Well I know it may be hard to believe, but it seems like that old Con favourite, the imaginary War on Christmas, is finally over.
The Fox News nutbar Bill O'Reilly has declared victory. Again.
"I won the 'War on Christmas!'" he said. "I've been doing this for about 10 years and this is the only year we have not had a store that commanded its employees not to say 'Merry Christmas.'" "It's over, we won," he proclaimed.
And this time he may actually be right.
Kirk Cameron can breathe easy: the War on Christmas is over. Jesus won. That's the implication of a new Pew Research Center survey that finds nearly three-quarters of Americans -- 73 percent -- believe that Jesus was literally born to a virgin.
In addition, 81 percent say Jesus was laid in a manger, 75 percent say that the three wise men brought him gifts of frankincense, gold and myrrh, and 74 percent say that his birth was announced by an angel to the shepherds.
In all, Pew reports that 65 percent of Americans believe all four key elements of the Christmas story are to be taken literally. This is more than the percentage who express confidence in evolution, global warming, or the efficacy of vaccines.
Which is somewhat alarming, and definitely makes me feel good about being an atheist eh?
But not as alarming as the hapless Con MP Nina Grewal rambling and raving the other day, in her self-styled role as a champion of diversity and religious tolerance.
Blaming imaginary political correctness for...wait for it... the imaginary War on Christmas...
Gawd. Doesn't she know it's OVER? Doesn't she know ANYTHING?
And since she opposed the equality of LGBT people, and delivered this foul speech during the gay marriage debate.
Extending legal recognition to same sex marriage has absolutely nothing to do with the Charter of Rights. It has everything to do with debasing or diluting the traditional values of a sacred religious sacrament or covenant. The debate is about family values, religious institutions, family units and procreation.
She's hardly a champion of diversity and religious tolerance.
As for my position in this imaginary debate it's absolutely CLEAR. I will call it by whatever name makes people happy.
Just like I will celebrate Christmas, Hannukah, Eid, or any other religious holiday. As long as I don't have to pray to an imaginary god, my friends are at the party, and the food is good.
And in that regard, all I can say is Christmas, Christmas, what would we do without it?
As for Nina Grewal, she should know that for many LGBT people, who have been rejected by their families, Christmas can be a sad time. Made worse by the bigotry of people like her, and this new Con judge.
But we celebrate it anyway...
And this year we'll wear bells on our feet, just for Nina.
Finally, as you know, I DO believe in Santa Claus.
And this year I asked him for something special eh?
The end of this filthy bigoted tea bagger Con regime.
And the biggest turkey EVER...
Please click here to recommend this post at Progressive Bloggers
People are free to believe (or not believe) in Santa Claus, Jesus, or anyone else.
ReplyDeleteOn March 30, 2004, Dr. Paul L. Maier (now a retired Professor of Ancient History, Western Michigan University) said on TV: "And you realize that 99.9% of scholars across the world will acknowledge that Jesus is an historical person. They may not say that Jesus is the Son of God, but they will say there was an historical figure named Jesus of Nazareth. But Tom [Harpur] has very grave doubts about this, so he claims. Now that floored me right there. Because, we have copious evidence for Jesus’ existence. If you don't like the gospels, go to the Roman historian, Tacitus, who talks about the great fire of Rome and how Nero got blamed for it. To save himself, he blames the Christians. This Roman historian says that they are named for a Christus, who was crucified by one of our governors, Pontius Pilate. What more do you need? That quote alone would establish the historicity of Jesus. Suetonius mentions Christ in connection with the riot of those for or against Jesus across the Tiber. Pliny, the younger, Governor of Asia Minor, says that these Christians get up on Sunday morning and sing hymns to Christ as to a God. The Jewish rabbinic traditions mention Jesus of Nazareth in their own language. What more do we need of witnesses? Josephus mentions Jesus twice. I want to point out that Christian faith is based upon fact and not on fiction. The problem nowadays is that so many people are trying to turn fact into fiction."
