Christmas to me, is as relevant as Halloween. I'm not for banning either. It is a great time for Christians on the planet to hook up with their families and boost the economy by buying presents. It is also a good time to diss certain relatives (by not buying them gifts or not inviting them to Christmas gatherings).
Most people who have done any research at all realize that Christmas can't be Jesus' birthday, by the way the NT is written and the "clues" of his birth. Of course, no date was mentioned in the bible to make it easy for the Christians to have a date to celebrate Christ's "real" birthdate....this would make things too easy.
Maybe, it is because the NT is just a story. Finding Christ's birthdate in the NT is like finding the state that the Simpson's hometown of Springfield is located in. The difference being that it is a running joke in the Simpsons.
The real reason that December 25th was picked as Jesus' birthday was to usurp the Mithra celebration for the birthday of the sun....that is sun, not son.
As far as Christmas being an American constitutional or even Protestant thingy, I think you should read this from Wikipedia:
The Reformation and the 1800s
During the Reformation, Protestants condemned Christmas celebration as "trappings of popery" and the "rags of the Beast". The Catholic Church responded by promoting the festival in an even more religiously oriented form. Following the Parliamentary victory over King Charles I during the English Civil War, England's Puritan rulers banned Christmas, in 1647. Pro-Christmas rioting broke out in several cities, and for several weeks Canterbury was controlled by the rioters, who decorated doorways with holly and shouted royalist slogans.[21] The Restoration of 1660 ended the ban, but most of the Anglican clergy still disapproved of Christmas celebrations, using Protestant arguments.
In Colonial America, the Puritans of New England disapproved of Christmas; its celebration was outlawed in Boston from 1659 to 1681. At the same time, residents of Virginia and New York celebrated the holiday freely. Christmas fell out of favor in the United States after the American Revolution, when it was considered an English custom.
By the 1820s, sectarian tension in England had eased and British writers began to worry that Christmas was dying out. They imagined Tudor Christmas as a time of heartfelt celebration, and efforts were made to revive the holiday. Charles Dickens' book A Christmas Carol, published in 1843, played a major role in reinventing Christmas as a holiday emphasizing family, goodwill, and compassion over communal celebration and hedonistic excess.[22]
During the early part of the 19th century, interest in Christmas in America was revived by several short stories by Washington Irving in The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon and "Old Christmas", which depicted harmonious warm-hearted holiday traditions Irving claimed to have observed in England. Although some argue that Irving invented the traditions he describes, they were imitated by his American readers.[23] The numerous German immigrants and the homecomings following the American Civil War helped promote the holiday by bringing with them continental European Christmas traditions still upheld in Catholic and Lutheran countries on the continent. Christmas was declared a U.S. federal holiday in 1870.
Any hoot, I don't celebrate Christmas because I'm a Jew. In fact, I'm the only house on my block without Christmas lights. But I do understand the meaning of Christmas, probably a lot more than most Christians.
Once again. MERRY CHRISTMAS:
Heh. Have a great one BEAJ - thanks for the laugh; it's been awhile since I'd seen that one.
ReplyDeleteI celebrate Christmas, Easter and all the other pagan holidays.
ReplyDeleteJEWS attack Christmas
ReplyDeleteThey never stop their threats of law suits when they see any public place with even a Christmas tree, let alone a Nativity scene.
They lost in Seattle, despite the Rabid Rabbi's attempts to get his 25 foot high Menorah inside the airport!
Anon, do you realize how absolutely retarded you sound?
ReplyDeleteThere is big Jooooo hiding in your closet. Hurry up and go check.
We really haven't celebrated Christmas for years. I used to enjoy it when the kids were young but for just the two of us, it's kind of lame.
ReplyDeleteWas never a religious holiday to us which would have been impossible since we aren't religious.
Of course we could start a new holiday tradition and roast Anonymous over an open fire.
I just had to pop over here to see what an atheist Jew had to say about ex-mas. :-)
ReplyDeleteI see your video tribute is as irreverent as mine! I may have to borrow it.
In the spirit of the season, from one atheist to another, best wishes, Bacon my lad.
ReplyDeleteI won't say happy holidays to you, because we both know that the word holidays comes from holy days. How about Happy Hollow Days. Since Atheists are supposed to have hollowed out souls.
ReplyDeleteAs an athiest Jew, I LOVE Christmas. Not only is it a heart-warming holiday, but it makes the entire country feel good for a few days.
ReplyDeletePlus, as Jews... I can't help notice we do a hell of a lot better in countries that celibrate Christian holidays (like America) than places that don't (like post-Christian France). When political correctness replaces Christianity, things don't work to well for us.
