tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8584840770244929.post7565931651779792023..comments2024-03-22T11:32:57.801-07:00Comments on The Alien Next Door: Christmas Eve and “Mother’s Night”Nina Munteanuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00311070435293186699noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8584840770244929.post-66956825994030582932007-12-27T22:28:00.000-08:002007-12-27T22:28:00.000-08:00Yes, Greg, I agree, there is no coincidence; super...Yes, Greg, I agree, there is no coincidence; superimposed religious celebrations made sense for reasons you give; and you provide a good summary of the hard reality of how religious celebrations arose... What's interesting to note is that Christians, too, were persecuted and their faith and ways challenged... As I mention in my next post, I feel that it is not so much the details of what we believe but what we do with it that is important.Nina Munteanuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00311070435293186699noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8584840770244929.post-76145703291475303632007-12-27T13:03:00.000-08:002007-12-27T13:03:00.000-08:00It isn't coincidence that pre-Christian festivals ...It isn't coincidence that pre-Christian festivals coincide with modern celebrations. It is the result of Christian persecution of so called pagans or non-Christians that create the similarity. <BR/><BR/>What actually happened is that Christianity was forced on a great many people. When the people would continue to celebrate their own traditions, the Christian authority would take over the tradition as a Christian holiday and either make the previous symbolism new Christian symbols, or declare them evil.<BR/><BR/>The dominant examples of this occurring are Halloween and Christmas, but we see remnants of older religions in most of our other holidays such as Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, etc.<BR/><BR/>There were many pre-Christian celebrations that generally coincided with the closing of the year, or the winter’s solstice. Saturnalia is probably the most well known. It was the ancient Roman celebration to the god Saturn. Eventually, under the Roman Empire, this festival extended for the week of December 17th through the 23rd.<BR/><BR/>Because Christianity came to dominance, became an official religion, under Roman rule, and because this Roman holiday of Saturnalia was strong in the people, Christianity took over the festivals. The birth of Jesus was arbitrarily assigned to December 25th to mark the culmination of the celebrations, or the Christ Mass. In no Christian story is there mention of the day Jesus was born.<BR/><BR/>The concept of Santa Clause comes from several non-Christian sources. The German god Odin is a big influence and from German folklore and belief comes the Christmas tree, stockings, flying critters pulling Santa's sleigh, and many other modern "Christian" traditions.<BR/><BR/>The distance of time often leads us to believe that a natural progression occurred from early beliefs to modern ones. Reality is that many people had their cultures stolen away from them and were persecuted or killed unless they conformed to the new beliefs. Much of what they believed before formed the modern Christian notion of evil and sin.<BR/><BR/>The traditions that predate Christianity and are still followed today are a result of many people continuing in their beliefs despite Christianity being forced on them. They continued their traditions despite being persecuted and sometimes killed. They continued to the point where the Christian authority finally gave up and indoctrinated them into the Christian religion. <BR/><BR/>It isn’t coincidence. Today’s traditions are living memorials to those of the past that survived religious persecution.No Replyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13897528591850712444noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8584840770244929.post-26018341255302591622007-12-24T23:34:00.000-08:002007-12-24T23:34:00.000-08:00Thank you, Jean-Luc and Karen! A very Merry Christ...Thank you, Jean-Luc and Karen! A very Merry Christmas to you too! I wish you a joyous and wonderful year full of the miracles of God's making...Nina Munteanuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00311070435293186699noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8584840770244929.post-14706710027938139552007-12-24T14:46:00.000-08:002007-12-24T14:46:00.000-08:00Thank you, Nina, for that lovely lesson.Merry Chri...Thank you, Nina, for that lovely lesson.<BR/><BR/>Merry Christmas to you dear!Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15340551565654712248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8584840770244929.post-12440040706046116192007-12-24T05:36:00.000-08:002007-12-24T05:36:00.000-08:00A most excellent lesson in the forming of Christma...A most excellent lesson in the forming of Christmas traditions, and well worthy of a Quality Post!Jean-Luc Picardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01689798190618944262noreply@blogger.com