The right wing punditry is at it again this year, stirring up a sense of victimization by claiming sensitivity to other faiths constitutes a "war on Christmas" and Christians. They've even stooped to the point of reporting an untrue story.
This hysteria is a house of cards, not just because it is bogus in a country with so much Christian hegemony, but also because the assumption that other religions threaten Christianity is false. In fact, the Christian religion grew as a vigorous hybrid. It wouldn't exist without the early eclectic collection of ideas and practices that were the diverse roots from which it grew, as complex as it is today -- and just as fractionally contested.
Christmas is an interfaith celebration. Last week, I noted that in the story the magi, we have Zoroastrian priests looking for a messiah (today, Zoroastrians are often called Parsees). The Romans hated the Persian Empire and its Zoroastrian religion so much that, according to Matthew's story, Herod, their surrogate ruler in Palestine, was willing to kill infant Jewish boys to eliminate that messiah. I love the way Rich Doty's "logos" last week captured this anti-Roman Empire story.
The writer of Luke preferred the story about shepherds. God is referred to as a shepherd in Psalm 23, and, of course, Abraham, Moses and David were shepherds. So the Christmas story of shepherds has Jewish roots, but it also has ancient Egyptian ones. The deity Osiris was referred to as a good shepherd, and his crook later became the staff carried by Christian bishops who embodied the role of Christ the good shepherd. In Luke's story, the shepherds, camped in their fields at night, were frightened out of their wits, "sore afraid," by the visitation of an angel.
Shepherds were often the adolescent, younger males in a family who could not inherit land, and they were especially vulnerable in open fields at night when wild animals prowled the shadows. Luke's story of the shepherds draws from other biblical stories of the visitation of heavenly beings to ordinary or subordinated people: immigrants, foreigners, enslaved or poor people, women, nomads, and younger siblings. It's as if the head-gear of wealth, a sense of privilege and imperial power interfere with the receptors for divine messages of justice, peace, courage and love of neighbor.
The earliest images of Jesus Christ, from catacombs in the third century, depict him like Orpheus, a shepherd with a flute and carrying a lamb over his shoulder. And later, he is often shown with twelve sheep, who are his apostles. So not only is the story of the shepherds rooted in multi-faith traditions, but it is also a dissident story about how divine blessings visit unlikely people in lowly places. Below are artist Rich Doty's logos about the shepherding dimensions of Christmas. Enjoy!
Origin of Christmas | The Real Story of Christmas | How it Began
Christmas - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Christmas — History.com Articles, Video, Pictures and Facts
"It has sometimes been said that the Nativity is only a 'ChristianÂized pagan festival.' However, the Christians of those early centuries were keenly aware of the difference between the two festivals-Â-one pagan and one Christian-Â-on the same day. The coincidencÂe in the date, even if intended, does not make the two celebratioÂns identical.Â"
Weiser goes on to write, "The error of confusing Yule (solstice) and Christmas ('the mass of Christ'), as if both celebratioÂns had a common origin, occurs even in our time. ExpressionÂs like 'Christmas originated four thousand years ago,' 'the pagan origins of Christmas,Â' and similar misleading phrases have only added to the confusion. While it is certainly true that some popular features and symbols of our Christmas celebratioÂn in the home had their origin in pre-ChristÂian Yuletide customs, Christmas itself--thÂe feasts, its meaning and message--iÂs in no way connected with any pagan mythology or Yule rite."
As we can see, the Christmas-was-borrowed theme goes back at least half a century. For those of you who thought any of this was new....
Even 'nominally,' it seems pretty obvious that the population is not 95% Christian. I haven't looked it up -- but I don't think so! And there may be lots of pagan aspects to Christmas, but Santa isn't one of them. St. Nicholas is a real saint from the fourth century (I believe), and he represents the spirit of Christmas in a way that pious religionists or struggling business interests can only offer feeble substitutes for or reflections of, in my opinion.
I think that jealousy and resentment by 'professional' naysayers may be behind a lot of this whole debate. Given that the Puritans were historically opposed to popular Christmas celebrations, I think it's fair to say that their tradition lives on in this particular objection to the fun and beauty of this holiday time by so many Christians and many others. I say "Ho, ho, ho" to "No, no, no" ...
And I'm intrigued by the conjectured sources of the symbolism and imagery at the same time that I've seen the historical scholarship of it questioned rather sharply.
But my Hindu friends, while they enjoy all the "Christmas" noises and lights, don't register the same warm feelings about it. My Jewish friends have very mixed reactions and generally are planning their "Chinese and a movie" outing for Christmas day. Some of my Buddhist friends are planning a meditative retreat. And so forth.
So I suspect that what seems "universal" and "interfaith" (or, as I prefer, "inter-religious") just seems that way because the country is better than 95% Christian, at least nominally.
My take is that, when the Jesus movement failed to take hold in the synagogues, and definitely after the destruction of the Temple, all the energy started to flow toward the Greek and Roman "god-fearers" whom Paul had courted and organized. Their background was other religions and "spiritualities" -- Greek, Roman, Native European, Zoroastrian. Those backgrounds became the foreground narratives and symbols by which to present and interpret this Jesus. His Jewishness and actual life became just a peg on which to hang these new perspectives.
http://thinkunity.com
We celebrate the birth of Jesus, the messiah and saviour. We enjoy the story of how Mary and Joseph traveled to birth Jesus in hard circumstances yet in glory and revelation. The poor in spirit were hailed from fields by the angels to come to the event. There were no riches of this world nor pagentry but the light of this world was presented in poor setting to signify that Jesus and God do not look at the personal wealth or power of a person. No one can take this from us as it lives in our hearts and is protected by the Spirit to help us rejoice in the gift to mankind of our redeemer.
Those who wish to take back christmas of another type will find no fight here. We will have no part in your celebration or any of the pagan rituals. Our Christmas is not your christmas and your Christmas is not our Christmas.
If you want our Christmas you will have to join with the Holy Spirit of God. All are welcome and no one is turned away. Jesus is God and the salvation of the saved.
Jesus is an amalgamation of many eastern gods. Horus ( was born from a virgin. angles heralded his coming. he was tied to a tree and left for dead (crucified anyone...) and came back to life to retake heaven.
this has nothing to do with santa or trees or shopping. The author is pointing out the christian tradition of Christmas, among others traditions as well, were built on the backs of the Pagans they so wanted to convert.
Lou777
in answer to your question, i am not. I have read the bible both testaments and am well versed in them, as i thought was made clear by the fact that i used biblical references in making my earlier point. However if another demonstration of my knowledge is in order so be it...
The story of the garden in book 1 and of Noah is a retelling of the Sumarian named Gilgamesh who was told by the gods that he and Inkado (buddy) must retrieve the apple of imortality from the tree of life that a giant Serpent protects, and then bind the boats of the port city he hails from and put all the animals of the earth with him for a the gods are going to destroy man with a giant flood.
see the snake did not mean the devil that modern christians believe it idoes today. The snake at that time for both pagans and the Jewish people that lived near Summer repersented an eastern god (Mithra or Artimeties) having power of new life (snakes sheding thier skin)
Ebeneezer Scrooge was emblematic of one iteration of the Christian 'War against Christmas' in his time, actually.
They don't really care about the celebrations or where they come from, so much as they have the power of Jeezus to spoil the fun and direct any resentment therefrom.