To all Canadian Christian readers, please stop being embarassed about being Christian! We have gay rights, we have seperation of Church and state, we have evolution in schools... Christians here bend over backwards to be kind to us athiest and ask for so little in return. I think you guys definately earned the right to celibrate your peaceful holiday in public display!
Bacon, I love you guy... but as a fellow athiest I hope Canada holds on to its Christian heritage. The truth is that while I have liberal athiest values, when it comes to protecting these rights, I turn to conservative Christians.
Merry Xmas Bacon and thanks for all the great blogging!!!
JEWS attack Christmas
ReplyDeletePal, if we can kill your lord imagine what we can do to you. Cue maniacal laughter. ;)
It wasn't all Protestants that condemned Christmas, just hardcore Puritans.
ReplyDeleteAnd it's usually politically correct secular people who launch lawsuits about Christmas. They think they're doing religious people a favour.
Jordan:
ReplyDeleteThat's true. Happy Festivus!
By the way, I happen to believe Hanukkah should be a much more major holiday (or hollow day, take your pick), than it is. I am speaking about it historically - it commemorates that 7,000 Jews defeated 40,000 Greek soldiers. It is one of the most significant victories in Jewish history. I don't get the big deal with the 'festival of lights.' To me, Hanukkah represents a successful battle against annhihilation.
Jordan, like I said, I have nothing against traditional things like Halloween pumpkins and Christmas trees....one more thing. Spell Theist. Now spell AthEIst......just a major peeve of mine:)
ReplyDeleteJack, Jews aren't the only ones attacking Christmas these days. It seem Christmas mass was cancelled in Gaza today. And there aint no Jews in Gaza.
Suzanne, weren't the Puritans the "founders" of America, or at least the first white settlers? The other thing is, how many lawsuits are going on right now? Seculartists have their fringe lunatics too.
Red Tulips, I don't see that Chanukah victory as being that big. Look what happened after it. Within 100 years the Jews were getting their asses kicked by the Roman anyways. And besides if anything it was a victory of monotheism versus humanism. The 1948 Victory against the Arabs was much more significant.
Jhrhv, thanks, I'll try to maintain keeping a good blog in the new year.
You are fat, ugly, bald and despicable and of course you will delete this, you asshole.
ReplyDeleteROFLMAO @ the Southpark clip! And a very merry Monday to you, Bacon. :)
ReplyDeleteJehovah's Witnesses ban Christmas as well as birthdays! Whenever they come knockin at your door repel the creepy grinches with curses and insults. How dare they try and take away my children's favourite days.
ReplyDeleteRed Tulips, I don't see that Chanukah victory as being that big. Look what happened after it. Within 100 years the Jews were getting their asses kicked by the Roman anyways. And besides if anything it was a victory of monotheism versus humanism.
ReplyDeleteYou are partially correct on both counts, Bacon, though for the same reason you dislike the holiday's history is the reason I find it so magnificent. Hannukah was a civil war victory of the observant Jews over the humanist Hellenizers who sought to make Judaism illegal. However, despite the great victory by the religious, the Hellenizing soon took over again just a couple generations later and the Jews crumbled under the decadence of hedonism.
Also, just think: had the Maccabees not destroyed the Humanists, and re-took the Temple, Judaism would have been extinct almost 2,200 years ago. Though that would be a great victory in the opinion of some (ahem, Bacon), I look at the Macabees as the example for how to fix the rot of humanist stench we see threatening secular Israel's survival today.
MZ, I didn't say I dislike the holiday history, I said it wasn't that important.
ReplyDeleteI think if religion has to be a part of civilization, Judaism is better than Christianity and Islam because Jews don't seek new recruits. It is more of a live and let live religion, so I'm not saying that if Judaism went extinct 2000 years ago, that it would be a good thing, and I disagree with you in that if the Hellenizers would have won that Judaism would have become extinct. It didn't become extinct when the Romans kicked the Jews out of Israel.
And again, you must be denial about it but without secular Jews in Israel, Israel would be extinct. There just isn't enough Orthodox Jews who can defend itself against the Muslims both in numbers and strategically. Again, 50% of Jews in Israel do not attend synagogue on Saturdays.
Bacon, observing the religion would have been outlawed had the Maccabees lost. Meanwhile, though the Romans did destroy the Temple and its sacrifices, Jewish Law and the calender were allowed to continue as before.
ReplyDeleteDamn you BEAJ,
ReplyDeleteThis song has been ringing in my head ever since I heard it on your blog :-(