Another Rebuttal of Christmas Foolishness

I thought as a Yule gift I might demolish another “Christ-in-the-Christmas” defender, this one courtesy of my son in Upstate New York. This article appeared in a local paper. The author is Tom Sears, a professor of accounting at Hartwick College in Oneonta. He can be reached at SearsT@hartwick.edu. His column appears every other week. The original article is to be found here:

What are the atheists afraid of?

They’re probably taking into consideration Christianity’s dismal track record in the field of tolerance. On a scale of 1-10, Christianity ranks a solid -10, and you can look that up. Given the level of intolerance of the so-called Christian Right, especially but not limited to persecution of the gay-lesbian community, atheism, and Paganism, they have every right to be distrustful.

Christmas is upon us, one of the three most important dates in Christianity. I was hoping to get through the season without any atheistic zaniness, but that didn’t happen.

Atheistic zaniness? Considering what you’re asking people to believe, I really don’t think you’re in any position to attack anybody’s zaniness. Consider as well the fact that Yule is one of the most important dates in Paganism, in fact, in almost every Pagan culture. This was our holiday first; you only “appropriated” it under dubious circumstances. You absolutely have no moral high ground to stand on here.

Starting in Olympia, Wash., and spreading to two or three other cities, atheists couldn’t stand by and not attempt to draw attention to themselves.

And…Christians aren’t trying to draw attention to themselves? Almost endless rants about the “war on Christmas” and “persecution” of Christianity. Please. Look in the mirror. Hypocrisy doesn’t impress, and remember, you only get one chance to impress.

Olympia originally simply allowed a Nativity scene and a Menorah, two symbols important to Christians and Jews, to be displayed on public property.

Your point is? All this illustrates is that every other religion on the face of the earth was excluded. Is this level of intolerance what you’re trying to draw attention to?

The atheists predictably demanded a display themselves. Their wish was granted when city officials caved, but rather than being a statement of their nonreligious, unbelieving “faith,” they chose to denigrate and insult my religious beliefs.

Now hold on a second…are you seriously telling me that every day, from coast to coast, in newspapers, books, magazines, ezines, websites, and pulpits Christianity isn’t denigrating and insulting the religious beliefs of others? Are you seriously suggesting this? I have to wonder whether you think about what you say before you say it, because while the rest of what you’ve said is of dubious merit, this is hitting rock bottom.

I, and many other Christians, simply won’t sit still for this behavior. I know I have friends who are either self-proclaimed or silent atheists, and this column is not about them (even though I can’t understand their decision and know they are making the biggest mistake possible). This column is for the radical members of their group.

Well, gosh, I and many other polytheists simply won’t sit still for your intolerance.

Why are you so afraid of religion, and Christianity in particular? What do you fear? It’s easy to declare yourself an atheist, especially out of laziness, since I’m sure very few of you ever attempted to give religion a serious chance through exploration and introspection. Isn’t it also quite egocentric to not acknowledge a supreme being greater than yourself?

Why are you so afraid of atheism? Why are you so afraid of Paganism? What do you fear? You can’t seriously be saying atheists are lazy. Most of them were once Christian, the same as most Pagans. Believe me, most of us know our Bibles better than the average Christian. You have absolutely no right to accuse anybody of not exploring your religion. It’s been explored, found wanting, and rejected, and on quite good grounds I might add. Personally, as regards supreme beings, I accept a great many more of them than you…does this make me superior to you?

Instead of proudly proclaiming your stance and backing it up with research that led you to your ultimate decision, you choose to exhibit nastiness and hate toward my religious faith.

Untrue. I’ve personally read many atheists tracts. They are usually followed up with excellent research, quoting chapter and verse of the Bible and refuting it point by point, or listing the contradictions (which are voluminous). I can send you a list of links if you can’t google them yourself. On the other hand, Christians ARE guilty of exactly what you’re accusing atheists of – nastiness and hate. Every sunday, the same nastiness and hate, the bigoted intolerance of everything you consider “other”. Have you read Jan Assmann, by any chance? He calls polytheism religion, a “means of translation between cultures.” He calls monotheism “counterreligion” because it “not only constructed but rejected and repudiated everything that went before and everything outside itself as ‘paganism’.” As he puts it, “false gods don’t translate.” You’re an exclusive, intolerant religion, and that fact is beyond dispute by any reasoning human being.

You post a sign next to the above-mentioned displays that says, “There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world. Religion is but a myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds.”

