Christmas, a roman catholic originated holiday, was developed to celebrate the Birth of Jesus Christ, atheist seem to accept Christmas, but try to dismiss the history and meanings of it. It makes no sence to me? Can someone tell me why?
2007-12-19 09:32:57 · 56 answers · asked by ultimatewarrior 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Because christmas has nothing to do with a virgin birth. This has been stated many times before. Just because christians have hijacked the holiday to try to make it their own, does not make it so.
2007-12-19 09:36:24 · answer #1 · answered by phree 5 · 5⤊ 1⤋
Christ-Mass was developed, and placed on Dec. 25th, by the Roman Catholic Church because they couldn't get the native peoples to stop believing in their Native religions. In order to get the Native People to convert to the Catholic Faith, the church took all the Pagan Holidays, like Yule/Winter Solstice, and put their own Holidays in their place. This is fact, proven fact.
The Evergreen tree, by its very name, was a symbol of life surviving the cold of Winter. The wreath is a symbol of the circular nature of life. The gifts were given in the name of those from the family who had passed away in the past year. Candles (lights) were put throughout house, and on the tree, to encourage the Sun God to return and give us Spring. I could go on and on, but I think I have covered the basics.
Atheists and Non-Theists will always dismiss the history of Christ-Mass, because it HAS NO HISTORY OF ITS OWN! It was taken from Pagan belief, Period.
As for the myth of Christ.....Look up any large mythology and you will find a messionic figure that dies and resurrects. This is not an original story either.
Don't get me wrong, I am not Anti-Chrstian by any stretch of the imagination. I believe anyone can be a great person, if they love others and themselves, but I think the truth about the origin of this Holiday should be told.
As for "secularizing" Christ-Mass. Secularizing has become a negative word in Christian circles and it is used often and without thought. By stating that your holiday, Christ-Mass, is not an original holiday is NOT secularizing your Holiday, it is merely stating that your Holiday is of Pagan origins.
Many Blessings to you!
Blessed Yule!
Umm..Chlorophyll its like this like the question was like why are atheists secularizing like christmas. Not like what the tradition of like christmas in america is. Like St Patricks day has pagan roots like christmas. Why would you like wanna celebrate anyones like birthday and stuff on like the wrong date and stuff?
2007-12-19 10:19:17 · answer #2 · answered by Wolf's Mate 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is best just to ignore the holiday!
How many times has an unruly relative "ruined" Christmas. If it wasn't a holiday, the rules of all the other days would apply, and perhaps he could ruin Tuesday instead.
No one knows exactly when Jesus was born, and do you really think Jesus would beat up on atheists for not celebrating with him, if he even did?
Someone said Jesus may have been born in April, perhaps April 1st? Haha!
Enjoy the day off! Merry Tuesday!!!!
2007-12-19 09:43:00 · answer #3 · answered by Jim! 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Christmas has little to do with that religion in terms of its origins.
The same thing applies to ethics and morality. All of those ancient Greek guys who thought about philosophy and ethics, had nothing to do with Christianity. Some Christian theologians stole the work of Aristotle (and others) and tried to pass it off as their own. Aristotle was around way before Christianity.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotle
Religions try to take credit for things that they didn't actually do rather frequently.
This of course brings me to "Christmas."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas
Take a look under "History." Note that the first category is, "Pre-Christian origins."
Check out the various winter festivals listed including, "Yule" that had nothing to do with Christianity at all.
Note the part under "Christian Origins" (much further down).
The very first sentences read and I quote:
"It is unknown exactly when or why December 25 became associated with Christ's birth. The New Testament does not give a specific date." (Christmas, Encyclopædia Britannica Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, 2006.)
The fact of the matter is that no one knows for sure when Christ was born. It happened a long time ago and we don't have accurate records for it.
So the question becomes:
"Why did Christians try to make midwinter festivals a part of their religion and associate them with Christ?"
Answer, "Converting pagans."
That said, I have nothing against the "Christian concept of Christmas." As an atheist, I see no problem with city halls having nativity displays. I also have no problem with anyone who does not have a problem with me: including religious people.
My best estimate as to why atheists don't like your version of "religious meaning" as pertains to Christmas, is pretty simple. Other than not being factually correct, there is (in the United States at least), a separation of church and state.
The church should not tell the state what to do and in exchange,
the state will not tell the church what to do (unless someone is getting hurt or something).
Atheists fear that church and state will mix. What surprises me is that some religious people want church and state to mix. When and if they do, there is a danger that the government will tell the church what to do through laws. If you break laws, then the government gets to fine you or perhaps throw you in jail. Honestly, who wants that?
