Jump to content

Religion & Theology (& should we respect beliefs)


JAStewart
 Share

Recommended Posts

Tuts, getting a tad one-sided. Me thinks a bit of balance is required. Right, ease 'em in gently (Beliefs don't have to be so blooming heavy and morbid).

 

 

 

Sugar, but then if you ain't a Christian, you'll burn ("sermon" at start!)

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...
There is no evidence scripturally or secularly that early Christians in the first century commemorated the birth of Jesus Christ. In fact, in keeping with early Jewish law and tradition, it is likely that birthdays were not commemorated at all. According to The World Book Encyclopedia: "early Christians considered the celebration of anyone's birth to be a pagan custom." (Vol. 3, page 416) Rather than commemorating his birth, the only command Jesus gave concerning any sort of commemoration of his life actually had only to do with his death (Luke 22:19). It was not until several hundred years after the death of Jesus Christ that the first instances of the celebration of Christmas begin to appear in the historical record. According to the new Encyclopedia Britannica, some who later claimed to be Christian likely "wished the date to coincide with the pagan Roman festival marking the 'birthday of the unconquered sun'." The festival was celebrated with similar customs (gift giving, feasting) that are done to celebrate Christmas today.

 

http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/7597/santap.jpg

 

The customary greeting for the occasion is a "Io, Saturnalia!" — Io (pronounced "e-o") being a Latin interjection related to "ho" (as in "Ho, praise to Saturn").

 

HO HO

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturnalia

 

Many Pagan/Non-Christian/whatever religions had their main festivals nobbled very successfully by first, the Romans and secondly, the Christian church.

 

They were smart enough to realise that banning and trashing folks religious ceremonies would be difficult to orchestrate on a level necessary to remove them from folks mindset and would only lead to insurrection and disorder.

Easy answer is to stick one of your religious festivals conveniently on the same day as the old one...time does the rest if you follow through and keep the pressure on.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Old gods do new jobs :wink:

 

A truer statement was never made, Mr. K. Ditto for Scorrie's post about the Roman Catholic Church subsuming every major spiritual festival or belief, depending on which part of the world they were expanding into in the early days. Mithras or Sol Invictus, with his halo, cross, altar and font of blessed water outside the door? Oh, he's really Jesus, simple mistake on your part.

 

Zeus/Jove? Oh, you must mean Jehovah! You know, the Big G? Mithra...Jesus' daddy. Yes, He's also got a BIIIIG white beard, lives way up above the clouds. Funny that.

 

Brigid? No, surely you mean Saint Brigid? That's right! Another one of ours.

 

Hel? Yup, that's ours. The Devil lives there. Y'know, that Horned fellow you all used to witter on about, hung out with that strumpet whom you, in your blissful pagan ignorance, called Mother Earth? Oooooh, he's wicked, him! You'd best burn anyone that talks of him!

 

Samhain? No, that's All Hallows Evening, the night before All Hallows Day. One of the HOLIEST days of the year, y'know.

 

Yule? Saturnalia? Never heard of them, but there's this GREAT feast WE have, called "Christmas"! Yup, and to make things better, we will ask Father CocaCola to show you this smashing fellow we've got, another saint. You'll like him. Big happy fellow, gives presents and gifts to all the little kiddies. As long as they don't sin, of course!

 

See? Not that many changes to worry about really? Think of it more as a...re-branding exercise. :wink:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have to say - and it's not directly related to religion & theology - but it is sort of a...cousin is, something that REALLY gets on my wick is this garbage industry spawned in this "New Age" to do with "angels". "Guardian angels", "elemental angels", "personal angels". There's even one particularly odious individual - in the vein of that fellow, Acorah - who calls himself an "Angel Whisperer"! Ye Gods! (pardon the pun).

 

If you are to accept that, in the "Christian" faith, there is such a thing as angels, and that they are not merely borrowed wholesale from the Babylonians, then an angel should be the last thing you'd be wanting to whisper to, or receive whispers from.

 

A simple peruse of the Bible will amply demonstrate (particularly the more "reliable" Old Testament *) that such beings had one purpose for the Big Fellow, and it wasn't to whisper to you, or cuddle you, or tell you your future will be better and happier, or where you left your watch, or how Auntie Vera is doing "on the other side". They were arbiters of God's will - read "wrath" - in our physical plane.

 

Two angels utterly destroyed Sodom & Gomorrah - with every man, woman and child therein - then turned Lot's wife into a pillar of salt, JUST for turning round (and she was a believer! There's a fable for you, wives. Never do not do as you are told, in the name of "God", or that might be you!)

 

An angel slew every firstborn child in Egypt.

 

An angel slew seventy thousand Hebrews and destroyed part of Jerusalem in David's time.

 

An Angel slew over 100,000 Assyrians tha stood against the Hebrews in the time of Judah.

 

And it's an angel that is charged with unlocking "The Pit" and unleashing Hell, in the Final Battle.

 

That's if you are willing to believe the book in question.

 

So it really annoys me that we now have this cute & cuddly, "tall & blonde & white & wings like a dove, with a lovely halo" image that is peddled these days. It contradicts what the Bible says, and yet it is peddled by certain branches of the Christian faith - and by this loathsome money-grubbing industry that has sprung up.

 

Gah! Rant over, normal service resumed.

 

But, another thing. How come the Christian god is just known as "God", when He gives His name in the Bible? How come He's not "TheGod Jehovah"?

 

Just asking! :?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
  • 3 months later...
  • 5 years later...

George, I cannot prove to you that God exists but as you seem so sure that God does not exist I would be interested in hearing your proof.

No, tarsus. You, like everybody else, cannot prove that your god exists. I, however, have never come across your god, or anybody else's for that matter, so I don't know what bit of nothing I should prove to be nonexistent. There ino reason to believe that there's a god, it'only a story and it's fed to you for one reason - to stop the ministers, preachers and priests having to get a real job.

 

But my faith keepme going :cool: 

Edited by George.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...