Am I alone in thinking Christmas is a load of bollocks?

digitalwanderer said:
Uhm, then why is it in December if it's "celebrating Jesus"? Why did the christians feel the need to usurp the Winter Solstice celebration?

The first step to usurping an old religion is to take it's special feasts and totems, and take them as your own.
 
Rys said:
He wasn't even born on the 25th of December :rolleyes:

It's the biggest load of made-up nonsense inflicted on modern society.
This is true. Most Christian holidays hitched a ride on already existing days of pagan celebration.

December 25th was the celebration of the returning of the sun and the shortest day of the year (Winter Solstice). By the bible, mid/end December marks the virgin conception of Christ, so the Roman Catholic church decided to change Winter Solstice into the celebration of the conception (and later birth) of Christ.

Pass-over/Easter is the same deal. Pagan Easter is the celebration of fertility- hence why the visuals of eggs and rabbits (symbols of fertility).
 
Pass-over/Easter is the same deal. Pagan Easter is the celebration of fertility- hence why the visuals of eggs and rabbits (symbols of fertility).

to be fair that isn't the christian holiday . Palm sunday and the death of christ is thier holiday . THe rabbits and eggs are the money holiday that was made up to make money out of it .


The christians were smart though. They hitched a ride on old holidays and now the busniess world hitched a ride on them
 
Yeah, it matters, because it continues to astound how society can be led and controlled by folks in power.

Constantine changes the date hundreds of years ago because he's founding a new religion (that in itself is hilarious), everyone falls into line seemingly without complaint, it sticks to this day. I'm not sure why I should accept that too much, really.

The media does a good job of impersonating him these days, too. Making shit up is commonplace, people just blindly believe it. It's all part of a wider issue for me, which doesn't sit easily. Religion on top just makes me want to barf.

Me no likey, and it does suck the date is wrong. What if that happened with your birthday? :p
 
Rys said:
Me no likey, and it does suck the date is wrong. What if that happened with your birthday? :p

A thousand years after my death I am quite sure I will be well beyond giving a rats ass. If anyone celebrated/remembered me at all I would be extremely pleased as it would mean my life had a significant impact. About the most any of us can realistically expect is that 50 years after our death our grandchildren will show an old dog eared (2D!) image of us to their grandchildren.
 
I like christmas because chicks get drunk and put out more. And that's about it. I give all year - I don't see the line that you can be a complete bastard all the year then make up for it in on one day of stupidity.

In Oz its even more ridiculous cause it's 40c+ and shopping centres have all this santa claus crap around complete with snow sleds and icemen. Like WTF! How screwed is that? What's the connection between santa claus and christmas anyway other than one great commercial entity(Coke) decided to start using it for advertising? Does it all have to be wrapped in commercial gooey shite. If I was christian I would be pissed that my religious day was hijacked by capitalism. As it is the sheer inconvenience and hypocrisy of the whole period pisses me off to no end.

Now work is forcing me to take holidays at the same time that every other tard and kids + dog are going to be getting in there car and playing highway roulette up and down the coast. As I write this I have a play list of cheap commercial christ mas jingles running around in my head because I made the mistake of entering a temple of commercialism at it's peak time - Christmas. All I wanted was a present for a couple who just got pregnant - I ended up wanting to tear down and burn every Christmas effigy in sight. Does this make me a scrooge or a grinch? No it makes me someone who is sick too death of cheap commercial shite wrapped in an even cheaper religion and sentimentalism. Sorry if this offends anyone but I'm offended so who gives a toss.


'Dashing through the snow
in a one horse open sleigh
la da da di da dada da fuck!'
 
IgnorancePersonified said:
I like christmas because chicks get drunk and put out more. And that's about it. I give all year - I don't see the line that you can be a complete bastard all the year then make up for it in on one day of stupidity.

In Oz its even more ridiculous cause it's 40c+ and shopping centres have all this santa claus crap around complete with snow sleds and icemen. Like WTF! How screwed is that? What's the connection between santa claus and christmas anyway other than one great commercial entity(Coke) decided to start using it for advertising? Does it all have to be wrapped in commercial gooey shite. If I was christian I would be pissed that my religious day was hijacked by capitalism. As it is the sheer inconvenience and hypocrisy of the whole period pisses me off to no end.

Now work is forcing me to take holidays at the same time that every other tard and kids + dog are going to be getting in there car and playing highway roulette up and down the coast. As I write this I have a play list of cheap commercial christ mas jingles running around in my head because I made the mistake of entering a temple of commercialism at it's peak time - Christmas. All I wanted was a present for a couple who just got pregnant - I ended up wanting to tear down and burn every Christmas effigy in sight. Does this make me a scrooge or a grinch? No it makes me someone who is sick too death of cheap commercial shite wrapped in an even cheaper religion and sentimentalism. Sorry if this offends anyone but I'm offended so who gives a toss.


