Christians are Losing Christmas
Every year for decades there have been news stories explaining that Christian managers moved "Jesus' birth" to the time of Winter Solstice. Way back in pre history times, thousands of years before Christianity, ancients celebrated the Winter Solstice. The celebration was so universal Christian operatives decided to capitalize on it and moved Christmas to the time of Winter Solstice.
This history has eroded the effectiveness of the "Christmas Story" so much that a group of Catholics in Madison, WI, purchased a billboard promote history and debunk correct history. They are claiming the Christian myth is correct and those since the beginning of humans who record the shortest day of the year are wrong. One told a reporter Christians, not atheists, own Christmas. No, atheists, Pagans and a gazillion unknown gods and religions own the time of the year called Christmas. It is owned by solstice. Christmas is but an afterthought. I'll admit it's an after thought with colored lights that I enjoy as I write this.
The above hard to read billboard had to cost some Christian a considerable amount of money. Also expensive is the State of Texas' effort to ban a display in the state capitol of the same Satanic Temple group Iowa rejected. When states do these self-righteous acts it raises the income of attorneys.
The march forward of solstice and the retreat of Christmas continues.
Hello Mr. Lindgren, I have enjoyed reading your blogposts since I discovered the Red River Freethinkers group on Facebook, probably about a year ago. I like that your articles are brief and to the point. I grew up in the Catholic faith but have been suspicious and a silent doubter since some time in grade school when I started thinking more for myself. I have an especially hard time this time of year with the Christmas story (and with Easter in the spring). These stories just seem irrational and made up. Anyway, I wanted you to know that I appreciate your perspective as I think about where I stand with respect to religion. Happy Winter Solstice!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Kelly, for taking time to comment. Your experience of doubting at an early age is quite common I've learned. Yet, conservative Christians often generalize people are atheists so they can live a "sinful" lifestyle. You are not alone in finding the Christian holidays periods of time that border on confusion, "How can millions of people believe these things happened?" Nevertheless, our community of non believers is growing and that is helpful. Speaking of community, I assume there is not a group meeting in Fargo these days. Red River Freethinkers met monthly for about 20 years. Where I live now in Des Moines there is a group. It has a lively Face Book site, Iowa Atheists and Freethinkers. It has 1,500 or so subscribers. There are twice a month brunches on Sundays and Sundays and a big Winter Solstice gathering. You might enjoy the FB page. All the best.
DeleteI do live in Fargo, but I'm going to request membership in the Iowa Atheists and Freethinkers private FB group. Thank you for the suggestion!
ReplyDeleteKelly and others who comment--I apologize for the slow posting of your comments. I have to manually open the comment and then approve it. I try to check often but sometimes am away and it takes a day or so the get the comment up. Appreciate your patience.
DeleteI doubt there is a day that pagans do NOT have a ritual. Every day when I was across the hallway from Lady Star Lightrider, that old hallway reeked of ceremony. No matter which day of the year Christmas would fall, it would be wrong according to pagans and atheists.
ReplyDeleteHenry--Your probably right that Pagans had/have lots of ceremonies and rituals. In the case of winter solstice, I would argue Pagans had only one thing wrong, Christians had two. Pagans (and the beliefs/religions of groups that existed before Pagans) correctly identified the shortest day of daylight. Then they made up some bogus reason(s) why it was happening. Christians had both the solstice day wrong and the reason it happened wrong. Pagan scored 50%. Christians got zero.
DeleteTo add a bit of more serious content to my comment above, I'm guessing Dec. 25th might have been the date some or many Pagans themselves used way back in time. The sunrise and sunsets do not change at exactly the same rate and measurement of them may have been less precise in earlier times.
DeleteHow do the modern pagans laying claim to stonehenge and other astronomical observatories know that was their believers who built them? They have no extant works to prove or verify. How do we know they got anything right? We just have what they have said the last 100 years or so, maybe not even that. And we just have the stinky smells flowing out of their residences. Atheists are quick to follow that leap.
DeleteHenry--Merry Christmas to you. Good point, no one knows precisely what the builders of Stonehedge were worshipping or thinking. We know roughly who lived in the area. When a new group moved in we know they rearranged to stones.
DeleteAs to Pagans having ceremonies with strong smell, how about those hippy wise men hauling in stinkin' frankincense?? There are 29 Bible verses about incense. People who live in glass houses should not throw stones.