A Conversation for The Influence of Fly Agaric on the Iconography of Father Christmas

The wont of christianity

Post 1

shagbark

I can hardly let that last sentence go unchallenged.
Many christians (myself included) feel that it is a secularization of the holiday to exult Santa above the one whose title the Holday encloses- Christ.
We believe it is the markweting gurus of a secular society who have
"pragmatically adapted and integrated" him into our Christian traditions not we ourselves.
Just as they have "pragmatically adapted and integrated" many of the facets of Samhein into a marketing ploy to make halloween a major holiday.


The wont of christianity

Post 2

Leopardskinfynn... sexy mama

One could say that the Christmas holiday isn't really about Jesus anyway. Seems that Christianity 'borrowed' this holiday from previous religions, in particular that of Mithras.

http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/godsreligion/a/mithraismstudy.htm

http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/jesus/qt/jesusbirthdate.htm


The wont of christianity

Post 3

shagbark

You will note that the name of the holiday is not Mithrasday.
Regardless of how much Christians have borrowed, or the fact that Jesus was not really born on 25 December in the year of our Lord Zero,It is still a holiday that christians have celebrated for over a thousand years as the day when God took on flesh, and was born in Bethlehem. It also is not Kris Kringle day or Frosty the Snowman day or Grinch Day, or Ebeneezer Scrooge day,and it rankles me to see the prominence these cultural trappings have acquired just in the last twenty years.


The wont of christianity

Post 4

Leopardskinfynn... sexy mama

smiley - erm

I think you'll find that this time of year has been a sacred time for many thousands of years before Christianity turned up, with various faiths finding it a good time to eat, drink and be merry.

I'm sorry that you find it distasteful that the cultural trappings surrounding christmas these days are not to your liking. Maybe you could see it as another re-invention of an ancient holiday with modern trappings that reflect the current culture.


The wont of christianity

Post 5

yellowcat

The Christian myth is just one of the many that have merged over the centuries, I see is as having no more importance and probably less relevance than the other mythologies involved in the winter festivities.


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