'Dashing through the snow
in a one horse open sleigh
la da da di da dada da fuck!'

The christmas giving stuff isn't just about capitalism. Santa does have some christian roots.
 
Blade said:
Hardcore atheists are missing the point of atheism, as far as I can tell.

Interesting comment if you would like to expand on the idea.

Personally, my athiesm is a subset of the general nihilistic ambivilance I stumble through the day with, at it's core (IE Ten Commandments etc) most religions have a good base of moral codes. What irritates me is (as many have likewise pointed out) is the Pepsification of it and the way it's forcefed, I feel like Santa is smacking me with a baseball bat screaming It's Christmas so BE HAPPY YOU PRICK!".
 
Rys said:
Not at all. It's just I abhor the notion that, because some Emporer in the 12th century decided to change the date pretty much on a whim, the whole Western world grinds to a halt at that time of year. That it's now an overly commercial experience adds to the mess.

I'm happy to celebrate the birth of what I believe to be one of the greatest people that walked the Earth (and note I'm not Christian by any stretch of the imagination), but let's do it on the right day at least.
And what day pray tell was that Rys?

Sorry I sound a pompous ass, I apologize, yes I could have deleted it, but it came out that way so I left it.

Anyway, my point is what would you rather do? Say um sometime in the spring maybe early April?

Look, does it really matter when it is celebrated? You guys are very cynical, good things sometimes do come out of christmas, some people do go work at a soup kitchen, a food bank, a donation center, habitat for humanity, donate a bit to a charity etc.. and they do it b/c even if they are hypocritical evil people as some paint them, at least they should be reminded of Christ and what he truly advocated.

Ok that was terrible I will duck out now, sorry for intruding.
 
Sxotty said:
And what day pray tell was that Rys?
Fuck knows now, which is my entire point :!: We have no idea, because someone in a position of power decided it's something different. That his real birthday is lost makes me sad.

Sxotty said:
Sorry I sound a pompous ass, I apologize, yes I could have deleted it, but it came out that way so I left it.

Anyway, my point is what would you rather do? Say um sometime in the spring maybe early April?

Look, does it really matter when it is celebrated? You guys are very cynical, good things sometimes do come out of christmas, some people do go work at a soup kitchen, a food bank, a donation center, habitat for humanity, donate a bit to a charity etc.. and they do it b/c even if they are hypocritical evil people as some paint them, at least they should be reminded of Christ and what he truly advocated.

Ok that was terrible I will duck out now, sorry for intruding.
Absolutely not, the rest of your post that deals with what people should do on the day (whatever that really is), rocks. You get good rep for that.
 
Rys said:
Fuck knows now, which is my entire point :!: We have no idea, because someone in a position of power decided it's something different. That his real birthday is lost makes me sad.

Oh I see, I thought you were upset b/c it wasn't on the proper day. You know to be honest I am not a big birthday person myself, I never really had birthdays as a kid b/c we were always travelling when it was mine... not a tragic thing btw ;) But I mean that b/c of that I never really cared when exactly Jesus was born, I figure that he had good ideas and it is too bad the things people do in other's names that they would not contenance.

I do not take umbrage with gifts either if they are given in the proper spirit, but the current thing that gets me steamed is when
1) people use Jesus to advocate intolerance of anyone (or war, the crusades anyone)
2) TV minister types, "make a contribution and you'll get a better seat (in heaven)"
3) Politicians who say they are on his side effectively
I mean well it makes me angry, and dissapointed that people respond to such rhetoric. The thing is when I hear politicians invoke diety to justify things, or make themselves look better it makes my hackles rise...

That said Christmas doesn't make me angry, sure it has been commercialized, but hey remember the threads lamenting Halloween's introduction to Europe? Well everything is commercialized now, I sometimes think I am incurably cynical, other times overly optimistic, but I suppose that even a hollow, chincy, plastic ornament, made in China by mistreated workers who don't know what it says is worth something, if someone reads it and it makes them treat their fellow man better.

P.S. Rys how freaking late is it there man? Get some sleep so you don't have a coronarry like Digi ;)
 
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Eh the way i feel is if there really is a god out there and he is all powerfull , I think he wont hold it against me if a smuck like myself doesn't go to church or prays to him .

I mean really , he would have something better to do then be like "ohhh that rascal , he didn't attend church today , thats it hell for him !"
 
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