Tim Wescott wrote:

On 12/21/2010 09:38 AM, Chomp Noamsky wrote:
ABU DHABI (AFP) - A luxury hotel in Abu Dhabi which unveiled a Christmas
tree decorated with jewels valued at 11 million dollars has decided to
put the record straight against criticism of having gone over the top.

The Emirates Palace hotel said it regretted "attempts to overload the
tradition followed by most hotels in the country," it said, in a
statement quoted in Gulf News on Sunday.

"Putting the Christmas tree... is a tradition meant to share in
celebrating occasions guests hold while they are away from their home
countries and families," said the hotel in the United Arab Emirates
capital.

Under a headline of "Trouble over 11 million dollar Christmas tree,"
Gulf News said the hotel stressed this was "within the framework of the
UAE's policy which is based on the values of openness and tolerance."

Emirates Palace stressed that the jewels were on loan from an Abu Dhabi
gallery which had paid all the costs of making and decorating the tree.
The jewels would be recovered by their owner at the end of the festive
season.

"The hotel is just a venue for exhibiting the tree," it said.

The tree, inaugurated on Wednesday, holds a total of 181 diamonds,
pearls, emeralds, sapphires and other precious stones, said Khalifa
Khouri, owner of Style Gallery which provided the jewellery.

Emirates Palace hotel general manager Hans Olbertz said the tree, which
he described as the "most expensive Christmas tree ever," will probably
be an entry into the Guinness book of world records.

The 13-metre (40-foot) faux evergreen, located in the gold leaf-bedecked
rotunda of the hotel, is not the first extravagant offering from the
three-billion-dollar Emirates Palace.

The hotel in the oil-rich Gulf emirate where the local population is
Muslim, bills itself as a seven-star establishment and has a package for
a week-long stay priced at one million dollars.

The package comes with a personal butler and a chauffeur-driven Maybach
luxury car as well as a private jet available for trips to other
countries in the region.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101219...ristmasoffbeat

As someone who considers the life of Jesus to be an inspiration in my
life, and who is appalled at the idea of celebrating his birth by
ostentatiously displaying exorbitant wealth in a world where children
are dying of hunger, I have only one response to you characterizing such
objections as coming from atheists:

Shame.

Shame on you.

Shame on you, and every other person in the world, of any religion, who
tries to use the cloak of religion to gain political power.

Shame on you, and every other such person everywhere, who would so warp
religion for your own personal gain.

Shame.

Shame.

Shame.

Go jump in a hole, and don't come out until you understand what Christ
was _really_ about.


As a life long devout atheist who was blessed to be born with the
insight to see religion for the age old control game it is and the iron
will to never be coerced by anyone, I'll say to you that religion is a
cancer on civilization and will ultimately destroy the world unless
people loose their ignorant superstitions and come to terms with
reality.