Al’s Christmas Tea: Pop Star Urges Advent Prayer, Trump’s Hilarious Pitch for a Stocking Stuffer
Welcoming back in for Al’s Christmas Tea, our chance to celebrate a bit of the season.
Don’t Speak: Pray. Pop Star Gwen Stefani Urges Prayer in Lead Up to Christmas
Pop singer and longtime judge on The Voice Gwen Stefani is encouraging fans to pray and praise Jesus Christ in these last weeks before Christmas. “The Christmas season has always been my favorite time of the year,” she says in a new Advent ad from the Hallow prayer app. “It’s the season that we get to celebrate the birth of our Lord.”
Gwen Stefani invites fans to pray with her in the days leading up the Christmas and cerebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. pic.twitter.com/zbyDWORW6N
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) December 6, 2024
Stefani is not the first name that comes to mind when thinking of music stars who are Christian. The singer, who was raised Catholic, credits a “spiritual intervention” with pulling her through in the wake of her divorce from Bush lead singer Gavin Rossdale and reigniting her faith.
“At the time when it was going down, never in my wildest dreams would I ever imagine the miracle that happened to me,” she told Yahoo Entertainment in 2017. “Some people don’t like to hear this, but for me it was a spiritual intervention. It was a true miracle. I think the only way I got through all the hard times is just my spiritual faith and my belief in God, because I’ve just seen the miracles around me.”
While we’re talking about Christmas and pop singers …
Mariah Carey Rejects Title “Queen of Christmas,” Say It Belongs to Mary, Mother of Jesus
Songbird Mariah Carey can be a diva. That’s not exactly a newsflash. However, she does know the difference between a diva and the divine. In recent years, Carey has been dubbed the “Queen of Christmas” due to being responsible for the best-selling Christmas record of all time in America, “All I Want for Christmas is You.” However, as Carey told the Zoe Ball Breakfast Show, only one person deserves the title: Mary, the mother of Jesus.
“I’m someone that loves Christmas, that happened to be blessed to write ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You,'” she said. “And a lot of other Christmas songs. And let’s face it, you know, everybody’s faith is what it is. But to me, Mary is the Queen of Christmas.”
Yes, indeed. Though if we were going to have a queen of Christmas who wasn’t Mary, would your money be on Mariah Carey or Christmas movie stalwart Candace Cameron-Bure?
Travel Tip: Don’t Take Wrapped Christmas Presents When You Fly
Are you flying somewhere this Christmas? TSA is warning you not to bring wrapped gifts in either your checked luggage or carry-on bags. This is not a new rule, but bears repeating. Says TSA, “Gifts may need to be unwrapped for further inspection.” The feds suggest waiting until you arrive at your destination to finish wrapping, or put the present in a gift bag for easier checking.
You can find more Christmas air travel do’s and don’ts at the TSA’s “Fly Like Rudolph for the Holiday Season” page.
Male Ballerina Hopes to “Ungender” The Nutcracker
If taking spots in women’s sports wasn’t enough, how about males taking on female roles in the classic Nutcracker ballet?
Meet Ashton Edwards. The self-described nonbinary person is playing several traditionally female roles in the Pacific Northwest Ballet’s production of George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker this year.
For Edwards, performing the holiday classic is as much about activism as it is art. “I definitely want to be an activist for the next generation, and I also want to be a light for them, to show them that it gets easier on the other side,” he told The New York Times in a 2022 profile. More subversively, as the Daily Wire reports, Edwards is on a mission to “ungender” the very structured, very feminine world of ballet.
For example, Edwards dances en point, or on the tips of his toes, which males almost never do unless for comic effect.
While not negating the skill and rehearsal it takes to dance en point without looking silly or hurting yourself, we must point out the fact that another space for girls is being threatened. Who wants their daughter’s dreams of dancing in the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy dashed by a male?
Finally, President-Elect Donald Trump is offering some more stocking stuffers in the way that as only he can.
Just in Time for Christmas: Trump Humorously Trolls Jill Biden in Plug for New Fragrance Line
Donald Trump is turning into his own QVC network, and trolling the Bidens at the same time. He just introduced a new line of perfumes and fragrances called “Fight, Fight, Fight.” Makes a “great Christmas gift,” he says.
Given the fact that “Your Favorite President” has been pitching sneakers, wallets, and even guitars in recent weeks, getting into the perfume and fragrance business is not too surprising. However, on Sunday Trump decided to take advantage of a now-viral photo of him and Jill Biden getting cozy at Notre Dame to plug the fragrance.
“A fragrance your enemies can’t resist.”
Love him or hate him, Donald Trump is one of the funniest presidents in American history. I guess once you survive getting shot in the head, you’re both A) in a joking mood B) don’t care what pundits think.
On the Stream Menu…
David Marshall asks, “Humanism or Christianity: Which Can Save Civilization?”
Al Perrotta is The Stream’s Washington bureau chief, coauthor with John Zmirak of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Immigration, and coauthor of the counterterrorism memoir Hostile Intent: Protecting Yourself Against Terrorism.