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Page: Profile: Wren's Nest News Local
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Article: 14509
[Society]
Date Posted:
12/16/2005
12:06:22 pm EST
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Views: 8,407
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Comments: 31
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Christmas has no pagan connections
Author: John C. Neill Source: The Clarion-Ledger
Title: Christmas has no pagan connections
"Christmas really a pagan tradition" reads the heading to a letter published Dec. 10 in your paper. I would argue that this is not true. The date of Dec. 25 is the by-product of a reasoned attempt by early Christians to fix the date of Christ's death and has nothing to do with pagan festivals.
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Community Thoughts: There are 31 comments posted | Reverse Sort |
| Great Scholars In The West Concluded That... | Dec 19th. at 11:24:03 am EST
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Llunmere (Germantown Hills, Illinois) - Email Me
Yeah, during the DARK AGES! And you can see how much scientific, psychological, and historical progress we made during that period of time!
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| Ahahahahah! | Dec 18th. at 11:31:30 pm EST
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Tails Kitsune (Palm harbor, Florida) - Email Me
me thinks this Person needs to read a book and do some reserch...
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| I Agree | Dec 17th. at 11:25:47 am EST
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William (Pictou Landing, Nova Scotia) - Email Me
Christmas has no pagan connections if you simply observe the day as the birth of Christ and view it completely from a Christian perspective... in your mind... which means blocking out and completely ignoring everything that may oppose that view.... which is something many Christians seem to be good at.
However, this does not take away from the fact that the time Christmas is celebrated has EVERYTHING to do with pagan celebrations. The date was deliberately chosen to compete with pagan customs and replace them.
Even though Christians may view this day as a celebration of the birth of Christ, they still indulge, albeit perhaps unknowingly, in many pagan customs that were 'absorbed' into the Christmas celebration. There are CLEAR pagan roots to many of Christmas' customs, but the real purpose of Christmas is to celebrate the birth of Christ.... something that in this modern, commercial world we live in has been all but lost under the mound of gifts.
The trouble with trying to absorb and replace other celebrations is you have to take on the appearance of those customs you are replacing to make them acceptable, to make an easy transition, in the minds of those you are trying to sway to your side of the fence.
When you do this, you essentially compromise your own holiday to that of the one you are trying to replace. Christians had no choice but to 'paganise' their own religion, including it's celebrations, in order to convert others. Of course when you cannot successfully convert everyone you must then distance yourself from those people else you are just like them, so you must deny what you do is anything like what they do. SO Christmas, filled with all it's pagan customs, is distanced from being even remotely pagan in nature. And in the Christian mind it isn't.... just 99.9% of the customs and traditions practised by Christians at Christmas are.
See the difference?
Ok, must go bust a gut now.
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| Quote | Dec 17th. at 8:42:23 am EST
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Troy Young (Arlington, Texas) - Email Me - Web
Lone Archer: Good quote and one of my favorites but I think it might have been Mark Twain who first said it. I could be wrong though...It's happened once or twice before.
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| ... | Dec 17th. at 8:15:58 am EST
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Draken (Bronx, New York) - Email Me - Web
This guy should go back to reading his Chick tracts.
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| Y'all Don't Sweat It | Dec 16th. at 5:48:12 pm EST
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ParrotPilot (Ocean Springs, Mississippi) - Email Me
Y'all don't get all riled up at the fundie bible belt folks from 'round here. Y'all are giving this guy much more credence than we here in Mississippi do. They are happy in their blissful ignorance. They can't help themselves. Let the poor critter be.
And y'all have a blessed holiday whatever your beliefs!
Mike
Hanging loose in Hurricane Katrina land
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| Why | Dec 16th. at 5:28:28 pm EST
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Roy Linford Adams (Buxton, Maine) - Email Me
Why did anyone even post what little this guy knows? He had so little knowledge on the subject, he couldn't write more than two paragraphs. He gives nothing to support his claim. The only thing he provides any support for is why that date.
This man's lack of any and all research is proof why xtians are so gullible to believe in things like creationism, walking on water and burning bushes that talk.
