If you're a Christian ... Have you ever noticed...?

Question

I asked why is it that the origins of holidays don't bother people enough to make them consider why they are celebrating them.... ?

Origins DO matter. If they didn't, no one would record history. So wouldn't you be concerned if a so-called "Christian" holiday was not Christian at all???

Think of it this way: You see a piece of candy lying in the gutter. It's covered in dirt & filth. You know you love candy and it tastes yummy ... but where did this come from?? It came from a place that was unclean.

It is the same with many holidays. They are not Christian-based, and the Bible makes no mention of celebrating any of these holidays. As a matter of fact, the Bible strongly condemns many practices associated with holidays.

They were all thought up and passed down through time by different rulers, religious leaders, cultures, etc. Why try to pass them off as "Christian"??? ... when they clearly are NOT.

Answer 1

Amen Floridaman! Take a chill pill.

Answer 2

What about Easter? The rising of Christ was highly speculated to have taken place in another time. The actual celebration of Easter and the seeking of eggs relates back to a long held pagan tradition as a celebration of fertility. Pretty much every Christian holiday was aligned with pagan holidays (Christmas and the celebration of Samhain) in order to make Christianity easier for pagans to stomach in order to prevent a civil war during the reign of Constantine, the Roman emperor. According to most of the lost scriptures of the Bible, Jesus was probably born in the summer time.

Although questioning the origin of holidays that can typically viewed as non-Christian, the Christian holidays themselves have been realigned to coincide with traditions that could be considered "unpure." Even the holy day, Sunday was a creation of man by convenience. Technically the Sabbath is Saturday (the literal translation in the Hebrew religion from which Christianity originated) but because the pagan week began on SUNday, this was changed to the holy day of the Bible.

Although this type of realignment of Christian holidays does not make them any less special, if you are going to selectively choose certain holidays to be evil and unpure, you really need to explore the roots of ALL holidays and I think you would be surprised at what you find.

Answer 3

It seems to me that most of the Christian holidays started to be celebrated, outside of mass or by some other liturgical means, when The Church was trying to spread Christianity. Missionaries would go into new areas, and often appropriate ceremonial and celebratory traditions of the native cultures, and apply them to a religious moment. By using familiar celebratory traditions, on days that closely corresponded to the original/native holidays or festivals, the transition from native religion to Christianity was made 'easier.'

I suppose many Christians are not bothered by the origins b/c they have been so assimilated into the Christian mythology, that the origins no longer have an impact in their mind. The celebrations have also been condoned/authorized by the Church.

There are denominations of Christianity that do reject non liturgical celebration of religious holidays. The Puritans, left England for Holland and eventually the New World because they were critical of the Church of England and the secular celebration of Christmas and Easter, and the like.

Answer 4

I think holidays are more of family traditions then of religious practices. I got to college for early childcare and my professor was talking about celebrating holidays and at a place she use to work she couldn't celebrate any holidays at all. So instead she ask all the families their favorite holiday or family tradition and through that she learned that no one really celebrates in the same way as someone one else. Yes the meanings are bothersome sometimes but then my family has adapted the holidays to fit our beliefs. We celebrate Christ has risen day instead of Easter, Jesus' Birthday instead of Christmas, and we have a family day instead of Halloween. If something bothers you don't just gripe about it change it so it works. After all the holidays are about family and traditions too.

Answer 5

Actually, I partially agree with you. Most of the holidays we know of as being "Christian" are in fact NOT Christian in origin. Most of the "Christian" holidays we celebrate or recognize in the USA (i.e. Christmas, Lent, Easter, etc.) originated from both the Roman Catholic church and a variety of pagan traditions.

But the way I look at it is this: Why not use these holidays as opportunities to turn something that is not Christian and turn it into something that is Christian? Take something that is BAD and turning it into GOOD. Use these opportunities to tell about the Good News of Jesus Christ and how only HE can turn your life into something worth living for.

Answer 6

Lets look at it this way,X.Mas,whatever now especially Halloween,do you think the merchants of the earth are going to let anyone quit these pagan holidays,come on not on your life.The merchants of the earth have the strongest influence on people world wide regardless of religion,race or creed .Who plays music 24-7 three months before X.Mas ?Do U do that in your home?Guess whose tool they are!!And they do it in the name of religion and guess what else,yes FUN. HAPPY, JOY. Isn't it sort like Angels of light???

Answer 7

Holidays are not candy. We don't eat them.

Not to mention - history schmistory. In the case of holidays, it matters more what they are NOW than what they used to be.

To use another analogy, brain surgery used to consist of drilling holes in the brain. It's morphed into something else now. Should we avoid it because it used to be unsanitary and ineffective?

But hey, if you want to suck all the fun out of life, go ahead! Just don't expect happy kids, lol.

Answer 8

Britty, take a chill pill sister. You sound too uptight and anal. Just have fun with it. The holidays are meant for people to get together with family and friends. Dont take life too seriously.

Answer 9

I agree! We quit "celebrating" halloween several years ago. The kids were not thrilled, but we read on it and watched some documentaries on the origins and I was sickened that we'd ever gone "trick-or-treating".

Even more sickening...our pastor justified celebrating halloween from the pulpit!!! I wanted to cry.

Answer 10

Holidays are just another day...except at time and a half.