Another battlefield in the war on Christmas

[manifold]

CHELMSFORD -- 'Twas the month before Christmas and all through the class, controversy was stirring about Christmas present and past.

The rhyme may sound trite, but the complaint is real from two Chelmsford mothers who say the Byam Elementary School has banned Christmas from its annual holiday gift shop.

A flier sent home with students for the gift shop, which will run from Dec. 1 to Dec. 4 and benefits the school's PTO, states no Santa, candy canes, stockings, Christmas, Hanukkah or other "religious items" are welcome.

Happy holidays, Chelmsford kids! (Just leave the Santas and candy canes at home) - Lowell Sun Online

 

[Gatekeeper]

WOW, and I used to live in Chelmsford Ma. way back when.
What a shame the "In God We Trust" on the back of our currency has turned into, well, this list could go on forever, but turned into, "Hail to the Underworld", "In $$ We Trust" or .......never mind

 

[uscitizen]

I think it is funny about the fuss about Santa, Holiday tree, Candy canes, etc since they are relics of pagan midwinter festivals and not part of Christianity at all.

 

[WillowTree]

easy smeasy,, just say fuck the gift shop and spend your money elsewhere! no problemo!

 

[manifold]

I think it is funny about the fuss about Santa, Holiday tree, Candy canes, etc since they are relics of pagan midwinter festivals and not part of Christianity at all.

Paganism is a religion too no?

 

[WillowTree]

I think it is funny about the fuss about Santa, Holiday tree, Candy canes, etc since they are relics of pagan midwinter festivals and not part of Christianity at all.

here we go again, you spend your money in the holiday shop I'll spend mine at the Christmas store.. no problemo!

 

[Vel]

I think it is funny about the fuss about Santa, Holiday tree, Candy canes, etc since they are relics of pagan midwinter festivals and not part of Christianity at all.

Holiday tree? Can you enlighten us on all the holidays that involve bringing a tree into your house and decorating it?

 

[WillowTree]

I think it is funny about the fuss about Santa, Holiday tree, Candy canes, etc since they are relics of pagan midwinter festivals and not part of Christianity at all.

Holiday tree? Can you enlighten us on all the holidays that involve bringing a tree into your house and decorating it?

no, they cannot, they just start this crap every year thinking they will fuck it up for the Christians. They fail every year but they keep trying.

 

[Ringel05]

I think it is funny about the fuss about Santa, Holiday tree, Candy canes, etc since they are relics of pagan midwinter festivals and not part of Christianity at all.

Paganism is a religion too no?

What's even more hysterical is while they were pagan rituals initially they were adapted and adopted into the Christian religion by the converts and their priests. That would in truth make them part of Christianity. Go figure.

 

[uscitizen]

I think it is funny about the fuss about Santa, Holiday tree, Candy canes, etc since they are relics of pagan midwinter festivals and not part of Christianity at all.

Paganism is a religion too no?

Yes I suppose so. Some wven think that believeing in no god, afterlife, etc is a religion.

I recommend everyone watching the History of Christmas on the history channel. I expect they will start showing it again soon.

 

[Claudette]

I'm not much on religion but I still call it a CHRISTMAS TREE and say MERRY CHRISTMAS and I really don't give a fuck what the ACLU or anyone else has to say about it.

 

[manifold]

I think it is funny about the fuss about Santa, Holiday tree, Candy canes, etc since they are relics of pagan midwinter festivals and not part of Christianity at all.

Holiday tree? Can you enlighten us on all the holidays that involve bringing a tree into your house and decorating it?

Yule

and later co-opted by Christmas


Glad I could help.

 

[Vel]

I think it is funny about the fuss about Santa, Holiday tree, Candy canes, etc since they are relics of pagan midwinter festivals and not part of Christianity at all.

Holiday tree? Can you enlighten us on all the holidays that involve bringing a tree into your house and decorating it?

Yule

and later co-opted by Christmas


Glad I could help.

I'm pretty sure it's Yule LOG and that a decorated tree came AFTER the Yule celebration was co-opted by Christmas, but as they were both early German celebrations, I won't argue the point.

 

[WillowTree]

I think it is funny about the fuss about Santa, Holiday tree, Candy canes, etc since they are relics of pagan midwinter festivals and not part of Christianity at all.

