The first day of winter is the shortest day of the year with the latest sunrise and earliest sunset. By the 25th it’s evident that now the days are going to be getting longer. The sun worshippers and then other religions found this to be a convenient date for the birth of a god and “borrowed” it for their narratives. December has always been a time with days getting shorter that celebrations were created/used to cheer each other up … a festive time even in pre-Christain days. Later, capitalists also saw it as a business opportunity, so here we are with a hodge-podge of issues with different motivations. So, have a Merry Christmas, whatever that means to you, and try to be kind to others for a little while.
Repeating myself from yesterday, but I’m old so please bear with me.
I’m just a little tired of the Merry Christmas v. Happy Holidays argument. It rather smacks of Gell-Mann’s totalitarian principle which states: “Everything not forbidden is compulsory.” Having a number of good neighbors who happen to be Jewish or other non-Christian faiths or beliefs, I tend to wish them A Happy Hanukkah, or Happy Holidays, and it doesn’t seem to harm my observance of Christmas in any way. In turn, they frequently wish me a Merry Christmas in the same spirit of goodwill and it doesn’t seem to offset their Hanukkah, or alternative celebrations, in any meaningful way. I find the whole argument unsettling as it seems to say that the Christian celebration is in some way superior to other observances of the season. (At one time, Christmas celebrations were so raucous and saturnalian, that they were banned by law in Puritan England and in early Puritan America.) So in that sense only, I really think my old friend Ebeneezer Scrooge had a somewhat valid point when he told his nephew to keep Christmas in his own way and let me keep it in mine.
But since it is Christmas Day, Merry Christmas or Happy Hanukkah or Just Happy Holidays.
More and more of us are realizing that Christianity is just another cult. A very successful one, true, but really nothing more. One result is that more and more of what we care about at the solstice is purely commercial.
Pogostiks Premium Member over 4 years ago
Joy? I thought her name was Mary?
superposition over 4 years ago
The first day of winter is the shortest day of the year with the latest sunrise and earliest sunset. By the 25th it’s evident that now the days are going to be getting longer. The sun worshippers and then other religions found this to be a convenient date for the birth of a god and “borrowed” it for their narratives. December has always been a time with days getting shorter that celebrations were created/used to cheer each other up … a festive time even in pre-Christain days. Later, capitalists also saw it as a business opportunity, so here we are with a hodge-podge of issues with different motivations. So, have a Merry Christmas, whatever that means to you, and try to be kind to others for a little while.
Perkycat over 4 years ago
This is a beautiful sentiment! Have a joyous day everyone!
Alberta Oil Premium Member over 4 years ago
Interesting that the message of baby Jesus was to bring joy and peace.. has in fact caused much grief throughout history.
Bookworm over 4 years ago
Repeating myself from yesterday, but I’m old so please bear with me.
I’m just a little tired of the Merry Christmas v. Happy Holidays argument. It rather smacks of Gell-Mann’s totalitarian principle which states: “Everything not forbidden is compulsory.” Having a number of good neighbors who happen to be Jewish or other non-Christian faiths or beliefs, I tend to wish them A Happy Hanukkah, or Happy Holidays, and it doesn’t seem to harm my observance of Christmas in any way. In turn, they frequently wish me a Merry Christmas in the same spirit of goodwill and it doesn’t seem to offset their Hanukkah, or alternative celebrations, in any meaningful way. I find the whole argument unsettling as it seems to say that the Christian celebration is in some way superior to other observances of the season. (At one time, Christmas celebrations were so raucous and saturnalian, that they were banned by law in Puritan England and in early Puritan America.) So in that sense only, I really think my old friend Ebeneezer Scrooge had a somewhat valid point when he told his nephew to keep Christmas in his own way and let me keep it in mine.
But since it is Christmas Day, Merry Christmas or Happy Hanukkah or Just Happy Holidays.
Concretionist over 4 years ago
More and more of us are realizing that Christianity is just another cult. A very successful one, true, but really nothing more. One result is that more and more of what we care about at the solstice is purely commercial.
pamela welch Premium Member over 4 years ago
Beautiful ♥♥
DeepState over 4 years ago
It’s a myth whose time has come and gone…. It’s a cultural appropriation of the Druids winter solstice observance.