Merry Christmas

[luckytxn 2,264]

Merry Xmas Spooks. I hope you and family the best.

[rlogan 2,036]

Christ Mass

In the 300's AD, the Roman Emperor Constantine made Christianity the official state religion. In order to abolish other beliefs without causing a civil war, the cunning Emperor and his heirs supplanted existing celebrations with Christian ones so that these old religions would die over time. Eventually they could be persecuted and wiped out altogether, but in the beginning the strategy was co-option.

Prior to Christianity, this time was the Winter Solstice celebration, which in conjunction with the equinoxes was science oriented rather than superstition. It was Pope Julius I that declared December 25 the birthday celebration for Christ (350 AD) at this important time of converting the entire Empire to Christianity. There is no such thing in the Bible.

The purpose of having a state religion was to force every citizen to list himself in a Parish. It was the ancient equivalent of forcing a social security number on everyone so the population could be tracked for taxes, for military conscription, for census purposes, for the administration of law, etc. - it was an administrative organ of the Totalitarian State.

The original Christans were a secret underground society that is explained in a remarkable correspondence between Pliny the Younger and Emperor Trajan in 112 AD. These earliest Christians were sick of turning over their crops, money, and time to the rich religious authorities. So instead of attending official churches, they stayed home in small gatherings of family, neighbors, and friends. The most important thing they did was have a feast for themselves: to literally eat the fruits of their own labor instead of giving it over to authorities.

Christ in Christianity was originally a principle, not a person. The principle was rejection of obligation. We eat the body of Christ and drink the body of Christ. Literally. Not a tiny little wafer and thimble of juice: a huge feast. It is so ironic that by making Christianity the official state religion that churches were built by taxation on the people, and what started as a feast of family and friends ended up with mandatory tithing and this pathetic wafer/thimble. The state successfully co-opted a religion that began as a revolt on religious authority in the first place.

In the spirit of this original Christianity, the rejection of religious authority of any kind - and freedom of obligation to them - we indeed say "Merry Christmas" and celebrate it at home with our own family, eating our own food, and giving gifts to each other instead of our overlords. We also act out the solstice with a model earth, a light bulb for the sun, and explain why the tilt of the earth in concert with the orbit of earth about the sun produces the winter and summer seasons.

[spookyturtle 9,465]

Merry Xmas Spooks. I hope you and family the best.

Thank you, and the same to you. Give this a read:

One Solitary Life

He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in still another village, where he worked in a carpenter shop until he was thirty. Then for three years was an itinerant preacher.

He never wrote a book.

He never held an office.

He never had a family or owned a house.

He didn’t go to college.

He never traveled 200 miles from the place where he was born.

He did none of these things one usually associates with greatness.

He had no credentials but himself.

He was only 33 when public opinion turned against him. His friends ran away. He was turned over to his enemies and went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves.

When he was dying, his executioners gambled for his clothing, the only property he had on earth. When he was dead, he was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend.

Twenty centuries have come and gone, and today He is the central figure of the human race, the leader of mankind’s progress. All the armies that have ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man on earth as much as that One Solitary Life.

[GandD 5,966]

Christ Mass

In the 300's AD, the Roman Emperor Constantine made Christianity the official state religion. In order to abolish other beliefs without causing a civil war, the cunning Emperor and his heirs supplanted existing celebrations with Christian ones so that these old religions would die over time. Eventually they could be persecuted and wiped out altogether, but in the beginning the strategy was co-option.

Prior to Christianity, this time was the Winter Solstice celebration, which in conjunction with the equinoxes was science oriented rather than superstition. It was Pope Julius I that declared December 25 the birthday celebration for Christ (350 AD) at this important time of converting the entire Empire to Christianity. There is no such thing in the Bible.

The purpose of having a state religion was to force every citizen to list himself in a Parish. It was the ancient equivalent of forcing a social security number on everyone so the population could be tracked for taxes, for military conscription, for census purposes, for the administration of law, etc. - it was an administrative organ of the Totalitarian State.

The original Christans were a secret underground society that is explained in a remarkable correspondence between Pliny the Younger and Emperor Trajan in 112 AD. These earliest Christians were sick of turning over their crops, money, and time to the rich religious authorities. So instead of attending official churches, they stayed home in small gatherings of family, neighbors, and friends. The most important thing they did was have a feast for themselves: to literally eat the fruits of their own labor instead of giving it over to authorities.

Christ in Christianity was originally a principle, not a person. The principle was rejection of obligation. We eat the body of Christ and drink the body of Christ. Literally. Not a tiny little wafer and thimble of juice: a huge feast. It is so ironic that by making Christianity the official state religion that churches were built by taxation on the people, and what started as a feast of family and friends ended up with mandatory tithing and this pathetic wafer/thimble. The state successfully co-opted a religion that began as a revolt on religious authority in the first place.

In the spirit of this original Christianity, the rejection of religious authority of any kind - and freedom of obligation to them - we indeed say "Merry Christmas" and celebrate it at home with our own family, eating our own food, and giving gifts to each other instead of our overlords. We also act out the solstice with a model earth, a light bulb for the sun, and explain why the tilt of the earth in concert with the orbit of earth about the sun produces the winter and summer seasons.

We've come a long way baby!

[luckytxn 2,264]

Thanks for the read Spooks. There never has and never will be another person to come along to inspire us all like this man. He shows that with words we can be great and make a difference. God bless us all.

Thank you, and the same to you. Give this a read:

One Solitary Life

He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in still another village, where he worked in a carpenter shop until he was thirty. Then for three years was an itinerant preacher.

He never wrote a book.
He never held an office.
He never had a family or owned a house.
He didn’t go to college.
He never traveled 200 miles from the place where he was born.
He did none of these things one usually associates with greatness.
He had no credentials but himself.
He was only 33 when public opinion turned against him. His friends ran away. He was turned over to his enemies and went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves.
When he was dying, his executioners gambled for his clothing, the only property he had on earth. When he was dead, he was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend.

Twenty centuries have come and gone, and today He is the central figure of the human race, the leader of mankind’s progress. All the armies that have ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man on earth as much as that One Solitary Life.