Paganism is a religion too no?

Yes I suppose so. Some wven think that believeing in no god, afterlife, etc is a religion.

I recommend everyone watching the History of Christmas on the history channel. I expect they will start showing it again soon.

why? all your bullshit rhetoric won't change the minds of the Christians who Celebrate the Birth of Christ on Christmas day.. So you don't? who gives a crap..

 

[WillowTree]

I'm not much on religion but I still call it a CHRISTMAS TREE and say MERRY CHRISTMAS and I really don't give a fuck what the ACLU or anyone else has to say about it.

you tell em girl..

 

[manifold]

Holiday tree? Can you enlighten us on all the holidays that involve bringing a tree into your house and decorating it?

Yule

and later co-opted by Christmas


Glad I could help.

I'm pretty sure it's Yule LOG and that a decorated tree came AFTER the Yule celebration was co-opted by Christmas, but as they were both early German celebrations, I won't argue the point.

Not according to my research (and by research I mean quick google search )

The Pagan Origins of Christmas

Many of our modern Christmas traditions began hundreds of years before Christ was born. Some of these traditions date back more than 4000 years. The addition of Christ to the celebration of the winter solstice did not occur until 300 years after Christ died and as late as 1800, some devout Christian sects, like the Puritans, forbade their members from celebrating Christmas because it was considered a pagan holiday. So what is the history behind these traditions?

The Christmas tree is derived from several solstice traditions. The Romans decked their halls with garlands of laurel and placed candles in live trees to decorate for the celebration of Saturnalia. In Scandinavia, they hung apples from evergreen trees at the winder solstice to remind themselves that spring and summer will come again. The evergreen tree was the special plant of their sun god, Baldor.

The practice of exchanging gifts at a winter celebration is also pre-Christian and is from the Roman Saturnalia. They would exchange good-luck gifts called Stenae (lucky fruits). They also would have a big feast just like we do today.

Mistletoe is from an ancient Druid custom at the winter solstice. Mistletoe was considered a divine plant and it symbolized love and peace. The tradition of kissing under the mistletoe is Druid in origin.

The Scandinavian solstice traditions had a lot of influences on our celebration besides the hanging of ornaments on evergreen trees. Their ancient festival was called Yuletide and celebrated the return of the sun. One of their traditions was the Yule log. The log was the center of the trunk of a tree that was dragged to a large fireplace where it was supposed to burn for twelve days. From this comes the twelve days of Christmas.

Even the date of Christmas, December 25, was borrowed from another religion. At the time Christmas was created in AD 320, Mithraism was very popular. The early Christian church had gotten tired of their futile efforts to stop people celebrating the solstice and the birthday of Mithras, the Persian sun god. Mithras’ birthday was December 25. So the pope at the time decided to make Jesus’ official birthday coincide with Mithras’ birthday. No one knows what time of year Jesus was actually born but there is evidence to suggest that it was in midsummer.

 

[uscitizen]

Paganism is a religion too no?

Yes I suppose so. Some wven think that believeing in no god, afterlife, etc is a religion.

I recommend everyone watching the History of Christmas on the history channel. I expect they will start showing it again soon.

why? all your bullshit rhetoric won't change the minds of the Christians who Celebrate the Birth of Christ on Christmas day.. So you don't? who gives a crap..

Oh I do the US Christmas thing. I just do not celebrate the birth of Christ part.
The Grandchildren have a big time and I enjoy giving thoughtful presents.
Plus the feasting is great :clink:

 

[Vel]

Yule

and later co-opted by Christmas


Glad I could help.

I'm pretty sure it's Yule LOG and that a decorated tree came AFTER the Yule celebration was co-opted by Christmas, but as they were both early German celebrations, I won't argue the point.

Not according to my research (and by research I mean quick google search )

The Pagan Origins of Christmas

Many of our modern Christmas traditions began hundreds of years before Christ was born. Some of these traditions date back more than 4000 years. The addition of Christ to the celebration of the winter solstice did not occur until 300 years after Christ died and as late as 1800, some devout Christian sects, like the Puritans, forbade their members from celebrating Christmas because it was considered a pagan holiday. So what is the history behind these traditions?

