A Conversation for Talking Point: 2011
Cosmologically arbitrary?
The Twiggster Started conversation Jan 6, 2011
Not at all.
Let's forget for a moment the made-up story about the baby in the manger and all that. If you're going to believe the book that story comes from, you're required to believe there were shepherds out watching their flocks - which means that whatever your opinion about whether it happened at all, the one thing you can't argue with is that it definitely didn't happen in December.
The reason we celebrate it in December is simply because in the old days everyone who hadn't heard the story was *already* celebrating in December anyway, so the people with a vested interest in selling the story of the baby in the manger tacked it onto the pre-existing celebration. You know, the one involving decorating a tree, and the Yule log, and feasting and stuff.
Why was everyone celebrating in December? Because of a cosmologically significant event - the solstice. As no less a character than the Doctor put it, we celebrate being half way out of the dark. We celebrate because we know that while the nights have been getting longer and more depressing for a while, that process is over and the light starts coming back now.
Arbitrary in cosmological terms? The very opposite!
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Cosmologically arbitrary?
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