What’s wrong with that? You run around claiming that there is only one god, a devil, angels, and a heaven and a hell. You may find a rejection of your stance disgusting but we find your stance disgusting. There are many gods, no devil, spirits, and an afterlife (the understanding of which differs from culture to culture) and no hell. I might remind you the Jews thought of Sheol as a place where the righteous and unrighteous alike went after death. The invention of your ideas of heaven and hell are relatively new in history. While I don’t agree with atheists on every complaint they have, I can understand them given their experience with Christian intolerance and myth. It’s no wonder they have such a negative attitude towards religion, which was, after all, for the Pagan Romans simply a “proper and reasonable awe of the gods” – in other words, cultic acts of worship – not doctrine. In a very real sense, Christianity is responsible for atheism. Here, you might find this quote illuminating:

The situation cannot be made more black and white than this. A.H. Armstrong relates for us the legacy of Christian intolerance:

The choice of the way of intolerance by the authorities of Church and empire in the late fourth century has had some very serious and lasting consequences. The last vestiges of its practical effects, in the form of the imposition of at least petty and vexatious disabilities on forms of religion not approved by the local ecclesiastical establishment, lasted in some European countries well into my lifetime. And theoretical approval of this sort of intolerance has often long outlasted the power to apply it in practice. After all, as late as 1945 many approved Roman Catholic theologians in England, and the Roman authorities, objected to a statement on religious freedom very close to Vatican II’s declaration on that subject. In general, I do not think that any Christian body has ever abandoned the power to persecute and repress while it actually had it. The acceptance of religious tolerance and freedom as good in themselves has normally been the belated, though sometimes sincere and whole-hearted, recognition and acceptance of a fait accompli. This long persistence of Theodosian intolerance in practice and its still longer persistence in theory has certainly been a cause, though not the only cause, of that unique phenomenon of our time, the decline not only of Christianity but all forms of religious belief and the growth of a totally irreligious and unspiritual materialism.

Armstrong concludes that “the triumph of Christianity carried in it, as perhaps all such triumphs do, the seeds of future defeat. The Church in the fourth century took what it wanted and has been paying for it, in one way or another, ever since.” ( A.H. Armstrong, “The Way and the Ways: Religious Tolerance and Intolerance in the Fourth Century A.D.” Vigiliae Christianae 38 (1984), 1-2.

Christianity has been around for more than 2,000 years. Our country was founded on Christian/Judean principles. I could fill many columns with quotes and speeches from the Founding Fathers to back up this claim.

Polytheism was around for much more than 2,000 years. I’m uncertain what you think you’re proving here. If its legitimacy through length of existence then you’ve just proved the legitimacy of Paganism. Our country was most definitely NOT founded on Christian/Judean principles. If you like, I can fill many of your columns with quotes and speeches and letters and books by the Founding Fathers to back up this claim. Let’s have a contest.

Christmas has been a national holiday since the late 1800s. Polls show that there are only 3 percent of Americans who consider themselves atheists (still way too many), 92 percent who believe in God, and 84 percent who consider themselves Christians.

Oh, you do NOT want to go there. Yule has been a Pagan holiday since time immemorial, further back in antiquity than either Christianity or Judaism. Your numbers are also skewed. I don’t know where you get them from but there is ample evidence that Christians (especially the Evangelical variety) are far less numerous than claimed, and many of those are only nominally Christian, believing in such things as reincarnation, for example. Atheism is growing as Christianity declines. Paganism in fact is the fastest growing religion in America. I might point out to you though that truth is not determined by numbers. If that is the claim you are making, you have again just proven polytheism to be legitimate, as only a few percent of the population of the Roman Empire before the fourth century were Christian. Even then, when Constantine embraced Christian intolerance by making it the official state religion, only 10% of some 60 million people were Christian. And to paraphrase you, even if only 50% of Americans are Christians, that is still far too many.

Is this why you’re afraid? Is this why you feel that you have to remove all references to God and religion from the public square? Are you worried that a child could see a Nativity scene and wonder who this baby Jesus really was? Of course you are.

Yes, why are you afraid? I’ll tell you what the problem is. The problem is that you want the law to recognize only Christianity as a legitimate religion. You don’t want equality, you want preferential treatment. You may not realize this but if Biblical law becomes civil law, you’ve violated the Establishment Clause of the Constitution, wisely put there by our Deist Founding Fathers and the 18th century’s much wiser Evangelicals. If you want to practice your religion, do what the rest of us do and keep it out of public buildings. The government cannot endorse religion. The real fear, I’m afraid, is in YOU. And I will tell you what you’re afraid of: You are afraid your little Christian children and your fellow Christian adults will begin to doubt. You’re afraid they’ll break the chains of their brainwashing and see that there are legitimate alternatives to Christianity, that maybe Christian myth isn’t all that’s claimed. If you weren’t afraid, it wouldn’t bother you so much that other people have different ideas. Yes, my Christian friend, the real fear comes from YOU.

Here’s what you should do, and I won’t protest your right to do so. Pick a day, any day you choose (probably not a work day since it will never be declared a national holiday). Spend it celebrating your atheism. Have an atheist tree, exchange atheist presents, have a nice atheist dinner, wish each other a happy atheist day.

Here’s what YOU should do. Pick a day, any day, that is not the same as that of a polytheistic holy day, and celebrate your holidays there. Give back all the land stolen from Paganism over the centuries or turn the churches now there into temples to the gods. Oh, and remove the name of Easter from that holiday since it’s named for the Germanic goddess Eostre. And tell the pope to surrender his stolen title while you’re at it, since that’s the property of the Pagan high priest of Rome. Then you can have a nice Christian dinner, and wish each other a nice Christian day.

