In a very strange twist of events today, I ended up back on the naughty step. It all started with a Mariah Carey/Beebs remix of "All I Want for Christmas" when then lead into Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus (Stargate Remix) video. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8onMJT7Os6g"]Depeche Mode - "Personal Jesus (The Stargate Mix)" - YouTube[/ame] Next thing you know, I'm reminded of why I celebrate the good spirit and goodwill of holidays, but separate these positive human occurences from religious worship and association. So here are some weird things to think about when associating the very human goodwill and good spirit of the holiday season with the Christian religion: The Salem Witchtrials http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/SALEM.HTM The Roman Catholic Inquisition http://www.cuttingedge.org/News/n1676.cfm Paganism and how it relates to Christian holidays http://unexplainedmysteriesofthewor...ber-25th-but-a-whole-bunch-of-pagan-gods-were One of the great things about religion is that it can really help to bring people together, but it can also cause horrible events to occur. The articles I posted links to may elicit a reaction in some people, but that's usually the author's intent, so if you decide to persue them, take things with a grain of salt in that regard. At any rate, if you celebrate Christmas and associate it with religion, I hope you have a great Christmas season. If, like me, you prefer the positive human side of the season without including religion, happy holidays. :Angel:
I started reading the link on the inquisition. I stopped because it was simply appalling. The link on pagan/christmas traditions though is quite interesting - and far more palatable.
It is why I usually wish people "Yuletide greetings" Recently there has been a spate of getting the panties in a bunch about the phrase "Happy Holidays" because "It is christmas godammit!" etc, etc, etc..... They do not like it when I point out they hijacked *my* seasonal festival and that Chanukkah is also celebrated at the same time of year so HH would seem apropriate Gotta love rednecks.....I suppose
Yeah, I know what you mean on the inquisition stuff. I was first exposed to this stuff in middle school (6th to 8th grades), and it was my least favorite subject, ever. The teacher would talk about it, and it would just get worse and worse. And then there was the textbook with some pretty disturbing stuff in it. I remember being in disbelief at the time, and my parents didn't really want talk about it (even though they were regular church goers).
So the point of the thread is to let everyone know they can celebrate the holiday without inadvertently supporting acts of atrocity committed by the Roman Catholic Church?
We can have the former without the latter so long as we don't presume that religion entitles humans to divine authority.
Not necessarily. It's actually a little weird to celebrate the holiday considering that many people who celebrate it in a religious sense also hold tight to ideas of persecution and holy war. I think the positive nature of the holiday season is great, but it also seems a bit ironic. Fortunately, there are so many pagan themes embodied in Christmas, it's entirely possible to enjoy the holiday season without including Christianity in it at all.
I'm talking about the pious heavily indoctrinated types who believe that people of different races, and/or people who believe differently, are "evil" or "marked by the Devil" and deserve to be treated a certain way. Many of these types of people try to appeal to the authority of their religion and their "Good Book" to justify their behavior. Sorry. I should've clarified that earlier. Just a general comment, not directed toward anyone I've encountered around here. :hat:
You know, I thought the exact same thing! That little splash of water is a far cry from an event horizon. :bang: Lame!
I'm so glad you asked this. I've been trying to not look sad and pathetic and ask it myself (or summarily ban Fu-Bag for getting my hopes up for a cool RDA video)!
GASP! You'd ban poor ol' Fu Bag for being a Nimrod around Christmas? Can't be having that! [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1VgncXeENk"]Richard Dean Anderson - Remember Me - YouTube[/ame]
But he did look so cute in that video, so I'll have to forgive Fu_Bag and take him off the 'to be ninjered' list.
