Has the media joined the "War on Christmas"?

Question

First Dec. 25 Xmas tied to pagan shrine By ARIEL DAVID, Associated Press Writer
Sat Dec 22, 7:14 PM ET



The church where the tradition of celebrating Christmas on Dec. 25 may have begun was built near a pagan shrine as part of an effort to spread Christianity, a leading Italian scholar says.

Italian archaeologists last month unveiled an underground grotto that they believe ancient Romans revered as the place where a wolf nursed Rome's legendary founder Romulus and his twin brother Remus.

A few feet from the grotto, or "Lupercale," the Emperor Constantine built the Basilica of St. Anastasia, where some believe Christmas was first celebrated on Dec. 25.

Constantine ended the frequent waves of anti-Christian persecutions in the Roman empire by making Christianity a lawful religion in 313. He played a key role in unifying the beliefs and practices of the early followers of Jesus.

In 325, he convened the Council of Nicaea, which fixed the dates of important Christian festivals. It opted to mark Christmas, then celebrated at varying dates, on Dec. 25 to coincide with the Roman festival celebrating the birth of the sun god, Andrea Carandini, a professor of archaeology at Rome's La Sapienza University, told reporters Friday.

The Basilica of St. Anastasia was built as soon as a year after the Nicaean Council. It probably was where Christmas was first marked on Dec. 25, part of broader efforts to link pagan practices to Christian celebrations in the early days of the new religion, Carandini said.

"The church was built to Christianize these pagan places of worship," he said. "It was normal to put a church near these places to try to 'save' them."

Rome's archaeological superintendent Angelo Bottini, who did not take part in Carandini's research, said that hypothesis was "evocative and coherent" and "helps us understand the mechanisms of the passage from paganism to Christianity."

Bottini and Carandini both said future digs could bolster the link between the shrine and the church if structures belonging to the "Lupercale" are found directly below the basilica.

The Basilica St. Anastasia was the first church to rise not on the ancient city's outskirts, but on the Palatine Hill, the palatial center of power and religion in imperial Rome, Carandini said. Though little known today, at the time of Constantine it was one of the most important basilicas for Christians in Rome, he said.

The "Lupercale" shrine — named after the "lupa," Latin for she-wolf — is 52 feet below ground. So far, archaeologists have only been able to see it by inserting probes and cameras that have revealed a vaulted ceiling decorated with colored marble and a white imperial eagle.

Though some experts have expressed doubts that the grotto is in fact the mythological nursery of Romulus and Remus, most archaeologists believe the shrine fits the descriptions found in ancient texts, and plans are being drawn up to excavate the structure further.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071223/ap_on_re_eu/italy_roman_christmas&printer=1;_ylt=AoVxkPeoupvOUameXiGKY_BbbBAF

or was Jesus the Roman Sun God?

Adolf Schmichael, I'm going to assume by your answer, you didn't read the article.

I don't know ervin_parker, I just figured I'd say it before the right-wingers started chanting it.

culture warrior LOL
If I wanted to read about how a fascist is always the victim, I'd read something from Adolf Hitler.

Vajradharma, you should really read the whole comment, like where I said "or was Jesus the ROman Sun God?"
I understand how all religions are based on the same myths that are created by the charactaristics of human-beings that all people value, regardless of their culture or faith.

my point my dear raichasays, is the fact that right-wing propaganda artists' "war on Christmas" over a holiday that started as a pagan holiday is at the very least, a waste of time. There is no war on Christmas, and people are being once again polarized to argue over a religious based belief that has no roots int heir religion!

Answer 1

Dude learn some history, you'll find that almost all of Christianity is plagarized from older religions, like pagans, and the ancient religions (Jesus ripped off Horus, Dionysus, Mithra, and MANY other messiahs)- and they were called the Sun and the Light for a reason. December 25th... The Winter Equinox... The Sun rises & comes up though being followed by Orions belt (3 Kings), and Sirius, the Star of the East.

The cross = a pagan symbol representing the 4 seasons.

Don't forget it's Dionysus' and Mithra's, birthdays on the 25th too..! Maybe they'll resurrect on Easter (Summer Solstice) after also being crucified (Sun in the Crux constellation) & entombed for 3 days.

Oh and Constantine streamlined the Bible, removing dozens of books that he didn't like.

You're really gonna get the chills now...

Amen-Ra

(a cursed Egyption deity, created by a Sun god, Ra-Atum).

A lil story about a recovered mummy of a princess-priestess of Amen-Ra:

"The priestess who served Amen-Ra was buried in a deep vault at Luxor. Her mummy case was later exhumed, perhaps by grave robbers, and sold in 1880 to a wealthy Englishman, who drew lots with four friends for the honor of purchasing it. After he sent the coffin to his hotel, he was seen walking out toward the desert and never returned. The second man was accidentally shot and his arm had to be amputated. The third man arrived home to find that his entire life savings had disappeared in a bank crisis. The fourth man became severely ill. He lost his job and ended up selling matches on the street in order to survive.

When the coffin reached England, a London businessman purchased it. Soon three members of his family were injured in a road accident and his house was badly damaged by a fire.