Maybe some of you who believe there is no being more supreme than yourselves can sit on a stool in front of a mirror and praise yourselves all day. Just don’t trample, insult or show condescension toward my religious convictions.

Maybe some of you who believe there is only one god can sit on a stool and praise your intolerance and your own atheism. Just don’t trample, insult or show condescension towards MY religious convictions. Believe me, Christians have NO moral high ground when it comes to trampling, insulting, and condescending.

I promise I won’t bother you (but I will still worry about you and pray for you). The saddest part of all this are your children. I’m sure you won’t even give them the opportunity to make an informed decision on their own. Why wouldn’t you do this? You’re afraid of the choice they might make. In last weekend’s edition of The Daily Star, there was an article titled “Israel celebrates Hanukkah tale.” It tells of an Israeli village where the re-enactment of the Hanukkah story takes place, which I believe is an annual event.

I promise I won’t bother you (and I won’t pray for you either – you’ve made your own path and we, each of us, create our own fates). The saddest part of all this is YOUR children, that you bring them up blinkered and unthinking, brainwashing them from an early age to believe your doctrine, refusing to let them think, or reason, or question. Your idea of free thinking is to say “you’re free to examine any sources you wish so long as you come to THIS conclusion.” Again, you’re hardly in a position to talk down to anyone.

A person is quoted as saying, “Thousands of Israeli children have visited here.

They learn about the Maccabees and understand their nationalism, and their religion becomes stronger.” Is this what you are afraid of? That they might hear the story of Jesus and make a decision different from that of your own? People, we are on the right side of this issue. We have the numbers to effectively boycott films and stores that pander to this atheistic theme.

Oh please, do you seriously mean to suggest this? The only person afraid that people will make a different decision than their own is you and your fellow Christians. That’s why you try to control what we can read, what we can watch, what we can listen to. You’re perfectly willing to put breaks on free speech so long as you have the right to spew hatred and intolerance. The moment anyone discusses the possibility of putting breaks on those, you start crying persecution. Please, think about what you’re saying before you open your mouth. I mean, look at what you’re threatening! Boycot? WHAT ARE YOU AFRAID OF? You sound now like a petulant child.

A perfect example was Bill Maher’s film “Religulous.” It was highly promoted and a total flop. Compare that to the movie “The Passion of The Christ.” This was produced by Mel Gibson with his own funds since Hollywood rejected its religious theme. It ended up being 12th of the top 1,000 grossing films. So we do have some clout and can exercise it if pushed too far.

Yes, Passion of Christ, roundly condemned by many and anti-Semitic to boot. And wow, yet another threat! I don’t recall any atheists threatening you. I know of no Pagans who have. We just want to be free of your narrow-minded and intolerant view of things outside yourself. All the threats are coming from your camp. Remember who stole what in Washington.

So let’s switch the focus back on Christmas. As Nathan Tabor, a columnist, says, Christmas isn’t anything without Christ. On that note, I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas, but more importantly, happy birthday, Jesus.

Yes, by all means. Let’s switch our focus back to this most Pagan of holidays and think about it’s true meaning. And you’re wrong: the day is EVERYTHING without Jesus, who in truth has nothing to do with it. You certainly are aware of how late in time Christians laid hold of this Pagan holiday, aren’t you?

What are the Christian origins of Christianity? They lie in the fourth century. There is no evidence at all of anything earlier than this, whatever claims are made to the contrary. The first mention dates from 354 in a document called the “Philocalian Calendar” (“Codex-Calendar of 354″) which incorporates material apparently going back to as early as 336.[15] In earlier times, it seems Christians were no more interested in when Jesus was born than where he was buried, a deplorable lack of curiosity that is unfortunate for scholars and believers alike today.

One noted Christian author, Clement of Alexandria (Stromateis 1.21; 145.6; 1146.4), even went so far as to say curiosity about the date of Jesus’ birth was “gratuitous curiosity.” When possible dates were mentioned, they most certainly did not include December 25th. Instead, we find mention of March 28, April 2 or 20.[16] It seems a logical conclusion to draw then that if December 25th was selected as Jesus’ birthday that it was chosen purposely to conflict or supersede the Pagan holy day. After all, if Christians either didn’t care about the date of Jesus’ birth, or if they normally put it in the spring, Pagans could hardly have stolen the idea from Christians!

December 25th received only grudging and scattered acceptance, mostly in the West, with the East resisting (December 25 is still meaningless in Armenia). In 350, Pope Julius I ordered Christmas to be celebrated on December 25. Christmas arrived on December 25th in Constantinople in 380 and it’s not until 386 that we find John Chrysostom, in Antioch, ordering Christmas to be celebrated by the Christian community there on December 25. December 25 did not come to Alexandria until 432. The Church of Jerusalem stubbornly refused to celebrate that date until the seventh century! Not only was December 25th not originally Jesus’ birthday, but when it was declared so, nobody wanted it. That, in a nutshell, is the true history of Christmas.