Here It Comes...
Okay, with Thanksgiving over, the retailers are not going to let us forget that the next holiday approaches like a meteor in a scifi channel disaster flick. And riding that meteor are the Christopaths crying out in aguish that the evil liberals are forcing Americans to take Christ out of Christmas. Well, boo-effin'-hoo and cry me a river, because fundamentalist wackos don't own the winter holidays, dig it?
Let's start with the "seasons greetings" vs "merry christmas" cage match. "Seasons greetings" is better for business: it's just a cost-efficient way of saying, "merry christmas, happy hanukkah, happy kwanzaa, happy whatever else we forgot." Besides, since the right overwhelmingly places greater value on corporate revenue than on christian values, it stands to reason that they would support that phrase, doesn't it?
Besides all that, the main thing is that Christmas is PAGAN PAGAN PAGAN! That's right, members of the flock:
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Let's start with the "seasons greetings" vs "merry christmas" cage match. "Seasons greetings" is better for business: it's just a cost-efficient way of saying, "merry christmas, happy hanukkah, happy kwanzaa, happy whatever else we forgot." Besides, since the right overwhelmingly places greater value on corporate revenue than on christian values, it stands to reason that they would support that phrase, doesn't it?
Besides all that, the main thing is that Christmas is PAGAN PAGAN PAGAN! That's right, members of the flock:
Thousands of years before Christianity even appeared, cultures all around the world were celebrating a similar holiday, with many of the traditions that we now associate with Christmas.Now, I know a lot of Christians are discouraged by this sort of narrative because their religion teaches them that they thought of everything first. Well, hey - if they feel slandered by this sort of thing, they can always call the ACLU.
What these cultures celebrated was the Winter Solstice, or the shortest day of the year. This usually occurs on December 21. For various reasons, ancient cultures celebrated this holiday at different times in December or early January.
Why did these many cultures celebrate the Winter Solstice? Because from here on the days will get longer and warmer. It is a holiday of optimism, that the sun will win in its battle over darkness. It is also a holiday of rebirth and fertility, for the lengthening sun will eventually allow farmers to plant their crops. Light is an intrinsic part of most of these celebrations, whether it be sunlight, candles, bonfires, Yuletide logs or today's Christmas lights. Not for nothing do most cultures start their New Year about this time.
The first evidence that we have of a Solstice celebration is Mesopotamia from 4,000 years ago. Solstice celebrations have been found in every part of the ancient world, from China to Native America.
The Solstice celebration that Christianity drew on was the Roman holiday Saturnalia. During these celebrations, people suspended all work and indulged in great feasts and drinking. They decorated their homes with greenery of all sorts (for greenery was the product of sunlight, of course). This ranged from wreaths made of laurel to trees adorned with candles. Gifts were sometimes exchanged, especially with small children. But the most interesting aspect of the holiday was the reversal of social order. Wars were suspended, quarrels forgotten, debts forgiven. Slaves exchanged places with their masters, and children became head of their families. In fact, the Romans went so far as to crown a mock king "the Lord of Misrule." The holiday, needless to say, was extremely popular with the people.
In 274 A.D., the Roman Empire was still "pagan" (that is, not yet Christianized). In that year, the Emperor Aurelian proclaimed that December 25 would be the birthday of the "Invincible Sun."
In 336 A.D., Emperor Constantine Christianized this holiday, proclaiming it to be the birthday of Jesus. The date is almost certainly wrong; the Bible doesn't say when Jesus was born. However, it was most likely in spring, the only time that ancient shepherds ever watched over their flocks by night.
It is interesting to note that as Christmas spread throughout Europe, it absorbed the Winter Solstice customs of other countries. For example, when Christianity spread to Scandinavia, it found Scandinavians celebrating the Winter Solstice with Yule logs, mistletoe, holly, legends about elves, and Yule goats who carried presents from the gods.