That's my take on it.
2007-12-19 10:01:12 · answer #4 · answered by truean1 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The history and meaning of Christmas isn't even Christian! Talk about dismissing the history and meaning... Jesus is mythology, much of it plagiarized from the Pagan religions before it. Christianity is a pagan religion, Christmas was a celebration of the return of the sun (it occurs during the solstice)... read some history and don't stop at 2000 years ago!
2007-12-19 09:41:54 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Confuses the crap out of me too. Christmas is the celebration and belief that Jesus Christ was born. PERIOD.
Why an atheist would want to celebrate it is beyond me.
But then again if you "believe" your going to be seeing some sh*t from now on that doesn't make sense regarding religion and God and what people say and do. It's gonna get bad out there.........what's going on today is only the tip of the iceburg.
You've heard of the term Holy war..........that's not just limited to the middle eastern countries battling over land and who's it is and all that..........a Holy war can be any place.......it's going on right under your nose in this country. Notice how many people just on this little ole site here will deny Christ. There's many...............and that's just on this site.
2007-12-19 10:04:25 · answer #6 · answered by MLJ 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
How blind you are. Do you understand that even though it was developed to "celebrate" the birth of Christ the true purpose of Christmas was to assimilate other religons into Christianity??? The date chosen for Christmas was no accident. Most theologians do not believe that Christ's birth occured on December 25th. So why was this date chosen? It was chosen so that Christians could over-ride a pagan holiday with one of their own.
The use of the Christmas tree is another example of Christians using Christmas to assimilate other religions. No? Didn't you ever find it strange that we would celebrate the birth of Christ by killing a tree, dragging it indoors, and decorating it? This tradition came about when Christians attempted to assimilate Druid traditions into their own. Druids believed in nature of deity and often worshipped trees as their symbol of nature. To combat this, Christians would hang Christian symbols on trees so that when the druids worshipped them they would also be worshiping their Christian symbols. Other symbology was later added for the "significance" of the tree.
So, if Christians can use a holiday to assimilate, then why can't non-Christians use it similarly? Instead of assimilating other religions, however, they secularize to assimilate cultures into the belief structure.
2007-12-19 09:41:04 · answer #7 · answered by Rance D 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Like others here - I am more curious why Christians celebrate the birth of Christ during pagan winter solstice festivals, and why they give gifts, put up wreaths, sing carols, decorate trees, feast with family and friends -- just like in the pagan solstice festival traditions. It makes sense when I do it - I'm a pagan and I'm celebrating the 12 days of Yule and the solstice (rebirth of the sun).
It doesn't make sense to me why Christians do it, nor why they celebrate their god's birth in December when scholars have said Jesus was born anywhere from April to September (even they can't agree, I guess).
Merry Yule!
2007-12-19 09:51:06 · answer #8 · answered by swordarkeereon 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ever heard the comment: If you don't want the answer, don't ask the question. Well atheists have the same dilemma. However, they want to feel in control and therefore if O'Hair got religion out of the schools they can secularize Christmas. Makes them powerful in the eyes of society. O'Hair felt the same way and God sent one of his angels in the end and butchered her body into many parts and got buried in 55 gallon drums along with her close family member. He showed her who was in charge! Huh? So we Christians can help by ALWAYS doing our duty and refer to Christmas as Christmas and move away from anything that tries to label it as Happy Holiday. Before you know it Atheist will be calling Jesus the Holiday Kid!
2007-12-19 09:43:05 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think with all that is going on in the world & all these religious questions which stir people up, that we should celebrate that there is at least one day in the year where no matter what beliefs different people have, the majority of the world all rejoice on the same day & give & recieve gifts & spend time with family...Shouldn't we embrace it instead of starting yet another politically incorrect situation created by adults...and who will mainly miss out? The kids..... Lets all just have a Happy & Merry Xmas no matter who you are....
2007-12-19 09:41:13 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Most atheists believe there is a scientific reason for every occurence in the universe.They believe that we were all created through the universes evolution which had nothing to do with Christ-yet they cannot explain how the creation/evolution occurred without any sort of help if you will.That the universe itself just decided to spit out humanity.
P.S. Please boycott The Golden Compass if you believe in Christ as this movie is based on a book written by an atheist who wrote it as a response to C.S Lewis' Narnia-which affirms The Bible.Even though the movie steals all the themes from Narnia they are twisted.
2007-12-19 09:39:39 · answer #11 · answered by cjandtigger 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