A friend of mine took me to task for "dumping on adoption" and asked me to write about something else. This one is for you, Rachael.
I thought the "Christmas Controversy" that made so much noise in 2005 had blown away but apparently there are some folks that want to keep it alive. I think the LA Times is being a bit presumptuous to claim that the Obama family prefers one greeting over another and I think the whole controversy is just a bit absurd.
Very few scholars believe Jesus of Nazareth, if they believe He even existed, was born on December 25. It is pretty well accepted that the date for Christmas was "borrowed" from earlier "Pagan" religions. Mid winter celebrations have existed in many cultures since long before the first century and the beginning of the Christian era. Many of these cultures even have mythological heroes or man-gods born on December 25. Why?
Well, because the people in these ancient cultures didn't have TV, or even radio. They spent their evenings and sometimes the nights, looking at the stars. They noticed that certain things happened when the stars were in certain positions in the sky. For example, lambing season and sheep shearing happened when the sun was in the constellation we now call Aries. The harvest happened when the sun was in Virgo, who is normally depicted with a couple sheaves of grain.
They also noticed that as the sun moved farther south in the sky the days got shorter and colder, until about December 21. From December 21 to December 24, the days were about the same short length. Then on December 25, the sun rose just a wee bit farther north, and there was rejoicing!
Story tellers would make up stories to go along with the changes in the night sky. The sun became a Hero or a God, and the story would describe the struggle the anthropomorphic solar deity went through each year. The god would be "killed" and would descend into the ground or grave (remember these folks thought the Earth was flat), and then would re-emerge three days later, reborn.
One story teller noticed that the constellation Virgo set in the east, appearing to go underground, as if into a cave, just before the sun rose on December 25 and the legend of a god born of a virgin began. (Note: The words "beth lehem" in Hebrew mean "house of bread," which fits with the harvest virgin, Virgo, while Israeli archaeologists tell us there is no evidence of human habitation in the Judean town of Bethlehem around the first century.)
Some Christians believe that God made the heavens tell the story of Jesus's birth and ministry. Other folks believe that the miraculous stories surrounding Jesus were created and adapted from the wealth of mythology that had existed for at least 1500 years. The answer to this question isn't really relevant, so I won't offer an opinion. What is relevant is that the celebration of mid-winter is nearly universal. It is not, and never has been unique to Christianity.
I think that Jesus-- at least the one I think represents the true spirit of the season -- would recognize that this is a season for coming together as a large and diverse community. He would celebrate with all, not create divisiveness by being upset about which particular greeting the checker at Wal-Mart greeted him with or what the President's Christmas card said.
I thought the "Christmas Controversy" that made so much noise in 2005 had blown away but apparently there are some folks that want to keep it alive. I think the LA Times is being a bit presumptuous to claim that the Obama family prefers one greeting over another and I think the whole controversy is just a bit absurd.
Very few scholars believe Jesus of Nazareth, if they believe He even existed, was born on December 25. It is pretty well accepted that the date for Christmas was "borrowed" from earlier "Pagan" religions. Mid winter celebrations have existed in many cultures since long before the first century and the beginning of the Christian era. Many of these cultures even have mythological heroes or man-gods born on December 25. Why?
Well, because the people in these ancient cultures didn't have TV, or even radio. They spent their evenings and sometimes the nights, looking at the stars. They noticed that certain things happened when the stars were in certain positions in the sky. For example, lambing season and sheep shearing happened when the sun was in the constellation we now call Aries. The harvest happened when the sun was in Virgo, who is normally depicted with a couple sheaves of grain.
They also noticed that as the sun moved farther south in the sky the days got shorter and colder, until about December 21. From December 21 to December 24, the days were about the same short length. Then on December 25, the sun rose just a wee bit farther north, and there was rejoicing!
Story tellers would make up stories to go along with the changes in the night sky. The sun became a Hero or a God, and the story would describe the struggle the anthropomorphic solar deity went through each year. The god would be "killed" and would descend into the ground or grave (remember these folks thought the Earth was flat), and then would re-emerge three days later, reborn.
One story teller noticed that the constellation Virgo set in the east, appearing to go underground, as if into a cave, just before the sun rose on December 25 and the legend of a god born of a virgin began. (Note: The words "beth lehem" in Hebrew mean "house of bread," which fits with the harvest virgin, Virgo, while Israeli archaeologists tell us there is no evidence of human habitation in the Judean town of Bethlehem around the first century.)
Some Christians believe that God made the heavens tell the story of Jesus's birth and ministry. Other folks believe that the miraculous stories surrounding Jesus were created and adapted from the wealth of mythology that had existed for at least 1500 years. The answer to this question isn't really relevant, so I won't offer an opinion. What is relevant is that the celebration of mid-winter is nearly universal. It is not, and never has been unique to Christianity.
I think that Jesus-- at least the one I think represents the true spirit of the season -- would recognize that this is a season for coming together as a large and diverse community. He would celebrate with all, not create divisiveness by being upset about which particular greeting the checker at Wal-Mart greeted him with or what the President's Christmas card said.
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