BF2S Forums I thought half of you Internet people were Athiests or hate religion

I'm not celebrating Christmas, I'm celebrating that maximum darkness has been reached, and summer is coming.

Even though we don't believe in god, its still a special time of year for us?

Last edited by Pubic (2008-12-25 15:19:44)

Christmas isn't so much about Jesus an all that stuff any more. More of an excuse to spend time with the family, exchange gifts, and cook a large meal ... and anything that accompanies any of the aforementioned.

Obviously, there are those that still celebrate it for what it actually is.

As far as I can see.

JahManRed wrote:

Christians stole it from the pagans. Just like every other holiday. Built churches on ancient pagan sites. Like a parasite, it spread and devoured.
Christmas trees
Crackers
Turkey
Santa
Nothing to do with Christianity.

The only thing christian is the nativity and mass. Which I don't do.

I hear you, butnI'd like to know the source for your assertions. The winter solstice doesn't exactly fall on 12-25 anymore.


What books have you read about Christainity  and/or pagan religions?

What do you know about Danu?

I wager little, tbh.

Last edited by ATG (2008-12-25 16:45:13)

jord wrote:

I just celebrate being together with my family and sharing gifts

unnamednewbie13 wrote:

Uzique wrote:

it's quite clear that no one gives a fuck about religion & Christmas anymore?

Yeah, clear alright. /suicide bombers; /walmart trampling. Real clear.

'Religion & Christmas' as a combined theme- ruling out Walmart tramplings which are caused by the consumerist-side of Xmas which we are all more casually acquainted and used to. As for extremist activity and suicide bombing... happens every day, everywhere, regardless of the calendar date. Even if something is purposefully committed on 'x' festival, it's still a ridiculously minute proportion of celebrators/revellers worldwide- so my point stands. Using 'no one' as a gross generalisation for all people, I don't really think I'm wrong in saying no one gives a shit about the religious aspects of Christmas. Especially not in the UK, over here the Queen's speech is more centrally important to our Xmas day than worship and reverence.

ATG wrote:

JahManRed wrote:

Christians stole it from the pagans. Just like every other holiday. Built churches on ancient pagan sites. Like a parasite, it spread and devoured.
Christmas trees
Crackers
Turkey
Santa
Nothing to do with Christianity.

The only thing christian is the nativity and mass. Which I don't do.

I hear you, butnI'd like to know the source for your assertions. The winter solstice doesn't exactly fall on 12-25 anymore.


What books have you read about Christainity  and/or pagan religions?

What do you know about Danu?

I wager little, tbh.

Don't know about Danu - but long before that I presume - the Greeks celebrated the Anthestiria (Ανθεστήρια or the Brumalia as I found it written in english pages - not sure if it's quite the same thing though) to honor Dionysus. That's December 25th, although the exact date may be disputable because back then the Greeks used different months (the month Anthestirion dated from December 23 to Feb 20).

Anyway point is... the date is not Christian. The birth of Jesus was later assigned to it by Christians because of its long-standing great astronomic and cultural importance. In fact the Christians brought nothing new to the game. They merely capped all previous marked dates and festivities with stuff of their own. Come to think of it, cross that last part out too. It wasn't even their own stuff. Just different names etc to standing Greek, Egyptian, and Arabic myths.

ATG wrote:

JahManRed wrote:

Christians stole it from the pagans. Just like every other holiday. Built churches on ancient pagan sites. Like a parasite, it spread and devoured.
Christmas trees
Crackers
Turkey
Santa
Nothing to do with Christianity.

The only thing christian is the nativity and mass. Which I don't do.

I hear you, butnI'd like to know the source for your assertions. The winter solstice doesn't exactly fall on 12-25 anymore.


What books have you read about Christainity  and/or pagan religions?

What do you know about Danu?

I wager little, tbh.

Nice assumptions ATG. You know fuck all about me and my religious journey. I have read plenty about religion and in particular the Celts. And the pagan kings who ruled this country. The pagan throne of Ulster(and at a time Ireland) is in a church 2 miles from my house. You can read about it all you want living in a country devoid of pagan history. I live in a country which was pagan for longer than the USA exists. I am surrounded by the relics of the past. There are standing stones all around where I live. We learned about the pagans in history at school. Something I doubt you did. So in fact I have been reading about pagans since I was 13.
BTW. I inherited about 100 books, spanning all the religions from Ex's father when he passed away. He sung about religion amongst other things. Sold millions of albums too. But, meh to you. You seam to think your D&ST number one authority on paganism.

Danu? Don' insult my intelligence. Any idiot can goggle your question and copy and paste. So I am not even going to credit you with a answer.

So explain to me where in the bible or Christianity Christmas trees, Crackers, Turkey and Santa came from?

JahManRed wrote:

So explain to me where in the bible or Christianity Christmas trees, Crackers, Turkey and Santa came from?

The parallels, are more so a slap in the face, than plagerism.

....This does not include minor borrowings which everyone admits, such as the dating of Christmas to 25th December (an old Roman sun-festival), or the use of holy water and incense in worship, or the wearing of wedding rings, or dedicating churches to named saints (just as pagan temples were dedicated to different deities). In such cases, the borrowings were not clumsy or furtive. Rather, they were deliberate and unashamed.

A good example is the Pope's use of the old Roman chief priest's title 'Pontifex Maximus', a title which the Christians deliberately appropriated to emphasise that their religion had defeated and replaced Roman paganism.

There is almost no connection between churchgoing and christianity these days TBH.

Because to me Christmas isnt  a religious holiday at all. it is about family and friends and good will towards my fellow human beings (except a few and you know who you are).

oug wrote:

sergeriver wrote:

When it comes to Christmas I prefer Hannukah, you get more gifts.

how come?

Cause Jewgold buys a lot of commodities thesedays.