Every year about this time, I'm astounded by the mere existence of Groundhog Day. For one day out of the year, we surrender all intelligence and education that we've accrued throughout the last couple centuries and turn to a rodent to tell us whether we're going to have more winter or an early spring. To me, it's simply ludicrous. We live in an educated society, and here we are talking about whether or not a dumb underground animal saw its shadow, and how the presence or absence of that shadow will somehow predict the weather for the rest of the winter.
I imagine a lot of people would argue that I'm missing the point. It's fun--it's lighthearted and not meant to be taken seriously. OK, so if this is indeed so, why is it on the front page of the evening paper? Why is it on the 5 o'clock news? It's ridculous.
I also imagine that in a lot of ways, the same thing could be said about religion. "You mean these educated people actually believe that a man was dead for three days and then came back to life?! Give me a break." But somehow, that's different. Granted, we're not talking about weather and rodents when we talk about religion. So who knows. Heidi says I just like being incensed about it, which is true. But I come by that naturally.
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