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posted by SheaNC at 3:05 AM
25 Comments:
oooh... OUCH! :P From what I understand Dec 25th was Constantine's favorite "holiday", if you will, and that's why he named it the day of the birth of Jesus. I was born and raised a Christian, not a fundementalist - Methodist, we are probably the most multi-cultural denomination and a lot more open, but even I know and realize that Jesus wasn't actually born on the 25th or even in Dec. According to one of my anthropology professors, the 3 kings didn't get to Jesus right away. It actually took them several years so he was no longer a baby. I don't know how much truth there is in that. x-mas for me has always been about family.
On a side note, I can't stand how stores decorate so freakin' early. But Nordstrom's department store specifically celebrates one holiday at a time. So no X-mas decorations until after thanksgiving!
Happy Everything!
Shea, I agree that anyone can celebrate this season the way they want to--and that includes the Christians.
I don't know many Christians who don't know most of what you write here. (at least some of it) Can you believe that most of us are fully aware that Easter's origin is pagan also and named after the goddess Eastre?
But the bottom line is, that Christmas is a time of year when Christians celebrate the birth of Christ, (no one knows what date he was born on) just like anyone else who celebrates a religious holiday. Celebrating Christmas does not deny anyone the right to celebrate any other holiday. Hannakuh is acknowledged everywhere (it is just not as commercial a holiday as Christmas has become). I will note though that Kwanzaa is a hilarious fabrication. You are absolutely right that it is evil to take away someone's religious celebration. It is evil for someone to force their views upon someone else (wasn't this where the last post went?). It is the goal of any marxist society to remove all aspects of religion from society. (Stalin, Mao--all recognized the importance of this)
Like Lost said in her comments, Christmas is about what one makes it. Christmas may be pagan for you, Shea, but for many others it isn't. Celebrate how you want to, but live and let live--let others celebrate it how they want.
-Jack
P.S. Shea, your post and what many liberals are trying to do remind me of the time I was at a family get together. I have a cousin who told several of the grandchildren that there was no Santa Clause and was very detailed in his explanations about proving there wasn't. I have referred to him as the Grinch ever since. If liberals cannot find a reason for joy and happiness during this time of year, then should they go out seeking to destroy it for others? Those seculopaths...
A note. Christmas in the United States has been the same for decades. I think that people with pathological problems are those who are bent on changing it to something they want. Who is forcing their views upon whom?
Well, Jack, mark me down under the "live-and-let-live" column. I think it's okay for people to celebrate whatever (I have always loved the holiday festivities, decorations, Rankin-Bass TV specials...). I don't think anyone should force anyone else to celebrate their way, so I say, put the nativity scene on the front lawn of the courthouse, right next to the pagan dancing pan playing a flute for winter solstice!
PS - I must admit, I love the way this topic incites controversy every year! >8^)
By the way, when I die, I want to be sent to a taxidermist to be stuffed and made into a storefront Santa!
Hi Lost,
There are quite a few traditions and symbols tied up in the Christmas holiday. The three kings may not have been just three--also it mentioned that they visited a small "child" which scholars believed meant a toddler.
Mary may not have ridden a donkey to Bethlehem--she may have walked, may have ridden a volkswagon for all we know :)
There wasn't an innkeeper who said "no room!"--at least it doesn't tell us of one.
Christmas is a borrowing of many traditions and symbols within our culture which dates back to our ancestory. The United States is a melting pot and the holiday reflects that.
-Jack
I enjoy it too, Shea! I will be starting my "Grinch Alerts" on the Snipet again soon. We'll have a good time with it.
I do agree though, that the nativity scene has no business on government grounds. :) Also, I think that we should have both races represented--I'll be the black santa next to you.
Happy Seasons Greetings!
