From Steamboat Willey:
John Stewart described himself as a Jew in the sense that he loves a good bagel buffet. I am a still a Christian only in the sense that I love the the time off from work, spending it with my family, and the kids' excitement over having Santa Claus visit. I even enjoy the tree, the decorations and some of the music.
It's ironic that when I was a fundy we kept Christmas to a minimum. Others in my church (Seventh-day Adventist) didn't observe at all. We also didn't wear wedding rings. Now we wear diamonds and Christmas is a bash. It's part of throwing off the yoke. We won't take any of it with us where we're going, so we celebrate life.
Go then. Eat your food with gladness and drink your wine with a cheerful heart. Enjoy life with the person you love. It's cool; there is nothing to feel guilty for.
Merry Christmas all you ex-Christians.
How's that for encouragement?
These letters were published between January 2001 and February 2010. To view recent posts, go to The Main Blog at ExChristian.Net
11 comments:
During my interment in the Jesus Camp known collectively as Christianity, Christmas was a somber event. Sure, we had the tree, we gave and got presents, and we all sat around the fireplace drinking eggnog or hot chocolate sharing family stories. But always were we to keep in the mind the Reason For The Season: da' barth uv de' Lawd.
And what a downer all of that was. It was supposed to be joyous, though we all "knew" he was going to die a horrible death years later. I xould never grasp why we gave each other presents, seeing as how the "wise" men gave presents to Jesus, while Jesus did not return the favor. It seemed so contradictory to me. And where did Santa fit in to all of this? Why should we celebrate the birth of a man that would die a horrible death, why was that good, and why did we simultaneously celebrate the idea that we were rewarded at the end of the year for good deeds throughout the year, I wondered?
I always liked the Santa version of Christmas better, even as a Christian. It made so much more sense. And now, years later, I see why.
Christmas was never about Jesus. Thank you, corporate Christianity, for taking a good idea and screwing it up as bad as you possibly could with your man-child half-god.
"And where did Santa fit in to all of this?"
I think a more interesting question is where did the Tree appear in the Christmas. The Bible doesn't say to worship a tree. I believe the tree came from the pagan druids who worshipped the tree gods.
So the next time you see Christians worshipping the Christmas tree, tell them that is idolatry by placing the tree gods over Jesus, and remind them the penalty for breaking the 10 commandments is death.
I use to feel secretly embaressed at xmas time. To see 'Murry the accountant' trying to pull off looking like one of the wise men from the east, was painful to watch. I believed it was my obligation to endorse all the cheesy theater attempts. Now it is sad/fun to observe the ridiculous re-enactments of an event that never even happened..
Merry Christmas, Murry, I hope this year you can get the beard to stick a little better....
"I think a more interesting question is where did the Tree appear in the Christmas. The Bible doesn't say to worship a tree. I believe the tree came from the pagan druids who worshipped the tree gods.
So the next time you see Christians worshipping the Christmas tree, tell them that is idolatry by placing the tree gods over Jesus, and remind them the penalty for breaking the 10 commandments is death."
The Druids didn't worship tree gods. They went from door to door on Halloween, collecting virgin babies for sacrifice. If you didn't give them your virgin baby, they killed you because you were a Christian, as they always have, for thousands of years before the ultra-Pagan semi-Jewish cult called Christianity emerged ;)
http://www.chick.com/seasonal/halloween/halloweenhistory.asp
And as for the Ten Commandments . . . none of the rules of Christianity apply to Christians. That sounds insane, but the more I interact with Christians, the more I find it to be true. So many Christians are just people looking for purpose in their lives. And since they either don't know how to look for themselves or they're too lazy to look for themselves, they go with what they were taught or what is popular.
Hypocrisy.
Treancelation, I think some of your information is dubias, considering where you got it from. The christmas tree is german in orgin I believe.
Sailerfraud,....the X-mas tree came from the pagans, according to...Jeremiah ch.10 vs.3 and 4.
vs.3;For the customs of the people are worthless.They cut a tree out of the forest.Vs.4; They adorn it with silver and gold,they fasten it with hammer and nails.
According to the babble,christmas trees should be forbidden,(as pagan idols),to fundy christians.
