I am reading David Mills's "Atheist Universe". In page 78, he refered as it
Atheists celebrate the Winter Solstic, which has been recognized since ancient times as the shortest day of the year ( December 25th by the Julian calendar). The ancients celebrated this day because they realized that they had "rounded the corner" and, soon, the days would grow longer and longer, and their crops would once again provide sustenance.
Duraing the early days of Christianity, believers tried to persuade the ruling authorities to establish a legal holiday to commemorate Jesus' birth. But the governing authorities refused. So the Christians deided that "if you can't beat them, join them" and there after clebrated Jesus' birth on an already-estiblashed holiday: the Winter Solstice (December 25th). Pope Gregory XIII later revised the ancient Julian calendar; and so the clandar we use today - the Gregorian clandar - moves the Winter Solstice back a few days to December 21st.
2007-05-30
18:01:17
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