-Jack
Orale, don't forget the Mexican santa! :)
Jack-
Thanks for the follow up! I never questioned my religious upbringing before because I was probably too scared and I was always taught that this is the way it is, end of story. I always had questions but I truly realize that the religion is all based on faith. I have it and don't deny it. I just think it's interesting that it's taken me all these years to understand that the meanings and stories I'd come to know as a child are incorporated from several stories and accounts from various persons and times. As an educated adult I can stand back and say, "Wow...this doesn't really make sense historically and there really is no proof that any of this happened." As a Christian (who has recently been researching Judaism), I say that I have my faith and that's what gets me by on a daily basis.
I say again, Happy Everything, because as we all agree, people should celebrate whatever they want as long as it makes them happy. Personally, I like Festivus.
Yes, Lostintx, and this is a great place for the "airing of grievances"!
Hey, everyone, a quick anecdote about the stuffed-santa thing: a clothing store in Phoenix had a life-size Santa that had come with the store when they bought it many years before. It dated back to perhaps the 40's. One day a finger broke off of it and they decided to repair it. Upon examination, they discovered that the Santa was a mummified person! AAuuggh! No one knew who the person was... Ho ho ho!
That's pretty creepy!
Jack, as you laid out the bible is a novel that is loosely based on a true story. I'm not sure why people make such a big deal of the symbols we choose to use for our celebrations. After all they are just symbols from a work of fiction.
I lived in Japan for two years and there wasn't a person I met that was offended by the phrase "Merry Christmas". The Japanese are 0.7% Christian (source CIA), around the 25th the stores are emblazoned with expressions of Christmas. The Japanese, like the Christians before them, have borrowed from the themes to consititute their own version of the holiday.
My point is phrases will have different meaning for different people. I sometime wonder whether it's Christians fabricating the controversy just to stir up some headlines.
I agree with Jack. The problem we fundamentalists have with the de-Christing of Christmas is the willingness of formerly family-friendly enterprises like Wal-Mart, Target, et al. to supplant a holiday that has always been about the birth of Christ with a watered-down, secularized version. The result is a bunch of greedy children who only care about what sits under a tree.
Better to give than to receive? No one but Christians and our fighting men in Iraq can fully grasp what that means. Sure, the few weeks after Passion of the Christ opened a few eyes, but true selfless sacrifice? That's the whole point with our Anglo-Saxon holiday, to express our gratitude in the sacrifice Christ made by giving to others generously.
The further we get from Christmas, the closer we get to total, unbridled hedonism. And that will not be good.
Mochi,
Christians making up these headlines?
The town council of the city of La Jolla, Calif. is meeting today to considering changing the name of its annual Christmas parade to Holiday parade, reports the San Diego Union Tribune.
A New Hampshire junior high school student who tried to go to a school dance in a Santa suit was told he was not welcome because the dance was a “holiday” dance and not a “Christmas” dance, reports the Hampton Union.
Bryan Lafond was told by Principal Fred Muscara that he was not welcome at the Hampton Academy Junior High School dance because of concerns about the religious undertones of his costume.
University of Illinois officials have removed four Christmas trees in dorm dining halls after one student complained and some staffers questioned whether they projected the inclusiveness the school wanted to project, reports the News-Gazette.
A Christmas tree in the lobby of a new federal courthouse in Jacksonville, Fla. was removed for the usual reasons and replaced with a snowman, reindeer and sleigh, reports WJXX-TV.
A school district in Illinois has reversed a rule that forbade bus drivers from playing radios in their vehicles because Christmas tunes may pop up while the kiddies are on board, reports the Chicago Tribune.
KOCO-TV in Oklahoma reports that officials with a school district in that state removed the Christian bits from an elementary school play about December holidays because they were worried someone might complain.
And on and on...
Sounds like Japan is much more enlightened and tolerant than contemporary USA.
But Jack 75% of people in America are Christian. Don't you think a lot of the people making the rulings are Christians overly concerned about offending others?
Nah, Mochi, everyone knows that Christians don't care about offending others...
:)
"Better to give than to receive? No one but Christians and our fighting men in Iraq can fully grasp what that means."
