The True Meaning of Christmas Paganism, Sun Worship and Commercialism
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Christmas is the celebration of the time when the days start to lengthen, which in the Northern Hemisphere, is in the middle of winter. Many religions in history have claimed the winter solstice as a holy day. The " reason of the season " is a combination of different traditions. It includes sun worship and pagan nature religions who have venerated the natural cycle for many thousands of years. Many traditional elements of Christmas pre-date Christianity 1 . Nowadays it is laid upon by various Christian stories, and Christians even say, quite wrongly, that they invented Christmas. In combination with these religious sources is a heavy dose of commercialism - many "traditions" are in fact invented by commercial companies trying to find nifty ways of selling goods. A sensible and modern refrain is that Christmas is simply a secular midwinter holiday season; it is important to all families as one of the three holiday seasons in between children's school terms. Christmas is a multicultural festival with a long pagan history, and can be celebrated by anyone.
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Many traditional elements of Christmas pre-date Christianity 1 . In other words, Christmas was pagan before it was adopted (and renamed) by Christians. The Catholic Encyclopedia of 1908 states that " Christmas was not among the earliest festivals of the Church. Irenaeus and Tertullian omit it from their lists of feasts " 2 - those authors lived into the 3rd century. The CE article concludes that when later Christians adopted the date of the 25th of December for Jesus' birth, "the abundance of analogous midwinter festivals may indefinitely have helped the choice of the December date, the same instinct which set Natalis Invicti at the winter solstice will have sufficed, apart from deliberate adaptation or curious calculation, to set the Christian feast there too". Prof. Hutton, a respected and careful primary-sources historian, mentions Christmas in his valuable book on the history of modern Paganism.
"Unlike some other gods I could mention, I can actually see the sun...kind of helps the credibility along." --- George Carlin
For at least 6000 years, from the construction of the first stone henge and the Sumerian ziggurats, people have had an understanding of the solstices and in many cases worshiped the sun
and the solstices, the shortest and longest days.
The Egyptian pyramids, as well as the seemingly disconnected temples and pyramids throughout the Indian subcontinent
and South and Central American Mayan Temples are almost universally aligned with the sun & the solstices, fertility and harvest rites.
Ra, Horus, Sol, Osirus, Helios and Atum, gone but not forgotten.
Knowledge is the true war on Christmas because the more that you know the less likely that you will believe in their myth.
Yes, but it is rather sad that some people prefer willful ignorance and/or delusions over knowledge.
the willful ignorance and/or delusions have been indoctrinated into them and it is much more comforting than actual facts/knowledge - those facts/knowledge are dangerous to willful ignorance and/or delusions.
They grew up believing in Disney, Santa Claus, and the Easter Bunny and as they got older their parent's religious beliefs supplanted those childhood myths with Jesus and the Christian faith so they have never had to face reality or embrace reason. I guess life is easier for many people when they are ruled by emotions and religious beliefs.
I have always wondered why religious feel the need to go to church one or two days a week for life. If a person hasn't embraced the moral teaching of Jesus by the time they are 16 it isn't going to happen. I know quite well why the church wants them to come to services multiple times a week so they can update/deepen the brainwashing and guilt because the myth of religious belief becomes very clear if people start to think on their own away from others who are equally brainwashed. The guilt and fear keeps them coming back for more.
I have Nomex undies at the ready so I'll be safe when and if I burst into flames for my heretical ideas and opinions. I'll be very warm on a cold December evening
Indeed. It's just an emotional comfort mechanism.