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| Blood Boils | Dec 16th. at 2:29:01 pm EST
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armand (shreveport, Indiana) - Email Me - Web
It makes my blood boil to hear people say one religion is right and one is wrong. I do not agree with Christian thoughts but I am not going to say they are absolutely wrong. And I believe they should show the same courtesy. We as Pagans do not believe the same thing many Christians believe different things. I just do not understand why everyone cannot worship the way they want as long as it hurts no one else.
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| Whatever | Dec 16th. at 2:28:16 pm EST
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Titania (Smallville, New York) - Email Me
. . . to the article and to those who embrace the "my God is bigger/older than your God" mentatlity. To quote Thomas Jefferson, "It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg." let them beleive what they want. As long as it is not mandated by law, I am free to worship and believe the way I see fit, as are they.
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| The True Current Meaning Of Christmas | Dec 16th. at 1:44:08 pm EST
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Fred Lawrence (Kansas City, Kansas) - Email Me
The true current meaning of Christmas is neither Pagan nor Christian. It's commercial. This is the time of year that people are inundated with commercial messages to Buy! Buy! Buy!
May the Grinch be with you!
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| Underlying Question | Dec 16th. at 1:04:41 pm EST
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Mars (brooklyn, New York) - Email Me
this really begs another question-- why the insistence, from the so-called pagan point of view, of the'pagan' traditions of "Christmas", as opposed to the plain and simple 'traditions' of Christmas? Why is the core of paganism a negative-- that is, 'non-Christianity?" Why do we have to define ourselves as something we are not? I think this kind of thinking comes from people with lingering adolscent issues to deal with-- 'my parents forced religion down my throat, and so i'm getting them back and becoming the opposite of what they raised me to be." Not a very good prescription for inner harmony. The traditions celebrated by people of many cultures over the birth of that mystic known more accurately as YHShVH have their roots in the practices of their ancestors. Christians did not come off of a flying saucer and 'steal' so-called 'pagan' traditions. Romans, Visigoths, Celts and others adopted a new religion, which was more suitable to the way western civilization was developing, and their traditions evolved with their spiritual evolution. People change, cultures change-- this 'pagan' v. 'Christian' dichotomy comes out of Christian thinking and pagans who think like (some) Christians do-- a them against us mentality. In fact, I believe that what little pan-Wiccan dogma does exist can be traced back to the esoteric currents of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and has very little to do with authentic or genetically-lineal ancient pagan traditions.
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| Hmm | Dec 16th. at 1:04:22 pm EST
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Chris K Underwood (Palm Beach County, Florida) - Email Me - Web
Hmm let’s see…
The winter solstices in many cultures is about the re-birth of the god, so the Christians turned that into the birth of their god. Every aspect of the holiday beyond the name Christmas was originally pagan. Yule logs, decorated trees, giving gifts, etc, etc.
Jesus was not born, died, or even stubbed his toe at this time of year.
This is more about how since the Christians could not get the pagans to stop celebrating their holidays, so they changed it to represent their beliefs and concepts. Just like almost every holiday. They can believe and do what they want, but I agree with the first comment; someone is in denial. The only thing that bothers me is how this type of Christian thinks that there was nothing before Christianity.
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| Date Only | Dec 16th. at 12:54:46 pm EST
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Theia (Seattle, North Carolina) - Email Me
Although the title of this mini-letter is Christmas has no Pagan connections, the letter only says that the date chosen to celebrate Jesus's birth was not chosen because of Yule and seasonal celebrations of the Pagans. I don't think he intended to argue that certains traditions, like the tree, didn't come from Pagan sources. The date seems pretty convienent to me, but he might be right. I'll have to read the article he suggests.
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| Hm... | Dec 16th. at 12:44:25 pm EST
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Zillah (Juneau, Alaska) - Email Me
methinks someone is in denial.....hehe
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| No Pagan Connections? | Dec 16th. at 12:36:24 pm EST
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goldennightswan (Bayville, New York) - Email Me
What about the Christmas tree? I haven't seen a lot of evergreen trees in Bethlehem. Santa Claus doesn't sound remotely middle eastern to me. Anyone ever see any reindeer in the desert? Isn't Dec 25th the birthday of Mithras? Oh well, I guess these are just mistakes on my part.
Merry Christmas! Blessed Yule! Joyous Kwanza! Happy Hannukah! Happy Birthday Mithras! (did I miss anyone?)
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