***Not ex-christians though! lol
Yours truly,..freedy the pagan
Um, a Christian in the sense of trees and Santa Claus? Both of those, contrary to popular opinion, are much, MUCH older than christianity.
Santa Claus only came from the now-recognized as fictional Saint Nicholas in that they both came from the same sources. And yes, the bible says that trees taken indoors and decorated with silver and gold, as the peasants did, is wicked.
So actually, you are a PAGAN/PEASANT/regular Joe in the sense that you like trees and Santa.
If anyone doubts the true origins of the festival, they should go to Austria and see the bonfires, and men dressed in monster costumes with antlers--or simply look up "Krampus."
OK, on the tree thing......you're all right. The Yule Log was a hardwood tree, usually Ash, I think. It was decorated with greenery (fir branches, holly, mistletoe came with if it was an oak) fruits and other stuff, then one end was set in the fireplace or fire pit and it was burned, pushed into the fire as the burning end was consumed, all night long. Warding off the dark, calling back the Sun.
The evergreen in the house standing in a pot of water thing was in Germany, a Christmas thing......but Germany was Celtic/Aryan for a long time before it was Judaic/Christian....Martin Luther is often credited with lighting a tree for the first time, with candles..fire on the tree, instead of the tree in the fire...Germany again gets the 'props' for the first and best blown glass ornaments. The Christians have, and come from, a long tradition of either adopting, perverting and then adopting, or demonizing other cultures' traditions. The tradition of the tree in mid winter goes back into pre-history.....and therefore, we will never really 'know for sure', till we build a time machine. But it makes sense, from a Pagan world view, either way..the burning of the Balefire, calling back the Sun (and by the way, keeping warm), and the representation of Life's Renewal in the evergreen tree.
Every culture that was capable of seeing the sky and noticing a difference in the length of the days had some ritual to mark the Solstice. Being the time of year when we (Europeans) ate from our stores and huddled close to our fires, it was a time when the bonds of community were most important. Sharing and giving (and accepting graciously) were essential to survival of the community. So that tradition makes sense, too. (Kriss kringle was a Pagan).
As several have observed in this thread and others, the OT references to trees taken from the forest and decorated were nothing like Christmas trees, and it's anachronistic to think so. Jeremiah 10 specifically mentions chiseling the log (into an idol for worship). I don't know of anybody actually worshipping a Christmas tree. The song, Oh Christmas Tree doesn't come close to being worship.
The Christmas tree did originate in Germany. Regardless of where the tree came from, it is now a tradition associated with Christian culture. It's all make-believe; the Santa Claus stuff and the Jesus stuff. Observing the holiday doesn't make one a pagan any more than it makes one a "born again" Christian. It's just a cultural thing. Now lets talk about where the bagel came from. Does anybody know?
a (serious) question from a still-Christian...
why have a site for EX-Christians? rather than just plain atheists? Have you not transcended from that way of life? Or is it to garner support from each other due to a fear of "backsliding" (see how I put that one in:)) to a state such as mine? Or rather are some of you now practitioners of other beliefs based on other gods e.g. Islam?
I can understand..we Christians gather as Christians because we believe in that...are you gathering because you rather than just not believe are actually trying to DISbelieve? Like an AA group?
"Or is it to garner support from each other due to a fear of "backsliding" (see how I put that one in:))"
Oh anony, how terribly lame to apply a fundy term to us and then point it out as if we might have missed your clever quip. I notice that many christians attempt to be funny, clever, or ironic when posting here (a sort of "aren't I so darned clever" narcissistic introduction.) It's nothing more than stunted humor from stunted minds. Christianity and comedy are like oil and water, unless the comedy is about christianity (George Carlin and Eddie Izzard are masters at this).
And, anony, your implication that we need this site in order to prevent some kind of reversion to christianity is really your own fantasy--something to make you feel better about your own need to keep attending church, reading the bible, etc., so that you remain enntrenched in your beliefs. You think that how you feel, act, believe, and speak about christianity is the same for us ex-christians when we stop believing--when it is not. Once we stop believing, that's it. We don't need to obssessively keep repeating any sort of mantra in order to maintain our disbelief. What we do is make up for all the lost years spent in christianity by reading and educating ourselves with the truth behind this cult. Education, not indoctrination--there is a huge difference.
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