By John W. Lillpop
One is arguably the most beloved, well-known, and memorialized figure in human history. The other is a somewhat ordinary man, known for advocating on behalf of farm workers in California.
The former is, of course, Jesus Christ, known for voluntarily shedding his very blood for the salvation of all of human kind from sin. Christians believe Jesus to have been God incarnate, the most pure, precious, loving being to have ever walked on the face of earth.
The later was, by all accounts a decent, spiritual man and devout follower of Jesus Christ during his life. However, Cesar Chavez is not remembered as being deity or God incarnate, except by a very small number of extremists sulking in the vineyards of California!
So, on Easter Day, whom should be the central figure? Jesus Christ or Cesar Chavez?
An ALL TOO EASY proposition for the overwhelming majority, but not for dunderheads in charge of doodles at Google.
As reported at the reference:
Google is taking heat for its Easter Sunday doodle – that cartoon modification of its logo that changes from day to day.
Today, (Easter Sunday) the middle letter is a round portrait of the late migrant farm labor union leader Cesar Chavez.
Like many such doodles, it comes on the birthday of the subject. Mr. Chavez was born March 31, 1927 in Yuma, Arizona.
But appearing on Easter – one of the holiest days for hundreds of millions of Christians around the world – the Chavez Google doodle has set off a mini-storm of protest, including (inevitably) in the twitterverse.
Some examples:
“Unbelievable! Their true colors are showing! Yahoo here I come!”Cesar Chavez Day, is a state holiday in California, Colorado, and Texas.
“Damn Google…. No Easter wishes from those Atheists.”
“A huge BOOO!! to Google for making their holiday doodle about Cesar Chavez's 86th birthday instead of Easter (celebrated by over a billion).”
“I've got nothing against Cesar Chavez, but even Chavez was a Catholic. I doubt he'd want Google to recognize him on Resurrection Day.”
“Better a dead lefty, them a risen Lord.”
“Google uses Caesar Chavez on Easter instead of using something Easter related? Okay, I'm switching to Bing.”
Apparently confusing Cesar Chavez with Hugo Chavez, the late president of Venezuela, one wrote: “Google can't celebrate Easter but can celebrate a dictator's birthday?!”
But there’s been more thoughtful comment as well, unlimited by the snappy 140-character Twitter format – much of it alluding to Chavez’s own Christian religion
“Google’s odd choice should remind us that whatever one thinks of Chavez’s politics, they are impossible to understand apart from his belief in the resurrected Christ,” writes Matthew Schmitz, deputy editor of First Things, an ecumenical journal published by The Institute on Religion and Public Life.
“As a Christian, Chavez believed that the first revolution had to be a revolution of the soul, which meant that personal sacrifices were demanded – not just of the oppressor, but of the oppressed,” writes Mr. Schmitz. “For Chavez, social reform was never merely external. Without peace of spirit and purity of heart, there was little point in pursuing justice. Collective bargaining, just wages, shorter workdays: for Chavez none of these made sense outside the fact of his risen Lord.”
Although Chavez has been gone for 20 years, he continues to be remembered as an important figure in US history.
President Obama has proclaimed March 31 as “Cesar Chavez Day” and designated the 105-acre “Cesar E. Chavez National Monument” in Kern County, California farm country.Mr. Obama’s campaign rallying cry – “Yes, we can!” – echoed the UFW’s “Sí, se puede.”
Leave it to Barack Obama to denigrate the most important day in Christian history in order to pander to Hispanic voters, illegal aliens, and labor unions!
Shame on both Barack Obama AND Google!
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2013/0331/Google-takes-Easter-heat-over-Cesar-Chavez-doodle?nav=87-frontpage-entryNineItem
