M.E. Brines' Blog starts here:
Is
Christmas a “Christian” Holiday?
What a strange question. How could the celebration of Christ’s birth NOT be a Christian holiday? But the real strangeness comes when we look at history and reality, rather than what society claims to be true.
The Bible doesn’t say Jesus was born on Christmas Eve. It doesn’t say when he was born exactly, probably purposely. The whole point of Christ’s first coming was his death, not his birth. There are many holidays the Bible commanded commemoration of. Passover is a good example. But nowhere in Scripture are any of the ways we celebrate Christmas commanded, or even listed.
The Roman Catholic Church established Christmas as a rival celebration to the pagan saturnalia and the Zoroastrian celebration of the birth of their god Mithra. The saturnalia was celebrated by parties, feasting and gift giving (sound familiar?) Like almost all “Christian” traditions the Christmas celebration was imported almost unchanged from official Roman pagan government “church” practices.
The Christmas tree is imported from the Norse pagan Yule celebration of the winter solstice (December 21st.) And our modern Christmas icon, Santa Claus, although nominally based on the Catholic Saint Nicholas, bears little resemblance to the 4th century Greek patron saint of thieves, prostitutes and pawn brokers. The infant Jesus in a manger plays second fiddle (if that) to a consumerist icon ruling a toy-making empire based on the Elfin slave labor. And parents know full well that despite the legend, it will be them who must to pay hard cash for every toy “Santa” leaves under the tree.
While Christianity is a religion of self-sacrifice, self-control and sober discipleship to develop oneself into the image of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Christmas celebrates consumption. We are required to give “presents” to anyone and everyone, the extravagance of the presents defining our own self-worth. Those who decline to participate are evil “scrooges” with no compassion for their fellow man. We’re encouraged to “make all our Christmas dreams come true,” by satisfying each and every desire.
Christmas songs celebrate sexual seduction (“Baby, it’s cold outside), adultery (I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus), and orgies of conspicuous consumption (the 12 days of Christmas.)
Christmas celebrations encourage feasting to the extent that people gain an average of two pounds between November and January.
Even the token nativity scenes we throw out as our excuse for self-indulgence have no basis in fact and twist scripture to encourage our pre-conceived doctrine of consumption. The wise men were not there at Christ’s birth and didn’t show up until as much as two years later. (Matthew 2:16)
Christmas morning has become a demonstration of the seven deadly sins: greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy and gluttony, with wrath being reserved against those who decline to participate.
As much as Halloween has become a modern celebration of death, horror and despair, Christmas is the least Christian of holidays. I really don’t understand the hardcore militant atheist fetish of hatred toward it. They should embrace it. Christmas as we currently celebrate it stands against everything Christ encourages in his disciples. There is no Christ in Christmas.
Books by an author you might find interesting:
The Bible - Dead Letter or Message from Your Creator? Evidence for the veracity of the Scriptures. http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/84536
Revolutionary Discipleship http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/85171
Has the Church’s misguided efforts to market itself to non-Christians doomed it to irrelevance? Is it time for a new Reformation? Spiritual Embezzlement Made Easy http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/76598
Why do Ghosts Wear Clothes? A Christian paranormal investigation. http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/172249
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Previous posts:
· The Hunger Games, Batman and the Queen's Martian Rifles
· The True Essence of Steampunk
· Are Steampunk Spacecraft Really Feasible?
· The Origin and Destiny of Tolerance
· Horror and Monster Movies -- What's the Difference?
· The Most Subversive Question
· The Biblical Response to Progressive Tyranny
Who is M.E. Brines?
M.E. Brines spent the Cold War assembling atomic artillery shells and preparing to unleash the Apocalypse (and has a medal to prove it.) But when peace broke out, he turned his fevered, paranoid imagination to other pursuits. Designer of more than twenty sci-fi wargames and the Fantasy Nations play-by-e-mail game (all available below) he spends his spare time scribbling yet another steampunk romance occult adventure novel, which despite certain rumors absolutely DOES NOT involve time-traveling Nazi vampires! (Not this time, anyway.)
Cool Links:
Society for Psychical Research
Ghost Hunting Theories (+ Bigfoot)
Gnostalgia (the Esoteric Steampunk Lodge of the Retro-Future)
Steampunk Community blog
Steampunk Writers & Artists Guild
Tales of the Talisman magazine
Why Star Trek is dead. (Postmodernism killed it)
Smashwords is great place 2 get e-books, 7 different formats, Nook, Kindle, EPUB, & more! Many are FREE. Check it out!!! https://www.smashwords.com/
This could be YOU!
The Struggle of Nations play-by-e-mail game
This could be yours!
Click here to find out how to get your own Alien Nation