Sorry, Kevin, I have to disagree with you there. Having the qualities to understand that to give is better than to receive is not solely reserved for Christians and soldiers. That value is taught among many religions and even among those who profess to not believe in anything.
I spent many childhood weekends volunteering with my family at soup kitchens and Habitat for Humanity. I spent all of my high school spring breaks working for Habitat also. And as a former police officer I can tell you that I would have given my life to save someone here in my own country. I am, by no means, discounting the sacrifice soldiers make. I had plans of going into the Army when I was younger. I have been bitten, punched, kicked, spit on, and threatened all in the course of protecting someone else. Quite often the incident was a result of lack of judgement on the "victims" part. Regardless of the circumstances I put on a bullet proof vest every day knowing that I might not come home at the end of the day. Firefighters make the same sacrifice.
I wonder if your children anticipate receiving gifts at Christmas. My family and I are donating money, instead of giving gifts, to Habitat for Humanity towards rebuilding homes for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
As far as Wal-Mart and Target creating an atmosphere that degrades the true meaning of Christmas, my only response is that this is a typical result of supply and demand. I'm pretty sure that Jews, Muslims, and athiests didn't create that type of demand.
One doesn't have to believe in Christ to understand the meaning of sacrifice.
"Better to give than to receive? No one but Christians and our fighting men in Iraq can fully grasp what that means." - Kevin, you win the prize for the most ridiculously bigoted and asinine statement of the winter solstice. Contratulations... I hope you don't try to top it.
You know, I am not going to stop there. Kevin, how dare you insult all the good people who sacrifice every day, selflessly in the service of others, who just happen to not be fundmanetalist-christian? How dare you dismiss what I have done in my life, and what others have done and still do, just because they are not part of your mind-control cult? You, Kevin Mark Smith, are an ignorant bigot. If you are an representative example of the so-called christian right, then I pity the lot of you.
Kevin you don't really mean this do you? "No one but Christians and our fighting men in Iraq can fully grasp what that means." You are an intelligent guy, surely you understand that just isn't true...
Jack,
I forgot to say earlier that the United States is more of a salad bowl than a melting pot. Sadly we don't all "mesh" together and certainly aren't melting together. I see it more as many different components all tossed in and shaken around. The worst mistake we can make is assume that by putting different and clashing cultures together that they'll mix without incident.
Kevin Mark Smith apparently thinks Gandhi thought more of himself than he did of others. Kevin's a bright guy.
C'mon, guys, ease up on Kevin a little. I think he was just making a bit of a generalization--Lighten up a little willya! :)
Kevin, you have just endured the equivalent of a Neo-lib hazing. It's a little painful, but largely therapeutic. (Shea likes to say "dare" a lot, but he is a good guy) ha!
Lost,
I know what you mean about the salad bowl. It worked well at one time, but when people start preaching diversity, they don't realize that they are teaching division. I saw this first hand in Canada between the French and the English. The two peoples are almost indentical, but their arrogance distances them one from another. Also, my friend Jesse (who is from my home town) and Al constantly try to drive wedges between my race and yours for their own self benefit. He would keep us darkies ignorant, uneducated and dependent if he could by emphasizing our "diversity". Geez, we fought to hard for desegregation to try to bring it back! I think it is largely a male thing--territories, female ownership, etc. Quite primitive really.
-Jack
Jack, I am only a good guy on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. On Sundays, Mondays, and Wednesdays, I am a miserable rotten bastard.
Damn... this is Monday.
Ha!
No informed and intelligent Christian should be discouraged by understanding the history of their traditions. That certain traditions were absorbed from non-Christian practices is, to me, expected.
It would only be discouraging if Christians were still attaching the same pagan meaning to the traditions.
The important thing to remember is this: no matter where a particular tradition may have come from, it was carried on by Christians for one purpose, to rejoice and celebrate the coming of their Savior.
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