The last census here in the UK stated that for the first time since 0 AD, or possibly from when the first census was held, the majority of people don't identify as Christian. I'd be in there. But living here, as I'd guess in the USA and many places, Christmas was part of childhood... part of our culture... embrace it, reject it, snub it or whatever you will. You can't miss the damned thing.
That doesn't mean the popular and worthwhile messages of Christmas count for anything in the real world. The UK is not embracing refugees. It's planning to ship them off to Rwanda, where none of them have any connection, that being the point. Ho ho ho. School children are going cold and hungry, more than ever before, more than in the Depression of the 1930s, so much has our Conservative Brexit-embracing government taken on the ethos of the manger and gifts and love.
The symbolism of Christmas is as enticing as ever. Of course it is. Who doesn't want a chance to revel (wallow?) for a few days in the images of treats and family and childhood, even if it wasn't all that great at the time. As it won't be for a lot of Britons this year. Who doesn't want to eat too much, to see the people who mean something to us, remember those not here any more, to have some sense of a festival of light, of a rebirth in the shortest darkest days of the year? Oh, is that Mithras I'm thinking of... or Saturnalia, or Samhain, or...
But of course those connections would be rejected by many. Yet... a supernatural figure plugging martyrdom, inflicting horrors and terrible punishments while all the time demanding endless praise, that's OK?
I'm all for the festival. I'm not all for anything that reinforces handing over control of our actions and thoughts to an unlikely supernatural figure as a supreme authority. Have a winter festival. Call it what you like. Lose the baggage!
You've raised several interesting points here, as usual. The gulf between what most Christians espouse and what they do is continually galling--the governor of Texas bused dozens of t-shirt clad migrants to the vice president's house on Christmas Eve in a snowstorm is one example of such malevolent hypocrisy.
Nostalgia also feels like a trap. How much of our fond reminiscences are based in reality versus denialism? Sometimes the cultural fervor for Christmas past feels like shared delusion.
I wonder what your vision of this winter festival would look like. Would it have time devoted to contemplation of the yearly rebirth? Killing the angry narcissistic god is one thing, but what do we replace him with?
I used to be what was called a 'reflectionist' one night a week in a rotating household of former prisoners who were planning and hoping to stay drug-free and permanently out. We would go around the room and each talk a little about how our day had been. What hopes had we, or disappointments, from this day? Was there something upsetting that had been glossed over, and was there something to be thankful for and the person left unthanked?
What if on Christmas Day we went about all the usual Christmas things, but with an awareness that at some appointed time in the evening we would each take a turn doing just that, but for the year? How we could support each other, be better to each other, and possibly extend that out into the world?
A time for gathering together and giving,sharing,enjoying the company of close folks. It's back to worshiping the sun and how it fades (at least around these parts).The ritual to be observed is GOOD CHEER,even if you're not feeling so hot.Most of those that aired before Thanksgiving and I'll not mention the economic results. BE OF GOOD CHEER!
The last census here in the UK stated that for the first time since 0 AD, or possibly from when the first census was held, the majority of people don't identify as Christian. I'd be in there. But living here, as I'd guess in the USA and many places, Christmas was part of childhood... part of our culture... embrace it, reject it, snub it or whatever you will. You can't miss the damned thing.
That doesn't mean the popular and worthwhile messages of Christmas count for anything in the real world. The UK is not embracing refugees. It's planning to ship them off to Rwanda, where none of them have any connection, that being the point. Ho ho ho. School children are going cold and hungry, more than ever before, more than in the Depression of the 1930s, so much has our Conservative Brexit-embracing government taken on the ethos of the manger and gifts and love.
The symbolism of Christmas is as enticing as ever. Of course it is. Who doesn't want a chance to revel (wallow?) for a few days in the images of treats and family and childhood, even if it wasn't all that great at the time. As it won't be for a lot of Britons this year. Who doesn't want to eat too much, to see the people who mean something to us, remember those not here any more, to have some sense of a festival of light, of a rebirth in the shortest darkest days of the year? Oh, is that Mithras I'm thinking of... or Saturnalia, or Samhain, or...
But of course those connections would be rejected by many. Yet... a supernatural figure plugging martyrdom, inflicting horrors and terrible punishments while all the time demanding endless praise, that's OK?
I'm all for the festival. I'm not all for anything that reinforces handing over control of our actions and thoughts to an unlikely supernatural figure as a supreme authority. Have a winter festival. Call it what you like. Lose the baggage!
You've raised several interesting points here, as usual. The gulf between what most Christians espouse and what they do is continually galling--the governor of Texas bused dozens of t-shirt clad migrants to the vice president's house on Christmas Eve in a snowstorm is one example of such malevolent hypocrisy.
Nostalgia also feels like a trap. How much of our fond reminiscences are based in reality versus denialism? Sometimes the cultural fervor for Christmas past feels like shared delusion.
I wonder what your vision of this winter festival would look like. Would it have time devoted to contemplation of the yearly rebirth? Killing the angry narcissistic god is one thing, but what do we replace him with?
A replacement... ah, there's the bare bodkin...
One addition, maybe.
I used to be what was called a 'reflectionist' one night a week in a rotating household of former prisoners who were planning and hoping to stay drug-free and permanently out. We would go around the room and each talk a little about how our day had been. What hopes had we, or disappointments, from this day? Was there something upsetting that had been glossed over, and was there something to be thankful for and the person left unthanked?
What if on Christmas Day we went about all the usual Christmas things, but with an awareness that at some appointed time in the evening we would each take a turn doing just that, but for the year? How we could support each other, be better to each other, and possibly extend that out into the world?
Is that crazy?
A time for gathering together and giving,sharing,enjoying the company of close folks. It's back to worshiping the sun and how it fades (at least around these parts).The ritual to be observed is GOOD CHEER,even if you're not feeling so hot.Most of those that aired before Thanksgiving and I'll not mention the economic results. BE OF GOOD CHEER!