary Larson, December 18, 2009 * Comments(0)

Grumpy Old Man
My addiction to college football began when my dad bought me my first subscription to “Sports Illustrated” when I was a seventh-grader in 1959. That was just before University of Minnesota Coach Murray Warmath  took the Gophers to back-to-back Rose Bowl games in 1961 (lost to Washington 17-7) and 1962 (beat UCLA 21-3).

Those were the days when the Big Ten Conference was regarded as college football’s best conference. That stature, which took hold in the early 1900s, continued through the 1960s and 1970s before other conferences began to overshadow the Big Ten in the 1980s. Read more »