Friday, December 22, 2006

Don't Forget the Reason for the Season

Happy Solstice!
Posted by Jewish Atheist at 12:22 AM

17 comments:

beepbeepitsme said...

And a Merry Mithras to you too ;)

9:19 AM, December 22, 2006
Laura said...

Merry Yule!

9:38 AM, December 22, 2006
Baal Habos said...

Merry Chanuka!

9:55 AM, December 22, 2006
asher said...

And just think...only a few years ago no one had ever heard of Kwanzaa.

I'm sure many Africans in Africa are glad to have this wonderful invented for them an African American.

8:31 AM, December 23, 2006
littlefoxlings said...

Merry Festivus

6:15 PM, December 23, 2006
Anonymous said...

Somehow the humour of that is lost on me. Jesus really is the reason for the season, you know. If atheism is packed with as much meaning as atheists claim, why don't you all come up with a holiday of your own worth celebrating?

10:32 PM, December 23, 2006
Arora said...

"...why don't you all come up with a holiday of your own worth celebrating?"

http://www.humanlight.org/

12:19 AM, December 24, 2006
Juggling Mother said...

It worked out well this year - we get to have Chunnuka, Solstice/Yule and Christmas all within a week or so. Made for a great comparitive religion lesson for Mstr A:-)

Oh, and a good excuse for a party and feating in the depressing mid-winter. Which is what it's really all about!

2:39 AM, December 24, 2006
asher said...

For all of you who truly believe that there a seperation of church and state be sure to INSIST on going to work on December 25. Make your office building open, to to work and treat it just like any other day.

I mean, you wouldn't want to be taking off a day much of the world believes is the birthday of Jesus Christ, and getting paid for it? How hypocritical!

12:22 PM, December 24, 2006
Juggling Mother said...

Asher - i worked Christmas day for a good few years - so do any number of people in many professions. Some of those are Christians, some are not. What has that got to do with anything?

6:24 PM, December 24, 2006
asher said...

dear juggling,

Anyone who thinks we should not be celebrating religious holidays in a secular society should consider dec 25th just like any other day. Taking the day off and getting paid for it would constitute hypocricy.

Meantime, Barnes and Knoble is open on Dec 25th and the employees working that day are getting time and half.
I understand the christmas toys are half price.

8:39 AM, December 25, 2006
Jewish Atheist said...

Stephen:

Do you really believe we wouldn't be celebrating a festival of lights in the winter without Jesus? Do you really think he was born on the 25th? Christmas is simply a hijacking of a pre-existing holiday.

2:56 PM, December 25, 2006
Anonymous said...

"Taking the day off and getting paid for it would constitute hypocricy."

No, taking the day off from work indicates nothing other than the fact that most people would rather stay home and get paid rather than work.

6:35 PM, December 25, 2006
Random said...

"Christmas is simply a hijacking of a pre-existing holiday."

JA,

Frankly what surprises me most is the way every Christmas you can rely on someone (usually an atheist or neopagan, frankly) to point this out as though it was some sort of new discovery or dirty secret. Not so, I'm afraid - as the Catholic Encyclopaedia of 1911 puts it:

"The well-known solar feast, however, of Natalis Invicti, celebrated on 25 December, has a strong claim on the responsibility for our December date."

The simple fact is that Christmas was not an important festival in the very early church and those churches that did observe the natvity of Christ in the first centuries tended to do so in the spring. The actual date has always been both unknown and unknowable and so the church took a pragmatic decision to mark it in the middle of winter so that converts would not have to give up the festivities.

A striking modern equivalent of this pragmatism can be seen in the way that the officially atheist Soviet Union chose to make a big deal out of New Year, complete with Father Frost and lots of booze and presents giving...

7:32 AM, December 26, 2006
Jewish Atheist said...

Random:

Tell it to Stephen. :-)

9:33 AM, December 26, 2006
Ezzie said...

Man, that makes for a depressing "holiday season". :)

2:27 PM, December 26, 2006
Anonymous said...

AMEN. I've been saying this same thing to folks too! ROFL

The season IS the reason for the season!

3:48 PM, January 01, 2007

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