By Dark Politricks
This is a special time of year for Atheists where we piggyback off the Christian / Mithrian / Druid celebration of the winter solstice and enjoy eating far too much, getting drunk, giving gifts to family and friends and complain about the dross that TV schedulers have cooked up for us to watch.
For those of you that actually believe that Jesus Christ, the son of God, was actually born on December 25th I would urge you to do some basic historical research about why Christmas is the date it is and I would urge you to try and read some books that are NOT written by Christian apologetics who would most likely suggest that any previous religions that had the same special dates, customs and rituals were all frauds created by God to test your faith.
In ye olden days, the pagans of northern Europe celebrated the winter solstice, known as Yule, which symbolised the birth of the pagan Sun God, Mithras. It was customary to light a candle to encourage Mithras, and the sun, to reappear next year. Huge Yule logs were burned in honour of the sun. Mistletoe was considered a sacred plant, and the custom of kissing under the mistletoe began as a fertility ritual. Holly berries were thought to be a food of the gods.
In ancient Babylon, the feast of the Son of Isis (Goddess of Nature) was celebrated on December 25. Raucous partying, gluttonous eating and drinking, and gift-giving were traditions of this feast. The Romans obviously liked a good party and before Rome converted to Christianity, the Winter Solstice and Saturnalia, which was an orgiastic festival in honor of Saturn, were marked by much merrymaking.
So is just pure co-incidence that Jesus was born on December 25th and that the Christian religion seems to have taken all its symbolism and other festive customs from earlier religions? No its not, it was because in 350AD Pope Julius I declared that Christ's birth would be celebrated on December 25 and the change of birthday from a more likely September time was a direct encouragement to pagans to swap faith. The "day of rest", which is currently Sunday was also changed from the Jewish Sabbath to make it easier for believers in Mithras to swap over to Christianity.
So why do I as an Atheist celebrate Christmas? Well I do it because its an English tradition, a custom that allows me time off work and a chance to enjoy some fun with friends and the family. I get to drink too much and eat special meals without feeling guilty as well as giving and receive gifts and being thankful for making it through another year alive.
I don't have any problem with the fact that I don't believe Jesus was actually born on this date. Even though I am an atheist I do actually believe Jesus as a historical person existed, however I have no reason to believe that he was the son of God or even thought that he was. I have read too many books on the Jerusalem Church and the dynastic form it took which meant that when Jesus died his brother James took over and so on and how the word Messiah as the Christians use it has no relation to the actual Jewish meaning. In fact the Christian religion is founded upon so much mistranslation, hearsay and re-appropriation that I doubt anything fundamentalist Christians believe in is actually true or that it originates with their chosen belief system. More importantly if it wasn't for a vision by Saul / Paul someone who never even met Jesus then this religion wouldn't have existed in the form it does today at all.
I welcome as many fundamentalist religious nutters to come and slate me as possible as I enjoy reading your rants on other sites. It often amuses me how you quote passage after passage from the bible as if that actually proved anything. If the bible was written by man, which is was, then using the bible as proof of a God is just ridiculous. If anyone today wrote such a book and claimed it was the word of God what would happen to them? They would be locked away for their own safety. Therefore if you don't believe those that claim they are in communication with God today then why is it you believe those that claimed so thousands of years ago? What is the logical difference between the regular nutter in the street on a Saturday afternoon with his loudspeaker and John the Baptist?
I give you the following video from the philosopher and writer Bertrand Russell about his thoughts on God and the Christian religion.
This is a special time of year for Atheists where we piggyback off the Christian / Mithrian / Druid celebration of the winter solstice and enjoy eating far too much, getting drunk, giving gifts to family and friends and complain about the dross that TV schedulers have cooked up for us to watch.
For those of you that actually believe that Jesus Christ, the son of God, was actually born on December 25th I would urge you to do some basic historical research about why Christmas is the date it is and I would urge you to try and read some books that are NOT written by Christian apologetics who would most likely suggest that any previous religions that had the same special dates, customs and rituals were all frauds created by God to test your faith.
In ye olden days, the pagans of northern Europe celebrated the winter solstice, known as Yule, which symbolised the birth of the pagan Sun God, Mithras. It was customary to light a candle to encourage Mithras, and the sun, to reappear next year. Huge Yule logs were burned in honour of the sun. Mistletoe was considered a sacred plant, and the custom of kissing under the mistletoe began as a fertility ritual. Holly berries were thought to be a food of the gods.
In ancient Babylon, the feast of the Son of Isis (Goddess of Nature) was celebrated on December 25. Raucous partying, gluttonous eating and drinking, and gift-giving were traditions of this feast. The Romans obviously liked a good party and before Rome converted to Christianity, the Winter Solstice and Saturnalia, which was an orgiastic festival in honor of Saturn, were marked by much merrymaking.
So is just pure co-incidence that Jesus was born on December 25th and that the Christian religion seems to have taken all its symbolism and other festive customs from earlier religions? No its not, it was because in 350AD Pope Julius I declared that Christ's birth would be celebrated on December 25 and the change of birthday from a more likely September time was a direct encouragement to pagans to swap faith. The "day of rest", which is currently Sunday was also changed from the Jewish Sabbath to make it easier for believers in Mithras to swap over to Christianity.
So why do I as an Atheist celebrate Christmas? Well I do it because its an English tradition, a custom that allows me time off work and a chance to enjoy some fun with friends and the family. I get to drink too much and eat special meals without feeling guilty as well as giving and receive gifts and being thankful for making it through another year alive.
I don't have any problem with the fact that I don't believe Jesus was actually born on this date. Even though I am an atheist I do actually believe Jesus as a historical person existed, however I have no reason to believe that he was the son of God or even thought that he was. I have read too many books on the Jerusalem Church and the dynastic form it took which meant that when Jesus died his brother James took over and so on and how the word Messiah as the Christians use it has no relation to the actual Jewish meaning. In fact the Christian religion is founded upon so much mistranslation, hearsay and re-appropriation that I doubt anything fundamentalist Christians believe in is actually true or that it originates with their chosen belief system. More importantly if it wasn't for a vision by Saul / Paul someone who never even met Jesus then this religion wouldn't have existed in the form it does today at all.
I welcome as many fundamentalist religious nutters to come and slate me as possible as I enjoy reading your rants on other sites. It often amuses me how you quote passage after passage from the bible as if that actually proved anything. If the bible was written by man, which is was, then using the bible as proof of a God is just ridiculous. If anyone today wrote such a book and claimed it was the word of God what would happen to them? They would be locked away for their own safety. Therefore if you don't believe those that claim they are in communication with God today then why is it you believe those that claimed so thousands of years ago? What is the logical difference between the regular nutter in the street on a Saturday afternoon with his loudspeaker and John the Baptist?
I give you the following video from the philosopher and writer Bertrand Russell about his thoughts on God and the Christian religion.
No comments:
Post a Comment