Posted by Hey Zeus on December 20, 2005 at 20:15:47 (PST):
In Reply to: Pagan traditions of Christmas posted by bruce on December 20, 2005 at 18:03:51 (PST):
Excellent post Bruce!!! Here I'd like to add the following, which originally appeared in the magazine, Freethought Today, in 1990 and has since been printed in varioua daily newspapers across America. It is a bit long, but I hope it is read anyhow:
Dear Christian,
It's that time of year again: colored lights, carols, holly, reindeer, nativity scenes. We can't escape it. Whether we believe the story or not, we are all surrounded by our enormous birthday party for Jesus. It is as if December is a Crhistian "territory," and anyone who criticizes the myth or protests the public rituals is labelled an outsider.
Have you ever wondered how we "outsiders" might feel? YOU are observing Christmas, we are not. We athiests, agnostics, secular humanists, and other minorities are American citizens too. We pay our taxes, work hard, vote, sit on juries, serve in the miitary, do volunteer work, contribute to charity, and strive to improve life; yet during the hoidays we are made to feel like second-class citizens. We realize that America is a nation of diversity, and we recognize your right to worship what is meaningful to you, and though we disagree philosophically, we support your freedom of religious expression.
But the line has to be drawn somewhere. The Constitution draws the line for us: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” In other words, you can celebrate Christmas, but don’t force me to participate in your rituals by spending my tax dollars or using public buildings, public schools, or public endorsements to help you celebrate. If YOU love Jesus, then worship him with your own means. Keep it out of government.
How would you like it if one tenth of every year were set aside for the national proclamation of atheism? What if public officials happily announced the “Good News” that God is a myth and that Jesus is a fable? What if you were surrounded by anticlerical slogans and humanistic hymns from November to January, and made to feel like a Scrooge for jot joining the party? Would you want your tax dollars supporting this discourtesy?
People have been making merry during December for many millennia without Jesus. The Winter Solstice is the shortest day of sunlight in the northern hemisphere, when all turns dark and cold and the promise of a new year is welcome. When most trees shed their eaves, the evergreen remind us of our hope for continued life. Most cultures have celebrations with lights heralding the birth of the baby; the new year.
Hardly any scholars believe that Jesus was born in December, if he was born at all. Christians have simply stolen Christmas. During the first century the Romans feted the mirth of Mithra, the Savior who was born in a cave on December 25. Christians, eager to make their new ideology palatable to the ancient world, simply imposed their new mythology on top of the old pagan practices, changing very little.
Most of us unbelievers today continue to join in this natural New Year tradition. My family decorates a solstice tree, exchanges gifts, enjoys festive meals and jubilant music. We even sing a few Christmas carols for beauty and nostalgia, though we often giggle at the lyrics. Some of the melodies, such as “Greensleeves,” were originally secular anyway. “Its that time of year,” a wonderful opportunity to express family love and to mark the passing of another season of life. Christians do not have a corner on such values.
Everyone (except the shopkeeper) complains about the commercialization of Christmas. We freethinkers agree that turning personal beliefs into a public spectacle, a “civil religion,” tends to cheapen them. What tolerance we might maintain for your holy festivals gets quickly smothered under the monotonous music, gaudy displays, and dime-store hoopla. Do you really expect that this overdose of tackiness is going to persuade us to jump on board?
Maybe you don’t care. Maybe you enjoy rooting for your favorite religion, like your favorite football team. Or perhaps you feel that Christmas is so special that we are all going to celebrate it whether we like it or not.
Did it ever occur to you that many of us do not rejoice at the sight of the nativity? We are deeply and morally offended by the implication that we are all corrupt sinners deserving eternal torment, needing a savior. The baby in the manger suggests that we have wounded the unstable vanity of a megalomaniacal Creator and that our only hope is to submit to this vindictive Master. This is rudeness of the highest degree!
No American would tolerate an absolute Monarch. We would throw the bum out. Our Revolution was based on a disrespect for imposed authority. We ar a great nation, in part, because of the values of rugged individualism, an open marketplace of ideas, and an uncompromising abhorrence of tyranny. It is a slave who rushes to kneel before the Lord, no matter how cute he may have been as a baby.
The so-called Prince of Peas said, “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.” Those are fighting words! No wonder the world is not at peace after seventeen centuries of Christianity.
Those who notice that much of modern sexism stems from the patriarchal pages of the bible realize that there can be no peace on earth until there is goodwill toward women. We don’t need a heavenly Father Figure; we need respect for one another, compassion for those who suffer, and fairness for everyone regardless of race, sex, age, nationality or religion.
In light of this plea for peace, you might ask why we unbelievers don’t back off. Why do we complain about nativity scenes in public places and take legal action against religion in the schools?
But don’t you see? We aren’t trying to impose atheistic slogans on government. We simply want YOU to back off. No one is telling you that you can’t worship. No one is dragging you out of your church pew. No one is legally protesting the crèches in your front yards or church parking lots, or the Christmas symbols in privately owned shopping malls or banks. Our only constitutional complaints involve publicly owned facilities, such as the post office, public schools, courthouse, city hall, and city park. Do you see the difference? Your religion and property belong to you; the government belongs to all of us.
Our government at all levels is supposed to be impartial towards religion. Some Christians, unable to distinguish between neutrality and hostility, feel personally offended when we succeed in removing a nativity scene from a state capital building. (Jesus displayed the same paranoia when he said,” He that is not with me is against me,”) But in a world of religion diversity and fervor, neutrality in government is the ONLY way to have true peace on earth.
Christians, you don’t own December. Why don’t we all take advantage of this annual lip-service to “goodwill” and practice what we preach. Let’s show some concern for the feelings of all people by keeping the state and church separate.