The Christmas tree is derived from several solstice traditions. The Romans decked their halls with garlands of laurel and placed candles in live trees to decorate for the celebration of Saturnalia. In Scandinavia, they hung apples from evergreen trees at the winder solstice to remind themselves that spring and summer will come again. The evergreen tree was the special plant of their sun god, Baldor.

The practice of exchanging gifts at a winter celebration is also pre-Christian and is from the Roman Saturnalia. They would exchange good-luck gifts called Stenae (lucky fruits). They also would have a big feast just like we do today.

Mistletoe is from an ancient Druid custom at the winter solstice. Mistletoe was considered a divine plant and it symbolized love and peace. The tradition of kissing under the mistletoe is Druid in origin.

The Scandinavian solstice traditions had a lot of influences on our celebration besides the hanging of ornaments on evergreen trees. Their ancient festival was called Yuletide and celebrated the return of the sun. One of their traditions was the Yule log. The log was the center of the trunk of a tree that was dragged to a large fireplace where it was supposed to burn for twelve days. From this comes the twelve days of Christmas.

Even the date of Christmas, December 25, was borrowed from another religion. At the time Christmas was created in AD 320, Mithraism was very popular. The early Christian church had gotten tired of their futile efforts to stop people celebrating the solstice and the birthday of Mithras, the Persian sun god. Mithras’ birthday was December 25. So the pope at the time decided to make Jesus’ official birthday coincide with Mithras’ birthday. No one knows what time of year Jesus was actually born but there is evidence to suggest that it was in midsummer.

I stand corrected by Wiki.

 

[WillowTree]

Yes I suppose so. Some wven think that believeing in no god, afterlife, etc is a religion.

I recommend everyone watching the History of Christmas on the history channel. I expect they will start showing it again soon.

why? all your bullshit rhetoric won't change the minds of the Christians who Celebrate the Birth of Christ on Christmas day.. So you don't? who gives a crap..

Oh I do the US Christmas thing. I just do not celebrate the birth of Christ part.
The Grandchildren have a big time and I enjoy giving thoughtful presents.
Plus the feasting is great :clink:

well that's fine, but the Christians are celebrating the birth of Christ..

 

[manifold]

I'm pretty sure it's Yule LOG and that a decorated tree came AFTER the Yule celebration was co-opted by Christmas, but as they were both early German celebrations, I won't argue the point.

Not according to my research (and by research I mean quick google search )

The Pagan Origins of Christmas

Many of our modern Christmas traditions began hundreds of years before Christ was born. Some of these traditions date back more than 4000 years. The addition of Christ to the celebration of the winter solstice did not occur until 300 years after Christ died and as late as 1800, some devout Christian sects, like the Puritans, forbade their members from celebrating Christmas because it was considered a pagan holiday. So what is the history behind these traditions?

The Christmas tree is derived from several solstice traditions. The Romans decked their halls with garlands of laurel and placed candles in live trees to decorate for the celebration of Saturnalia. In Scandinavia, they hung apples from evergreen trees at the winder solstice to remind themselves that spring and summer will come again. The evergreen tree was the special plant of their sun god, Baldor.

The practice of exchanging gifts at a winter celebration is also pre-Christian and is from the Roman Saturnalia. They would exchange good-luck gifts called Stenae (lucky fruits). They also would have a big feast just like we do today.

Mistletoe is from an ancient Druid custom at the winter solstice. Mistletoe was considered a divine plant and it symbolized love and peace. The tradition of kissing under the mistletoe is Druid in origin.

The Scandinavian solstice traditions had a lot of influences on our celebration besides the hanging of ornaments on evergreen trees. Their ancient festival was called Yuletide and celebrated the return of the sun. One of their traditions was the Yule log. The log was the center of the trunk of a tree that was dragged to a large fireplace where it was supposed to burn for twelve days. From this comes the twelve days of Christmas.

Even the date of Christmas, December 25, was borrowed from another religion. At the time Christmas was created in AD 320, Mithraism was very popular. The early Christian church had gotten tired of their futile efforts to stop people celebrating the solstice and the birthday of Mithras, the Persian sun god. Mithras’ birthday was December 25. So the pope at the time decided to make Jesus’ official birthday coincide with Mithras’ birthday. No one knows what time of year Jesus was actually born but there is evidence to suggest that it was in midsummer.

I stand corrected by Wiki.

It's not Wiki. But I'm sure it's equally reliable.