You know, I always thought the holidays – whatever ones you happen to celebrate – were supposed to be a time of joy, generosity, and love. I adore looking at Christmas lights and my neighbors’ decorations, which range from traditional, to whimsical, to plain ole hilarious! A lady named Diana Rowland’s Christmas decorations to me fall under the “whimsical” category – dragons gathered around a little snow creature.

Apparently, some judgy neighbor didn’t appreciate Ms. Rowland’s artistic sense and taste in decorating her own property and decided to issue a passive-aggressive notice to “educate” Ms. Rowland, appointing him or herself the arbiter of the “true” meaning of Christmas.

Ooof! Where to start with this one?

When my kids were little, they loved Halloween! It wasn’t just the candy. They loved the decorations, they loved the costumes, they loved the hours they spent with their friends, going from house to house and laughing. It was a time of innocence and fun for them – a time spent with friends being creative and chomping on chocolate bars.

One year, when we were outside decorating the house together, a neighbor we had not met before stopped by. We were still relatively new to the neighborhood, and I had not seen this individual around. He haughtily handed me a blue piece of paper folded in half and explained that we should come to the church services being held at his church that evening.

After he walked away, I read the paper he gave me. It explained how Halloween is the holiday of the devil, and if were celebrating it, we were going to hell. The last portion invited us to church services in lieu of celebrating this “evil” holiday.

Seems like some people, in their zeal to spread the word about their faith, have no problem ruining others’ fun, being jerks, and spreading toxicity instead of love. Instead of focusing on the joy their faith ostensibly brings them, they prefer to take a large, steaming dump on others.

“You’re going to burn in hell for finding joy in decorations, candy, and camaraderie. Come to our church to find out why!”

Great message there, peeps! Adorable! Do you get a lot of converts that way?

And yes, before anyone lectures me on Halloween, I am well familiar with its origins.

Getting back to the dragons, at least the snotty busybody in my old neighborhood had the testicular fortitude to engage with me in person. Judgy McJudgerson neighbor in Ms. Rowland’s Louisiana neighborhood apparently had no such courage.

Instead of celebrating the birth of her savior with kindness, spreading the word about God’s love, and exhibiting generosity of spirit, McJudgerson decided to insolently denigrate Ms. Rowland’s joy and creativity, demeaning her as a possible demonic cult worshiper and then adding the passive-aggressive “May God bless you” at the end.

Luckily, Diana Rowland doesn’t seem to get easily offended. Instead of getting outraged, the former cop and former morgue tech did what any fun-loving neighbor would do to allay the concerns of McJudgerson and the ostensibly other neighbors McJudgerson claims wonder about Rowland’s demonic affiliations:

SHE BOUGHT MOAR DRAGONS!

And in the spirit of Christmas, Ms. Rowland’s dragons are now sporting halos, transforming them into angels!

Kudos to Ms. Rowland’s indomitable spirit and sense of humor! Her Dragon army has caught the eye of the Internet. Criticisms of the uptight, Grinchly McJudgerson started pouring in, as folks on the Internet began asking if they could donate money to buy EVEN MOAR DRAGONS! Ms. Rowland, to her credit, showed what I believe to be the true spirit of Christmas, encouraging well-wishers to give to the charity of their choice instead.

Hi, everyone! I’ve been getting a lot of messages about fundraisers/collections to buy me MORE DRAGONS, but I would much rather any Dragon Army money be donated to a worthy charity of your choice. Let’s make this holiday season about joy and charity for all. Thanks!!

— Diana Rowland (@dianarowland) December 16, 2018

It’s people like McJudgerson and my former neighbor who give religious folks a bad name – nosy. judgmental, supercilious, arrogant, and rude. I’m glad Ms. Rowland took on that cowardly, boring, passive-aggressive jerk with humor and kindness. Dragon revenge is a dish best served with color and joy of spirit, as well as a dash of rebellion!

Kudos to Ms. Rowland and her resplendently rebellious dragons and her joie de vivre!

All images courtesy of Diana Rowland’s Twitter feed.