Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Why Only Christmas?

I recently did a holiday quiz for the Skeptic group I belong to. While researching myths associated with this time of year, I came across an interesting curiosity. It seems that while the Christian holidays have a pages dedicated to seasonal myths, the Jewish and Muslim faiths have, as far as I can tell, none.

Why? Is it because their belief system is so rigid that it doesn't allow for any questioning of the doctrine? Could it be that most Christians are more open-minded and accept adding on non-theist, or more accurately, Pagan traditions to their celebrations? I would bet that if you took a worldwide survey on people's first impressions of Christmas and Easter, Santa (or Father Christmas in his various incarnations) and the Easter Bunny (or Easter Bell in Italy), would be the first thing most people associate with the holidays, and not the birth and resurrection of Jesus.

But that brings up the question; What is a myth? According to the dictionary it's:
"A traditional, typically ancient story dealing with supernatural beings, ancestors, or heroes that serves as a fundamental type in the worldview of a people, as by explaining aspects of the natural world or delineating the psychology, customs, or ideals of society."

With this definition, isn't all religion mythology? Every religion practiced today would fall under this definition. Why is the Jewish Torah anymore believable than the secret texts of Scientology? The one thing they all have in common is that they can not be proven to be true. There is no factual evidence on which these beliefs are based, many actually contradict historical documents.

It all comes down to "Faith" and that is a topic for another day!

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

These are a Few of My Favorite Things

'Tis the season for giving. So, I'm going to give you a list of my favorite holiday things.
As far as movies go, everyone puts "It's a Wonderful Life" as their favorite Christmas movie. It a classic and I love watching it, but I find "A Christmas Story" far more enjoyable. Perhaps it's because I haven't seen it a thousand times and I can't recite the dialog with the actors (yet).
Television has only one entry. "Merry Christmas Mr. Bean". If you don't laugh until you cry when Bean rescues Baby Jesus or 'puts the turkey on' then you are a soulless robot (Not that that's a bad thing).
As far as reading material is concerned, David Sedaris rules the holidays. His book "Holidays on Ice" is a brilliant collection of Christmas related stories. For classic Sedaris, checkout www.youtube.com for his live reading of "Six to Eight Black Men" set to photos and video.
Audio-wise, the only other thing I can think of is "Chiron Beta Prime" by Jonathan Coulton. A festive Christmas song with a twist. All of his stuff can be found at http://www.jonathancoulton.com/songs/
As far a musical theater goes... Well it's musical theater so it's all crap!
What do you have to offer? Leave a comment and have a great secular holiday season.
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