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CHRISTMAS AND THE HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY
Like many, I find Christmas to be an emotionally confusing time of year. On the one hand, I am all for the 'peace on Earth and goodwill to all' aspect, the focus on family, the spirit of giving and, of course, the food. I thoroughly dislike the blatant commercialism and the constant reminder that many of us are mindless consumers rather than concerned citizens. And what about all the carols! - in every public place - enough to drive most musicians a little crazy.
There is another reason, however, that Christmas creates such a conflict of feelings in me. Much of the lore surrounding this feast has been fabricated and fed to the masses, often for less than noble motives. Many of us are now aware that December 25th is probably not the actual birthday of Jesus, but rather an adaptation of what was once a pagan celebration of the winter solstice. Most of us don't take this example of the Church's manipulation of information too seriously, forgiving them for trying to 'sell' Christianity by appropriating a popular ancient feast.
But I have a harder time taking it lightly. After all the research I've done, this feast has come to symbolize all the deception and atrocity that has been perpetrated upon mankind by organized religion. I will quickly say that, yes, religion has also done a lot of good and that possibly there was a time when mankind needed such guidance. But most people have very little knowledge of the extent to which we have been manipulated by the Christian church - just how much they have distorted the teachings of Jesus and how horrific their actions have been historically. Many of these deceptions are huge. They have had dire consequences, shaping our entire belief systems, governing us and determining the course of history. And these beliefs, like the ones involving Christmas, are based on falsehoods.
The following link will take you to an excerpt from my book, 'Why Is Life'. It offers a brief history of the Christian church. Despite the efforts of many scholars, the information synopsized in the article has not received the attention it should. Their work - their attempts at lifting the veils of deceit - have been largely ignored, while we are continually being fed old dogma and new versions of nonsense.
Despite all that, I sincerely wish everyone a very merry Christmas.
Peace & love, Dennis.
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