{"id":773,"date":"2006-12-15T13:07:00","date_gmt":"2006-12-15T20:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/69.195.124.95\/~redletu4\/god-vs-man-at-christmas-keeping-score-of-our-cultural-wins-and-losses\/"},"modified":"2006-12-15T13:07:00","modified_gmt":"2006-12-15T20:07:00","slug":"god-vs-man-at-christmas-keeping-score-of-our-cultural-wins-and-losses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/god-vs-man-at-christmas-keeping-score-of-our-cultural-wins-and-losses\/","title":{"rendered":"God vs. Man at Christmas \u2013 Keeping score of our cultural wins and losses"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><p>For our family vacation this Christmas we packed up the clan and loaded up the car with what seemed like all our belongings and headed south to Los Angeles for a week long excursion. (When you have a family full of girls you can\u2019t help but look like the Clampetts when you finally get in the car.)<\/p>\n<p>During the 8 hour drive from Sacramento to LA, a few of the radio talk shows I was able to find were discussing how Seattle\u2019s airport had removed all of their Christmas trees in response to a complaint from a Rabbi. Man 1, God 0.<\/p>\n<p>Once we got to LA, we started with a requisite trip to Disneyland. I suspected Disneyland would be overly politically correct about Christmas. While they certainly focused on the innocuous \u201cHappy Holidays\u201d message, they at least embraced Santa and his elves. Still, I\u2019ll count the point for man. Man 2, God 0.<\/p>\n<p>The next side trip found us killing time before seeing a movie at LA\u2019s newest hot shopping spot, The Grove. Sitting in the midst of the faux cityscape was like being in the middle of a surreal anthropological experiment \u2013 something like a human petting zoo. Being in the heart of Beverly Hills, we were overwhelmed by the extreme wealth and the \u2018augmentation\u2019. Score at least 2 more points for man. Man 4, God 0.<\/p>\n<p>And then the movie started. It began with King Herod ordering the death of all young boys in the town of Bethlehem to thwart the threat posed to his rule by the coming Messiah. (Shall we score one more point for man? Oh, why not \u2013 Man 5, God 0.)<\/p>\n<p>But as we all know, Mary and Joseph made it out of Bethlehem and into Egypt with the King of Kings safely tucked away.<\/p>\n<p>And here we have it, the story of Jesus\u2019 birth on a 90 foot screen in the heart of Hollywood. No matter how many points man may score, God always wins.<\/p>\n<p>** Rob Geyer<\/p>\n<div>Please, share with a friend if you feel moved.<br>\nRead all past issues at http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For our family vacation this Christmas we packed up the clan and loaded up the car with what seemed like all our belongings and headed south to Los Angeles for a week long excursion. (When you have a family full of girls you can\u2019t help but look like the Clampetts when you finally get in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2375,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[184],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-773","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture-wars"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>God vs. Man at Christmas \u2013 Keeping score of our cultural wins and losses<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"For our family vacation this Christmas we packed up the clan and loaded up the car with what seemed like all our belongings and headed south to Los\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/god-vs-man-at-christmas-keeping-score-of-our-cultural-wins-and-losses\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"God vs. Man at Christmas \u2013 Keeping score of our cultural wins and losses\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For our family vacation this Christmas we packed up the clan and loaded up the car with what seemed like all our belongings and headed south to Los\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/god-vs-man-at-christmas-keeping-score-of-our-cultural-wins-and-losses\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"David Rupert\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"www.facebook.com\/davidrupert\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2006-12-15T20:07:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"David Rupert\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@rupzip\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"David Rupert\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/god-vs-man-at-christmas-keeping-score-of-our-cultural-wins-and-losses\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/god-vs-man-at-christmas-keeping-score-of-our-cultural-wins-and-losses\/\",\"name\":\"God vs. Man at Christmas \u2013 Keeping score of our cultural wins and losses\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2006-12-15T20:07:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2006-12-15T20:07:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/#\/schema\/person\/1ee971d3244e1f67a487a31f55d37c81\"},\"description\":\"For our family vacation this Christmas we packed up the clan and loaded up the car with what seemed like all our belongings and headed south to Los\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/god-vs-man-at-christmas-keeping-score-of-our-cultural-wins-and-losses\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/god-vs-man-at-christmas-keeping-score-of-our-cultural-wins-and-losses\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/god-vs-man-at-christmas-keeping-score-of-our-cultural-wins-and-losses\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"God vs. Man at Christmas \u2013 Keeping score of our cultural wins and losses\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/\",\"name\":\"David Rupert\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/#\/schema\/person\/1ee971d3244e1f67a487a31f55d37c81\",\"name\":\"David Rupert\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/47e7c27dc78a66ace4b19bb00da8bccc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/47e7c27dc78a66ace4b19bb00da8bccc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"David Rupert\"},\"description\":\"I am a communication professional who has a passion for people. I dream big and with that comes even bigger prayers.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.redletterbelievers.com\",\"www.facebook.com\/davidrupert\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/rupzip\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/author\/drupert\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"God vs. Man at Christmas \u2013 Keeping score of our cultural wins and losses","description":"For our family vacation this Christmas we packed up the clan and loaded up the car with what seemed like all our belongings and headed south to Los","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/god-vs-man-at-christmas-keeping-score-of-our-cultural-wins-and-losses\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"God vs. Man at Christmas \u2013 Keeping score of our cultural wins and losses","og_description":"For our family vacation this Christmas we packed up the clan and loaded up the car with what seemed like all our belongings and headed south to Los","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/god-vs-man-at-christmas-keeping-score-of-our-cultural-wins-and-losses\/","og_site_name":"David Rupert","article_author":"www.facebook.com\/davidrupert","article_published_time":"2006-12-15T20:07:00+00:00","author":"David Rupert","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@rupzip","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"David Rupert","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/god-vs-man-at-christmas-keeping-score-of-our-cultural-wins-and-losses\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/god-vs-man-at-christmas-keeping-score-of-our-cultural-wins-and-losses\/","name":"God vs. Man at Christmas \u2013 Keeping score of our cultural wins and losses","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/#website"},"datePublished":"2006-12-15T20:07:00+00:00","dateModified":"2006-12-15T20:07:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/#\/schema\/person\/1ee971d3244e1f67a487a31f55d37c81"},"description":"For our family vacation this Christmas we packed up the clan and loaded up the car with what seemed like all our belongings and headed south to Los","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/god-vs-man-at-christmas-keeping-score-of-our-cultural-wins-and-losses\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/god-vs-man-at-christmas-keeping-score-of-our-cultural-wins-and-losses\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/god-vs-man-at-christmas-keeping-score-of-our-cultural-wins-and-losses\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"God vs. Man at Christmas \u2013 Keeping score of our cultural wins and losses"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/","name":"David Rupert","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/#\/schema\/person\/1ee971d3244e1f67a487a31f55d37c81","name":"David Rupert","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/47e7c27dc78a66ace4b19bb00da8bccc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/47e7c27dc78a66ace4b19bb00da8bccc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"David Rupert"},"description":"I am a communication professional who has a passion for people. I dream big and with that comes even bigger prayers.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.redletterbelievers.com","www.facebook.com\/davidrupert","https:\/\/twitter.com\/rupzip"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/author\/drupert\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2375"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=773"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}