Read part one first.
Firstly, I can't stress enough that Christmas is not synonymous with Christianity. Jesus was not even born on Christmas day, in fact he was born sometime in September. The birthday that is actually being celebrated is the birthday of the sun god Yeshua the Messiah. worshipped by millions throughout the Roman Empire, around 270 AD.
The Christmas Tree was idea brought on by Pagans. For pagan Egyptians the palm tree was used and for Roman Pagans it was the fir. The trees represented the Pagan Messiah. The story is that the mother of the Sun-God was said to have been changed into a tree (for reasons, I don't know), and when in that state she supposedly brought forth her divine son. The son was recognized as the 'Man the branch', which is where the yule log comes from.
So Christians adopted these traditions. That does not mean Christmas is equal to Christianity. I am not Christian, but i still set up a Christmas tree, I still give gifts, I still donate ten times more than I would any other time of the year.
Christmas is not just about religion. It is about happiness, helping out your fellow man, peace on Earth. If It represents Christianity for you, great. If It represents a really great holiday, shout it out. If you want to say "Happy Kwanzaa", because that is what you celebrate. Go right ahead. If your atheist and you think "Happy Holidays" is appropriate, wish people a happy fucking holiday. All of these terms are correct, depending on who you are. We shouldn't be told that only one of these is polite to say. We shouldn't all of a sudden stop putting up the Christmas tree in the center of town and take down the decorations in the street. The spirit of Christmas is important, it makes people want to give, to want to help, want to celebrate and have fun. These are good things.
Words are a powerful thing. When I think of Holiday I think of time off, maybe boarding a plane and staying in mexico, going to DisneyLand, or maybe staying home and getting things done I've been putting off.
When I think of Christmas I think of how Happy my brother is going to be when I give him his gift, I think of Tylar's annual Christmas party and how they except me to come every year, like I am family. It reminds me of volunteering at the mall to raise money for the Salvation army. I think of the shoe box me and my mom stuff with toys, to send out to less fortunate kids. It makes me think of the time I'm going to spend with my family this year, and that great sense of joy when I know I found the perfect gift for my mom. The idea of Christmas is Unity and Peace on Earth. A holiday, is just a holiday. It's a more selfish word than Christmas.
The idea that such a word offends people, is ridiculous to me. Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Yule, it all means the same: Giving and happiness, and it should all be said, whenever by whoever.
I feel like Atheism in the new Jehovah Witness. Just leave well enough alone and let people imply what they celebrate or believe, proudly.
I have yet to read part 1, but your thing about Yeshua caught my eye.
ReplyDeleteYeshua is an original form of Joshua, which in turn is latinized into the modren "Jesus" (though in some translations of Jewish texts and various versions of the old testament, he's still called Joshua Ben Joseph, rather than Yeshua). Yeshua is, in fact, Jesus. Sol Invictus was the sun god (whose worship lasted from about the 270s BC to 300something (I can't remember) AD), wheras Yeshua was "the son of God", aka, Jesus.
Old religion and pagan religions don't really have a messiah, or really even that nice of Gods (read my quote on FB, if it's still there), which is why christianity took hold and is still around today. Turns out the "vengeful-but-more-realistic" god was not as popular as the "it's-ok-if-you-fuck-up" god.
You can even argue that Jesus was the anti-christ (he fits none of the old testament prophecies, though one can easily argue that the old testament's Yaweh is not the God of the New Testament...), rather than a messianic figure, as was the popular opinion when he existed.
Perhaps more revelant, though, is that 25th was indeed celebrated as the Sun's birthday in many religions, though in the case of Romans, it did not start until long after the rise of christianity (another 300something date, definately after 350AD). The official tie in to Christianity came from around 500 AD, when whomever was the pope at the time (wow my memory really sucks now) declared the two to be related.
ReplyDeleteLooks like I will have to brush up on my facts a little bit! Thanks :) I think I made my point well enough though that celebrating Christmas isn't synonymous with being Christian, and shouldn't be treated as if it is. The guy I was arguing with seems like he would be a very frustrating fellow to be around.
ReplyDelete