http://formerthings.com/jesuschrist.htm
http://formerthings.com/pontius.htm
hi David....I had no idea this post would trigger a theological discussion. I never said I don't believe that Jesus ever existed. I just don't believe in the son of god meme. I was raised as a Christian by decent Christian parents. You should have seen me in my choir boy outfit, I was the wickedest angel in my Sunday School.But I prefer to see Jesus as a rebel, who had many good things to say, like love your brother and sister etc. In fact, even though I am an atheist, i consider myself more of a Christian than Stephen Harper. What I object to is the story of heaven, because I believe this earth is our heaven and our hell, and it's up to us to decide what it will be.Why would people care about what happens to this earth if they are going to spend most of their lives in some other mythical place? I have faith in the power of humanity to change its own fate and make a better world. I'll have more to say about that on Christmas Eve as I do every year. But for now so endeth my Sunday sermon... ;)
DeleteSting:
Delete"At the still point of destruction
At the centre of the fury
All the angels, all the devils
All around us, can't you see?
There is a deeper wave than this rising in the land
There is a deeper wave than this nothing will withstand
I say love is the seventh wave...
Yes we must all feel it in order to fulfill planetary love Sting I could not agree more.
Happy Solstice!
ReplyDeletehi anon...thank you and the same to you. I was going to point out that it is the Winter Solstice but I was too tired and I forgot. But of course that's why we have this holiday season, and it is the very best reason for us all to celebrate...
Deletethere may have been a historical figure named, jesus, or some such thing, but the son of god, give me a break. born of a virgin, o.k. nice work if you can get it. asexual reproduction is known in nature, but not in the human species.
ReplyDeletethe 3 wise guys bringing this baby gifts, I doubt it. its a nice story though and it has gotten a lot of people through life, but as many don't believe the "story" and have other believes. Just because western Europe adopted the religion doesn't make it the best one, the only true one or any such thing.
Most people have always had a need to believe in something to get through life. Societies found a need for "moral" codes, religion worked for many. But the crimes, murders, wars, etc. fought in the name of religion are way past anything sane. Better a bunch of atheists or agnostics who believe its not nice to be mean to others.
hi e.a.f....when I was a young teenager I was a real terror. A born again atheist who insisted that all religion should be abolished, and that all churches and temples should be demolished, or changed into useful things like homeless shelters or daycare centers. But as I got older I realized you can't abolish religion because it gives people hope, and helps make the death of loved ones less painful. So when I found myself having to console they dying I became rather good at telling people I had a dream where I saw the person they loved, or their favourite dog, waiting to see them. I don't apologize for that, even though I believe that only the truth can set us free, because I believe in human kindness, and if I have to lie a lttle to do that so be it. But I also have to say that organized religion has lost its way and is these days a force of evil...
DeleteDavid:
ReplyDeleteWe know that just like the historians you cite, the gospels were written by individuals who never met Jesus. In the case of the gospels we have no idea who the authors were. There is also the problem of the historical gap between the time of writing and the existence of the oldest manuscript. Retelling, copying and translating both during this period and the millennia following offer the opportunity for error to creep into the documents.
The 4 gospels have been described as the the first post modern novel : the same story told with four different versions by four different people. The "Christmas story" is one of the glaring differences.
I agree that " the problem nowadays is that so many people are trying to turn fact into fiction."
What is your evidence/proof (NOT theory) that the 4 gospels (the gospel of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) were NOT penned by 4 different people who lived in the first century A.D. named Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John? Good luck with that. 8-)
DeleteDavid: "And you realize that 99.9% of scholars across the world will acknowledge that Jesus is an historical person. They may not say that Jesus is the Son of God, but they will say there was an historical figure named Jesus of Nazareth."
ReplyDeleteAh ... no. 99.9% of scholars - not likely. The extra-biblical evidence for the existence of an historical Jesus is non-existent. Most such evidence quoted by supporters of the historical Jesus have been proven fraudulent. And, if he existed, his name would have been Joshua - not the Latinized Greek "Jesus".