A well-known occultist, Madame Helena Blavatsky, visited the home. As soon as she came in, she began shivering uncontrollably and said there was an evil someplace in the house of incredible intensity.

Finding the coffin, the owner asked her to exorcise the spirit, but she could not. She said “Evil remains evil forever,” and urged him to get rid of the thing.

He donated it to the British Museum in 1889. As the coffin was being unloaded at the museum, the truck suddenly went into reverse and trapped a bystander. As it was being taken up the stairs, one workman fell and broke his leg. The other two workmen died two days later for no particular reason. Both had been in excellent health.

When the mummy was placed in the Egyptian Room, the night watchmen frequently complained that they heard sobbing and hammering coming from the coffin. Other exhibits were thrown around during the night. One watchman died while on duty. A visitor flicked a dust cloth at the coffin, and his child died soon afterwards.

The mummy caused so much trouble at the museum that they had it removed to the basement. Shortly, one of the movers became seriously ill and the supervisor who had ordered the move was found dead on his desk.

The newspapers heard about the mummy and came to take pictures of it. When the pictures were developed, one was so horrible that the photographer shot himself.

The museum sold the mummy to a private collector. It brought many deaths and continual misfortune to his family. Finally he put it up in the attic to get rid of it.

However, so many people had died and met such calamity from exposure to the thing that no British museum anywhere would take the thing. Finally an American archaeologist bought it and arranged to send it to New York. In 1912 he escorted his new possession aboard an ocean liner bound for New York. On April 14, in the midst of unparalleled scenes of horror, the priestess of Amen-Ra took 1,500 passengers to their deaths in the icy waters of the Atlantic along with the Titanic."

Sweet dreams, sugar..

Answer 2

In my opinion the media is the "War on Christmas". Anyone with any sense knows that shepherds do not graze sheep in late December. It's winter. The Christmas date is an adaption by the early church to draw in pagans. The early church did this with several pagan beliefs, i.e., the veneration of Mary the mother of Jesus (drew in earth mother worshipers), Easter (eggs, rabbits etc.). December 25th is the about the date that early man would have noticed every year that the days were getting longer again instead of shorter. Time to celebrate, the sun was not disappearing forever.

Answer 3

There is no (and never was a) 'war on christmas'. It's a stupid sound-bite from Bill O'Reilly a few years back when he was trying to become a celebrity. If you really thought about it, you'd start wondering exactly WHO is attacking christmas???
I see trees up with decorations all over my county. Several towns in this county and the next one over have city-wide decorations. There's literally thousands of people cramming the two malls and the strips here and in our closest city (and a lot of them are wearing Goth clothes, and Rasta hairdos.
Every store has a christmas sale and UPS and FEDEX are running triple delivery trucks - so WHO is running the war on christmas?? Must be the GOP, since they seem to be doing just about as good a job on the Iraq war as the Xmas war!

Answer 4

There is no War on Christmas, so no, the media hasn't joined something that doesn't exist.

As for the celebration of Christmas on December 25, it is established fact that nothing in the Bible gives a date for the birth of Christ, that December 25th was a holiday before Christianity existed, and that many Pagan holidays and practices have been adapted in Christian tradition. For instance, Easter was celebrated as a holiday of the return of spring before Christianity, and this old celebration is still evident in the association of Easter with fertility symbols, such as eggs and rabbits, which have no connection to Christianity. If you consider any mention of these facts to be anti-Christian, you will just have to find a way to come to peace with the continuing liberal bias of reality.

Answer 5

Okay, I read your question. Then I read the whole article you posted to see how it illustrated your point. It doesn't at all, since it doesn't seem to be about anyone attacking Christmas at all.

So, then another user asks you what is the connection and you say there isn't one, but that you were just posting before someone else said it?

Please, I beg of you, why did you ask us to read this article? It was interesting, but what point are you trying to make? Do have an actual question?

Answer 6

I don't believe the media has joined the "war on Christmas," which I believe is composed of the commercialization of Christmas (rather than focusing on the spirit of giving) and the removal of the word Christmas and replacing it with "Holiday."
"Family Trees!"
"Happy Holidays!"
"Season's greetings!"
"have a happy holiday morning!"
Give "holiday" presents!

Answer 7

No difference. The only people that ever banned Christmas were Christians.
http://www.apuritansmind.com/Christmas/DankoChristmasBanned.htm
Yup, the Pilgrim Fathers of America!

Answer 8

Ummm, you need to find better things to do with your time. And stop watching Bill O and Fox because they are the only ones who go on about "the war" on Christmas.

Answer 9

I enlisted in 2004 but Santa is in the middle of a pretty serious counter-offensive. Not one TV camera in sight.

Answer 10

I believe so. Considering that most journalists identify themsleves as either liberal or secular progressive. There was another attack in Mass. The local government is trying to ban Christmas lights (that's right, I said Christmas lights, not Holiday lights), because they claim it's adding to global warming......

If you haven't already, go buy and read "Culture Warrior" by Bill O'Reilly. He lays it out plain and simple the scular progressive agenda the left touts.

I read it earlier today.