I thought atheists believed Christmas was a pagan Holiday.
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Why do some of you say it's not a Christian Holiday and some of you say it is?
2007-12-02 03:29:48 · 18 answers · asked by Spoken4 5 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Mrs. Mad Maddy...
This is the first time I asked this question.
2007-12-02 03:43:46 · update #1
It's a pagan holiday hijacked by christians.
I particularly like the part where christians leave their gifts under the tree which is a pagan fertility symbol representing an erect male sex organ - I wonder where it mentions that in the bible...?
2007-12-02 03:33:06 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 6⤊ 1⤋
"Why do some of you say it's not a Christian Holiday and some of you say it is?"
Because all atheists are different.
It would be more surprising to find that people united under a doctrine (Christians for instance) have different beleifs about the origins of Christmas.
Some have trees. Some don't. Some admit that it is just Yuletide usurped. Some don't. Some deny that Christ was born on 25th Dec.
So why do some Christians say it is a pagan festival that they adopted, and some don't?
2007-12-02 03:40:07 · answer #2 · answered by Bajingo 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Actually December 25 has been used for ages as a celebration of the Winter solstice by many cultures and if you have seen the first 30 minutes or so of Zeitgeist - The Movie then you'll know that Christianity is just a retelling of the same thing that the rest of them are intended to convey. It's all about Astrology.
http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com/index.html
2007-12-02 03:44:49 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Celebrating the birth of Christ is a Christian tradition. Celebrating the birth of a god/messiah in December is Pagan. (Christ is thought to have been born in the spring) Putting up a Christmas Tree is a Pagan tradition.
Christmas is not, in and of itself, Pagan...but any Pagan traditions have been assimilated into Christmas. It is most certainly not an exclusively Christian holiday.
2007-12-02 03:36:54 · answer #4 · answered by War Games AM 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
One person or a single organization or even a government cannot "legislate" history although they try. The time of which is now christmas time was once the celebration of Mythra an ancient pagan god. Christians took it over to get more pagans on their side. Whatever it is today it was from antiquity a celebration of some god.
2007-12-02 04:38:02 · answer #5 · answered by bocasbeachbum 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm a atheist and i was brought up a christian and told it was to celebrate Jesus birthday, i don't think it's a pagan Holiday, Christmas whether we like it or not is seen by a lot of people as a commercial Holiday and celebrate it as such
2007-12-02 03:37:07 · answer #6 · answered by Maid In Britain 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Christmas is a pagan holiday brought over to Christanity to convert Pagans of that time.
The bible does not mention Christmas as a feast believers should hold. In fact, it calls those who do such an act heathen.
Jerimiah 10:1-4
2007-12-02 03:34:21 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 0⤋
I guess we'll have to bring that up at our next non-existent meeting, so that our group of people defined entirely by their lack of belief in one concept can have a consensus on every other little thing like this.
I personally think that it was originally a pagan holiday. But does not mean that it is not a Christian holiday today. The fact that was derived from other holidays does not change the fact that it is used by Christians today to celebrate the birth of their savior on an arbitrary date, most likely unrelated to the actual date of birth. It is just a matter of semantics, and matters very little in the long run.
2007-12-02 03:34:30 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋
It's a commercial exploitation of a Christian overlay of a pagan mid-winter festival.
So just about everyone can bring to it and take from it exactly what they want..
Except perhaps the individuals who don't feel they have much to celebrate, who are castigated if they don't at least put on a fake face and *look" like they're having a great time: 'tis the tyranny of the season!
2007-12-02 03:37:27 · answer #9 · answered by Pedestal 42 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
People have been celebrating the Winter Solstice for many thousands of years before Christianity "co-opted" the event.
The Romans celebrated the winter solstice with a fest called Saturnalia in honor of Saturnus, the god of agriculture. They decorated their houses with greens and lights and exchanged gifts. They gave coins for prosperity, pastries for happiness, and lamps to light one's journey through life.
Centuries ago in Great Britain, Druids used evergreens during mysterious winter solstice rituals. The Druids used holly and mistletoe as symbols of eternal life, and place evergreen branches over doors to keep away evil spirits.
Late in the Middle Ages, Germans and Scandinavians placed evergreen trees inside their homes or just outside their doors to show their hope in the forthcoming spring. Our modern Christmas tree evolved from these early traditions.
Please see links in source section below for more info.
2007-12-02 03:42:26 · answer #10 · answered by 222 Sexy 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is an amalgamation of a bunch of different beliefs. Most of the big things like the tree are clearly pagan.
Don't ever look for us all to agree on things. It isn't like we have meetings and make up rules or anything. I know other atheists that won't have a thing to do with Christmas because they want to avoid Christians.
2007-12-02 03:37:46 · answer #11 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