Horrifying Collectible Nativities: Special Holidays of Dissent Edition!

Nothing says "In your face, Jews & Muslims!" more than the bacon nativity.

30 November 2011

Dear friends of hyperbole and dissent,

Those who know me personally and/or on facebook know that religious hypocrisy is not only my worst pet peeve, but pretty much the underlying item of dissent of most of my complaints with our universe and the people in it.  I've been thinking critically about this topic both privately and academically for many years, and have come to the conclusion that nothing, as far as I can tell, illustrates the complexity and arrogance of this phenomenon more brilliantly than the existence of non-ironic and entirely collectible non-human nativity sets. To this end, I have (since 2009) become something of a connoisseur of blasphemous nativities.  I collect images of actual collectible nativities that generally meet two simple criteria:

1. They (and especially the baby Jesus) must be non-human and
2. They have to be for sale - and not just irreverent "art" that's for sale (there's tons of this out there) but something mass-produced that people can (and presumably do?) buy and collect.

I don't have proof of it, but I'm pretty sure I have the World's Best, Definitive and Only Collection of Images of Sacrilegious Collectible Nativities, with over 150 unique images. I welcome you to check it out, and share it with your friends.  

And remember: Next time you hear someone complaining about taking the "holy" out of "holiday" or the "Christ" out of "Christmas," just ask them: where do you stand on marshmallow/snowman Jesus?

Some of my favorites are below. Click here for the complete collection. Updates always welcome.

Happy Holidays!
Heather

P.S. Please note that I do not own, nor do I intend to own, any of these.

The whole scene *is* pretty other-worldly, when you think about it.

Creepy mice make everything just a little more sacred, don't they?

That's funny. I didn't know Jesus was bearskin rug.

The fact that baby Jesus is a duck, and the "mortals" are chickens only proves his godliness.

Like Jenga, only holier.

 

Whoo's that in the manger?

Yetitivity, believe it or not.

 

They're s'mores! They're snowmen! They're adore-able! This is the set that sparked my collection/obsession when I saw it for sale at a real store.  Turns out it was just the tip of the iceberg. But it doesn't get more sacrilicious than this, does it?