I'm curious about the crossroad of freedom and outrage.
Take, for example, the passenger earlier this month on an American Airlines flight who was asked to change her "Hail Satan" T-shirt. The passenger was told to change it or leave. (To be fair, the airline has a policy that offensive clothing is not allowed.)
American Airlines later apologized because it felt it violated the passenger's freedom of speech after the passenger claimed that if her T-shirt read "Hail Jesus" there would not have been an issue.
Maybe that's the case. But ...
Netflix is silent rather than apologetic despite the signatures of 1.1 million people on an online petition about a Christmas special it aired that depicts Jesus as gay. Netflix offered no comment on the matter, but the production company that produced the "special" had this to say in statement:
"[We] value artistic freedom and humor through satire on the most diverse cultural themes of our society and believe that freedom of expression is an essential construction for a democratic country."
Guess it depends on who you are offending these days, huh?
Speaking of Christmas wardrobe malfunctions ...
Walmart in Canada had to remove a controversial ugly Christmas sweater from the company's website this week.
The retailer pulled the seasonal ugly sweater from its shelves that features the words "Let it Snow" with Santa Claus sitting behind a table with three white lines on it.
And if that were not clear enough, said Santa apparently has a straw in his clenched right fist.
Somewhere Tony Montana is saying "Say Merry Christmas to my little friend."
Yes, the implication is that Santa is doing cocaine.
That said, shouldn't we all ask how in the world we expect Santa to stay up all night on Christmas Eve and get to all those houses without a little pick-me-up?
To the world of art
From the category of people who have more dollars than sense comes the story of the duct-taped banana.
Feel free to insert your "Or are you just happy to see me?" joke at any time, but in the Art Basel show last week in Miami, one of the items that generated a six-figure bid was a banana duct-taped to the wall.
Seriously. And several folks are defending this biodegradeable debacle with high-browed finger-wagging about how art is in the eye of the artists.
Right.
To that end, if everything is art, then isn't nothing art? Because I know nothing about paintings or sculptures or all the rest, but I know this:
A banana taped to a wall is just fruity. (Sorry. Kind of.)
Saturday stars
To all the good folks who will be part of the "Wreaths Across Chattanooga" event today at the Chattanooga National Cemetery.
The project, which aims to put a Christmas wreath on every headstone, is going to put out a record 13,284 wreaths this morning.
In its 14th year, the event will cover more than 30 percent of the graves at the cemetery.
If you are interested in helping put the wreaths on the headstones, go to ChattanoogaWAA.com or call 423-756-2212.
Obit Observations
There's no name or specific person this week.
My heart is heavy for the obits around the holidays, especially for the names with ages in the single digits or in the teenage years.
May the prayers of us all ease the agony of those who have suffered such a painful loss.
And may His Grace calm you. No matter what that American Airlines passenger believes.
Contact Jay Greeson at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com.