It was professor Paul L. Maier (not me) who said 99.9% of scholars across the world will acknowledge that Jesus is an historical person.
DeleteIf you don't consider Maier's remark valid -- Maier being one of the world's foremost experts in first century A.D. Near-Eastern history-- then please provide some refutations, citing hundreds of present-day scholars of first century A.D. Near-Eastern history.
Even Wikipedia, in its webpage on Jesus, states: "*Virtually all modern scholars of antiquity agree that Jesus existed historically,*[f] although the quest for the historical Jesus has produced little agreement on the historical reliability of the Gospels and on how closely the biblical Jesus reflects the historical Jesus.[19]"
And yes, Jesus is just the Greek form of Yeshua/Joshua. So what. In fact,Yeshua/Joshua was a very common name among the Jews. Yet both the New Testament and non-biblical sources refer to a specific Yeshua/Joshua -- of Nazareth.
Do you believe Pontius Pilate and King Herod were both real persons of history? If yes, why not Jesus of Nazareth?
If Jesus/Yeshua/Joshua of Nazareth wasn't a real person of history, why is there an arrest notice for him?
In the Jewish Talmud there's a section called the Mishnah. A passage in the Mishnah Tractate called Sanhedrin 43A, contains--wait for it--an arrest notice for Jesus.
Translated from the Aramaic language it reads:
WANTED: YESHU HANNOZRI
He shall be stoned because he has practiced sorcery and enticed Israel to apostasy. Anyone who can say anything in his favor, let him come forward and plead on his behalf. Anyone who knows where he is, let him declare it to the Great Sanhedrin in Jerusalem.
All academics have their biases. I think you are relying too much on one scholar - Dr. Maier. I believe your "wanted" announcement also comes from Dr. Maier. Since the name "Jesus" was very common, and religious zealots were a dime a dozen back then, this is - at best - circumstantial evidence.
DeleteI am not going to claim that the Jesus you are referring to did not exist. However, if he did exist, he probably bore little resemblance to the Jesus that appears in the four Gospels.
I have studied in seminary. Very respected and studied scholars will acknowledge there there is little - if any - concrete historical evidence for the existence of Jesus of Nazareth. However, if you asked them if they believed he existed, they would say yes. Besides, there's nothing wrong with a really good mythology. The problem is that our culture has lost its appreciation for such.
Now, for a different perspective, try reading some of Joseph Campbell's work.
and, Merry Christmas!
So right so right UU um Jesus is a Spanish name and properly pronounced Hay Zeus it is pretty much impossible to have a virgin birth by a Jewish woman and name her kid a Spanish name when she had never been to Spain. Jesus was an invention of the Roman Catholic Church so they could fleece their followers and never work a day in their lives you know like Harper pretending to PM which he has no qualifications for but fleeces his base for cash so he can stay in power and never work.
DeleteSimon my man I wish you the best holiday season ever and solstice another thing the Roman Catholic church stole and named Christ-Mass to get even more donations. Traditionally for ages it was called Yule because sun seems to stand still for 12 days. So therefore the Yule log was lit to keep light and warmth. So the Roman Catholics knew how to steal that ancient tradition of light and warmth to their advantage. They claimed through Hey Zeus the son of god they were bringing 'light and warmth' which was a fabulous fantasy that survives to this day. But with all the pedophile priests the churches are mostly empty. And Christ-Mass has become a consumer orgy. So good to see others see through these outrageous lies. They found an Earth like planet Canadians and UBC helped co-discover and what a cool solstice story "The MOST space telescope, just 65 centimetres wide and 25 deep, also confirmed the planet is 2.5 times bigger than Earth, and is probably mostly water or ice." --->From:
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/News/canada/wing+prayer+Canada+view+satellite+finds+planet/10662858/story.html
On a wing and a prayer nice...
Another reason to ditch the cons and Harper!
Happy Holidays!
Cheers,
Mogs