I thought I wasn't going to blog until after the 1st of January, but I don't think I can take another second of The War on Christmas via the The Christian Persecution Complex machine.
First of all, Christmas is NOT, I repeat NOT a Christian holy day. Sorry to burst bubbles here, but it isn't.
The only thing "Christian" about it is the name "Christ". As I am both a religious scholar and a History major, let's s review some facts about Jesus to start:
1. Bethlehem and Nazareth did not exist during this time period.
2. There was never a census called by Rome or Herod during this time period.
3. Shepherds would not have taken flocks out into the fields during December. Yes, Israel gets snow in the winter. Maybe not a lot, but it IS cold.
4. If Jesus had been born (and there is absolutely no historical evidence whatsoever to support this), it would most likely have been in the September/October time-frame, and he would have been born in a sukkah, or temporary shelter during the Feast of Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles for those not familiar with Judaism). And, instead of being born in a manger, he would have been laid in a food storage bin.
5. If Jesus had existed at all, he would have been JEWISH. Jews did not celebrate birthdays, but they did celebrate "The Festival of Lights" aka Chanukah.
6. The bible is also pretty darned specific about those Christmas trees being a no-no. (See Jeremiah Chapter 10).. bringing the tree indoors, nailing it down and decking it out with silver and gold? yeah, HUGE ban on that.
The bible has specific references to God being the head honcho- the big god in charge... it specifically says that only HE can declare a day holy. Not you, not me, not any of the followers of Judaism or Christianity.. God. God ONLY.
God never once declared Jesus's birthday as a holy day to be celebrated. In fact, he gets pretty specific about the HOW's and How-to's in celebrating holy days in that tome. So, Christians aren't doing a holy thing to begin with by celebrating the birth of their "savior". In fact, they are displeasing to their God when they do.
If they are "Christians" aka followers of Christ (the term was originally a Roman insult as it means "mini-christ"), why then, aren't they just celebrating Chanukah like their leader allegedly did?
Because Constantine took a hold of these little messianic cults and conglomerated them in a power-play for the other half of the Roman empire.. unite everyone under 1 religion and be the hero. He never had a 'conversion' experience, even on his deathbed. That's a whole other rabbit trail I won't go down right now, but suffice to say, he created the Catholic Church, which began as an assimilated move into Pagan Rome. The Sabbath was moved from Friday night-Saturday night to Sunday (Constantine was big on the Sun-god). Pesach (Passover) moved to Easter, etc... Fast forward...
The Catholic Church becomes a powerful political entity and weapon of Rome. It's "assimilate-or-die' method of operation was rampant through the world, destroying indigenous cultures wherever it went. Christmas is a construct of this machine to take over the Winter Solstice celebrations of indigenous nations conquered... moving forward...
The Protestant Reformation comes along, wanting little to nothing to do with the Catholic Church and its alleged "hypocrisy".. move to America...
For quite awhile, Christmas was BANNED by Protestant groups and btw, you Protestants were really crappy to the Catholics who moved here.. you went to the other end of the pendulum, persecuting them wherever you could. Maryland was created as a haven for Catholics because of it. But, I digress.. Protestants wanted nothing to do with Catholicism, so Christmas was not celebrated for a VERY long time.
Fast forward to the Industrial Revolution.. big business takes over politics and owns the government of the United States from the late 1800s to today. The 99% versus 1%?? yeah, that's not new.
Christmas becomes a commercial construct to make money for business. Santa appears as a commercial entity circa 1820, and it goes from there.
Santa? Originally, a Norse Pagan construct. Assimilated by Catholicism easily: just combine "St. Nicholas" with Odin and voila!
Trees decked out? I know a lot of you will say "Saturnalia".. but, they were doing that long before the Roman empire was a gleam in a conqueror's eye. Still, it's Pagan.
Giving of gifts at Winter Solstice time? Lonnnnng before the alleged "wise men" came to give Jesus frankincense, myrrh and gold, people were doing this.
So, Christians, please stop feeding your persecution complex as the majority religion in the United States. This is NOT your holy day. Your God is not pleased. Jesus didn't ask you to "do this in remembrance of" him, and the traditions you keep laying claim to not only don't belong to you, they are actually forbidden by your bible.
I personally don't like Christmas the commercial day. I like my Solstice, and I am happy to wish you a Blessed Solstice, a Merry Christmas, a Happy Hanukah, a Merry Kwanzaa, et al... Seasons Greeting or Happy Holidays is all-encompassing and it works for all of us. But, I'm about over seeing Christians protesting and retaliating against Pagans and Atheists simply because they want to be sure they're still on track for the apocalypse by being persecuted.
Persecution, by its very definition says that you are being caused to suffer for your beliefs.
There is no persecution for a holiday that that majority of people celebrate.
And, believe me, you're not racking up those jewels for your crown to throw at Jesus's feet by celebrating a day that God did not deem holy, so he isn't going to count your "War on Christmas" in the persecution column, nor is he going to bring on that oh-so-counted-upon Apocalypse sooner because you "warriors for Christ" are jumping into this non-existent fray.
So, for the love of your Christ, can you just STOP? You're annoying the rest of us to no end, and it's not bringing you brownie points with your deity anyway.
