Comments on Ambassador Watch: Rediscovering Xmas

Charlie, I know that they will never admit it, it ...

2010-01-06T20:08:53.074+13:00

Charlie, I know that they will never admit it, it would go contrary to their smug "holier than thou" arrogance.

I'm not too sure but what the human race shouldn't have stuck with the Earth Mother religion. At least it didn't hold with killing people who didn't believe it.

And, as an aside, they worshiped the earth as the giver and the sustainer of life on it. At least, we KNOW that was true. It's when people began to worship the sun that the trouble started.

"Does the harvest festival, the FoT, still me...

2010-01-06T19:49:48.343+13:00

"Does the harvest festival, the FoT, still mean the harvest festival of the Great Earth Mother to God? That IS where it came from, you know.
"

it seems quite obvious to me that the feasts of the Lord predate those pagan festivals.
God's feasts did not come from pagan festivals, but rather the pagan festivals are counterfeits of God's feasts.

Corky posted: "Does the harvest festival, the...

2010-01-05T07:03:10.513+13:00

Corky posted: "Does the harvest festival, the FoT, still mean the harvest festival of the Great Earth Mother to God? That IS where it came from, you know."

Corky: They will never admit it. I would love to take an armstrongite to see exhibits on early man in a museum of natural history that corroborates the pagan / pre-israelite origins of the ancient hebrew holidays. Earth mother worship and harvest festivals go back literally in excess of 30k years.

They really should read Karen Armstrong's book; "The Case for God" or "The Great Transformation: The Beginning of Our Religious Tradiditions."

Enlightening.

Anonymous said . . . it doesn't mean that to y...

2010-01-04T12:33:15.275+13:00

Anonymous said . . .
it doesn't mean that to you, but it does still mean that to God....oh yeah, i forgot, no one cares what God thinks anymore.

And, just how would you know what still means what to God?

Does the harvest festival, the FoT, still mean the harvest festival of the Great Earth Mother to God? That IS where it came from, you know.

"Whatever Xms and all its trappings used to m...

2010-01-04T04:01:00.687+13:00

"Whatever Xms and all its trappings used to mean, it doesn't mean that anymore. Like everything else, it evolved from pagan to Christian to modern commercialism."

it doesn't mean that to you, but it does still mean that to God....oh yeah, i forgot, no one cares what God thinks anymore.

What will ministers do without money? Are there n...

2010-01-03T12:03:56.942+13:00

What will ministers do without money? Are there no workhouses? Are there no prisons? Bah humbug!

Brian, You can always just leave out the lying to ...

2010-01-03T07:27:08.790+13:00

Brian,
You can always just leave out the lying to kids and the weird ritual stuff. I do.

Whatever Xms and all its trappings used to mean, it doesn't mean that anymore. Like everything else, it evolved from pagan to Christian to modern commercialism.

It's only a family tradition to most people, in spite of the evangelical fundamentalists wanting to put Christ back into Xmas.

Since Christ never was in it to start with but was only a celebration of the rebirth of the sun, it means nothing but what you make of it. If it symbolizes "Bah Humbug" to you, then it will be "Bah Humbug" and you'll get no enjoyment from it.

...as little children... maybe she should have l...

2010-01-03T06:26:19.651+13:00

...as little children...

maybe she should have listened to her children, then she might have seen the folly in celebrating christmas, especially since it has no real meaning to her.....she only wants to be involved because "everyone else is doing it"...

one day she'll appreciate her parents for keeping her out of it.

"If a person has never experienced the joy of...

2010-01-03T04:01:42.430+13:00

"If a person has never experienced the joy of a Christmas with family and friends around them, they have truly missed out on something that is absolutely priceless."

Agreed 100%! That, along with lights to stave off the darkness, is the ONLY meaning I take from "the season". Baby Jebus neither needed, nor included.

Corky, I'm not against light in the dark mont...

2010-01-02T20:02:01.883+13:00

Corky,

I'm not against light in the dark months. I live in a place where I definitely look forward to the temperature getting warmer and the snow melting in spring.

And I am fully of the belief that one can have just as much joy in any other family get-together as they can with a Christmas get-together. Frankly, there's no difference, unless you count the lying to kids and weird ritual stuff. =)

Brian, decorating a little green tree in the winte...

2010-01-02T19:05:10.979+13:00

Brian, decorating a little green tree in the winter time can go a long way in cheering people up and preventing "cabin fever" and deep depression.

If that works in modern times, imagine how much better it worked in ancient times when the whole world was so bleak and cheerless in the wintertime.

Looking forward to the spring and flowers blooming again is a good thing, not an evil thing.

Hey, it's not my fault that the Christian Church associated it with Jesus' birth and resurrection and it wasn't the fault of the pagans who invented it either.

Who was it that said, "it is better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness"?

Anyway, a well lit home is much more cheerful than a dark house.

Of course, if you live in Hawaii or some other balmy place, you wouldn't understand about long, cold, dark winters.

If a person has never experienced the joy of a Christmas with family and friends around them, they have truly missed out on something that is absolutely priceless.

"I no longer have the booklet, "The Plai...

2010-01-02T16:32:41.372+13:00

"I no longer have the booklet, "The Plain Truth About Christmas," but I do remember the very last sentence wherein HWA suggested "why not put the money into God's work instead."

This sentiment was also popular cannon fodder for sermons during the winter.....

"There was no acceptable reason for our celeb...

2010-01-02T12:34:36.242+13:00

"There was no acceptable reason for our celebration-less Christmases. It felt sinful to even ask and our parents offered no explanation. Ever."

Regardless of religion, just stepping back and looking at it objectively, there is something a little odd about sticking a tree up in your living room just because everything else does (among other things).

Keep it or don't keep it, but don't call out a church for not teaching why they didn't keep it, when they did.

Yes, Corky. HWA demonized Xmas and birthdays beca...

2010-01-02T10:50:46.872+13:00

Yes, Corky. HWA demonized Xmas and birthdays because he wanted the money that members would normally spend on their friends and families during the year.

I no longer have the booklet, "The Plain Truth About Christmas," but I do remember the very last sentence wherein HWA suggested "why not put the money into God's work instead."

That sums it all up.

Did the WCG demonize Xmas because it was originall...

2010-01-02T08:07:53.714+13:00

Did the WCG demonize Xmas because it was originally a pagan celebration or because HWA wanted the money that members would be wasting on their families at that "belt tightening" time of the year??

I suspect the latter because nearly everything was originally pagan. The months, the days of the week, seed time and harvest.

One cannot claim those times from the Jewish calender either - they were originally pagan too. One of the months is even named Tammuz.

Their calender is based on the 28 days from one new moon to another and matriarchal in that that is also the woman's menstrual cycle. What woman? Why, the queen of heaven, of course. The queen of heaven is the moon and the king of heaven is the sun.

This, of course, goes even farther back to the days of The Great Earth Mother, who was worshiped throughout the ancient world at one time.

Those who demonize Xmas may as well demonize everything and go live in a cave somewhere.

The christian church has just as much right to christianize pagan days and things as the Jewish church had to Judaize pagan days and things.

Neither one actually had that right but forced it upon the hapless masses by torture, murder and genocide.

Huh? I don't know the writer. I mean, I know, ...

2010-01-02T02:03:25.626+13:00

Huh? I don't know the writer. I mean, I know, in the sense that I understand completely where the author is coming from, but know personally? Nope.

I have, however, heard terrible things about how conservative Manitoba congregations were back in the day.....