Thanks.
First of all, Christmas is NOT, I repeat NOT a Christian holy day. Sorry to burst bubbles here, but it isn't.
The only thing "Christian" about it is the name "Christ". As I am both a religious scholar and a History major, let's s review some facts about Jesus to start:
1. Bethlehem and Nazareth did not exist during this time period.
2. There was never a census called by Rome or Herod during this time period.
3. Shepherds would not have taken flocks out into the fields during December. Yes, Israel gets snow in the winter. Maybe not a lot, but it IS cold.
4. If Jesus had been born (and there is absolutely no historical evidence whatsoever to support this), it would most likely have been in the September/October time-frame, and he would have been born in a sukkah, or temporary shelter during the Feast of Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles for those not familiar with Judaism). And, instead of being born in a manger, he would have been laid in a food storage bin.
5. If Jesus had existed at all, he would have been JEWISH. Jews did not celebrate birthdays, but they did celebrate "The Festival of Lights" aka Chanukah.
6. The bible is also pretty darned specific about those Christmas trees being a no-no. (See Jeremiah Chapter 10).. bringing the tree indoors, nailing it down and decking it out with silver and gold? yeah, HUGE ban on that.
The bible has specific references to God being the head honcho- the big god in charge... it specifically says that only HE can declare a day holy. Not you, not me, not any of the followers of Judaism or Christianity.. God. God ONLY.
God never once declared Jesus's birthday as a holy day to be celebrated. In fact, he gets pretty specific about the HOW's and How-to's in celebrating holy days in that tome. So, Christians aren't doing a holy thing to begin with by celebrating the birth of their "savior". In fact, they are displeasing to their God when they do.
If they are "Christians" aka followers of Christ (the term was originally a Roman insult as it means "mini-christ"), why then, aren't they just celebrating Chanukah like their leader allegedly did?
Because Constantine took a hold of these little messianic cults and conglomerated them in a power-play for the other half of the Roman empire.. unite everyone under 1 religion and be the hero. He never had a 'conversion' experience, even on his deathbed. That's a whole other rabbit trail I won't go down right now, but suffice to say, he created the Catholic Church, which began as an assimilated move into Pagan Rome. The Sabbath was moved from Friday night-Saturday night to Sunday (Constantine was big on the Sun-god). Pesach (Passover) moved to Easter, etc... Fast forward...
The Catholic Church becomes a powerful political entity and weapon of Rome. It's "assimilate-or-die' method of operation was rampant through the world, destroying indigenous cultures wherever it went. Christmas is a construct of this machine to take over the Winter Solstice celebrations of indigenous nations conquered... moving forward...
The Protestant Reformation comes along, wanting little to nothing to do with the Catholic Church and its alleged "hypocrisy".. move to America...
For quite awhile, Christmas was BANNED by Protestant groups and btw, you Protestants were really crappy to the Catholics who moved here.. you went to the other end of the pendulum, persecuting them wherever you could. Maryland was created as a haven for Catholics because of it. But, I digress.. Protestants wanted nothing to do with Catholicism, so Christmas was not celebrated for a VERY long time.
Fast forward to the Industrial Revolution.. big business takes over politics and owns the government of the United States from the late 1800s to today. The 99% versus 1%?? yeah, that's not new.
Christmas becomes a commercial construct to make money for business. Santa appears as a commercial entity circa 1820, and it goes from there.
Santa? Originally, a Norse Pagan construct. Assimilated by Catholicism easily: just combine "St. Nicholas" with Odin and voila!
Trees decked out? I know a lot of you will say "Saturnalia".. but, they were doing that long before the Roman empire was a gleam in a conqueror's eye. Still, it's Pagan.
Giving of gifts at Winter Solstice time? Lonnnnng before the alleged "wise men" came to give Jesus frankincense, myrrh and gold, people were doing this.
So, Christians, please stop feeding your persecution complex as the majority religion in the United States. This is NOT your holy day. Your God is not pleased. Jesus didn't ask you to "do this in remembrance of" him, and the traditions you keep laying claim to not only don't belong to you, they are actually forbidden by your bible.
I personally don't like Christmas the commercial day. I like my Solstice, and I am happy to wish you a Blessed Solstice, a Merry Christmas, a Happy Hanukah, a Merry Kwanzaa, et al... Seasons Greeting or Happy Holidays is all-encompassing and it works for all of us. But, I'm about over seeing Christians protesting and retaliating against Pagans and Atheists simply because they want to be sure they're still on track for the apocalypse by being persecuted.
Persecution, by its very definition says that you are being caused to suffer for your beliefs.
There is no persecution for a holiday that that majority of people celebrate.
And, believe me, you're not racking up those jewels for your crown to throw at Jesus's feet by celebrating a day that God did not deem holy, so he isn't going to count your "War on Christmas" in the persecution column, nor is he going to bring on that oh-so-counted-upon Apocalypse sooner because you "warriors for Christ" are jumping into this non-existent fray.
So, for the love of your Christ, can you just STOP? You're annoying the rest of us to no end, and it's not bringing you brownie points with your deity anyway.
Thanks.