How do pagans celebrate Christmas?

[Genesius]

Well, I'm no Wiccan or Satanist but I am an atheist who was turned around 360 degrees by the power of Jesus.

OK, maybe my brain's just not working today, but. . .

Do you mean you were an atheist before, and the power of Jesus turned you into one again?

Or you were an atheist before, and the power of Jesus made you turn in a full circle?

Am I missing something?

 

[ZirconBlue]

Well, I'm an atheist, not a pagan, but in my home we celebrate "Secular Christmas." That is, all of the Santa/Tree/Present stuff, but none of the Jesus/Angel stuff.

 

[Steve]

If I were a pagan I would probably celebrate with presents. And turkey. And egg nog. And rum.

But I am a mere atheist so I will have to settle for presents. And turkey. And egg nog. And rum...... yesssss - lots of rum!

Cheers

 

[ysabella]

The Christians and the Pagans by Dar Williams

Amber called her uncle, said "We're up here for the holiday,
Jane and I were having Solstice, now we need a place to stay."
And her Christ-loving uncle watched his wife hang Mary on a tree,
He watched his son hang candy canes all made with red dye number three.
He told his niece, "Its Christmas Eve, I know our life is not your style,"
She said, "Christmas is like Solstice, and we miss you and its been awhile."

So the Christians and the Pagans sat together at the table,
Finding faith and common ground the best that they were able.
Just before the meal was served, hands were held and prayers were said,
Sending hope for peace on earth to all their gods and goddesses.

The food was great, the tree plugged in, the meal had gone without a hitch,
'Til Timmy turned to Amber and said, "Is it true that you're a witch?"
His mom jumped up and said, "The pies are burning," and she hit the kitchen,
And it was Jane who spoke, she said, "It's true, your cousin's not a Christian,
But we love trees, we love the snow, the friends we have, the world we share,
And you find magic from your God, and we find magic everywhere."

So the Christians and the Pagans sat together at the table,
Finding faith and common ground the best that they were able,
Where does magic come from? I think magic's in the learning,
'Cause now when Christians sit with Pagans, only pumpkin pies are burning.

When Amber tried to do the dishes, her aunt said, "Really, no, dont bother."
Amber's uncle saw how Amber looked like him and like her father.
He thought about his brother, how they hadn't spoken in a year,
He thought he'd call him up and say, "It's Christmas and your daughter's here."
He thought of fathers, sons and brothers, saw his own son tug his sleeve, saying
"Can I be a Pagan?" Dad said, "We'll discuss it when they leave."

So the Christians and the Pagans sat together at the table,
Finding faith and common ground the best that they were able,
Lighting trees in darkness, learning new ways from the old, and
Making sense of history, and drawing warmth out of the cold.

(My favorite lines in bold)

 

[kmortis]

ysabella, that might just replace "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" at my house.

 

[Ceritus]

I want to know where is Christ is at Christmas? Look around our world. People all caught up in superficiality. I want this, give me that. The true spirit of Christmas is Christ. It's a time to remember the one who came to save us. Jesus was born so that all could be reconciled to God. The sins of this dark world He bore for each of us. Jesus is the reason for the season!

Oh how I have missed you...
Jesus is not the reason for the season, you are aware the day christmas is celebrated was already celebrated for other reasons well before Jesus the Christ Child.

 

[Ceritus]

It would be more accurate to state that bigotry, tyranny and hate for pagan religions are the reason for the season.

Long live reason.

 

[CapelDodger]

Well, I'm no Wiccan or Satanist but I am an atheist who was turned around 360 degrees by the power of Jesus.

That's just atheist spin.

 

[CapelDodger]

I was looking forward to responding with, "by virgin sacrifice."

Gross calumny and slander, which you narrowly avoided making. Arguably.

Menstrual blood is the charm, not sacrificial blood. At Spring Equinox.

Sacrifical virgin blood - euphemised via "transsubstantiation" and the implicit assumption that Jebus, like, never got no action? - is more of a Christian obsession.

 

[Ducky]

I want to know where is Christ is at Christmas? Look around our world. People all caught up in superficiality. I want this, give me that. The true spirit of Christmas is Christ. It's a time to remember the one who came to save us. Jesus was born so that all could be reconciled to God. The sins of this dark world He bore for each of us. Jesus is the reason for the season!

We celebrate by burning Christians and eating their babies.

You gonna answer any of the questions posed in any of the other threads, or are you just going to start new threads and preach more?

 

[Ducky]

Just to answer the topic--I'm not a pagan, I'm a heebie, so I celebrate Christmas in the traditional Jewish way. Namely, watching a movie and eating Chinese food.

\


Only the true messiah would deny his divinity.

FOLLOW THE GORD!

 

[CapelDodger]

It would be more accurate to state that bigotry, tyranny and hate for pagan religions are the reason for the season.

It would surely be even more accurate to state that orbital mechanics are the reason for the season. Or on a deeper level, a whole bunch of Conservation Laws.

As an atheist, I will mark the Winter Solstice and celebrate because it's in my nature to prefer the long days to the short. Not that winter doesn't have its own attractions - I do like to sit by the fireside, for instance, you can get a lot of thinking done while staring into a fire - but I'm more of a spring-and-summer person, and I think I'm in the majority there.

 

[CapelDodger]

Making sense of history, and drawing warmth out of the cold.

That's a lovely piece, thanks for posting it.

I pick this line out because the Winter Solstice links me and my humanity, in this very artificial world, with a deeper time, different worlds, different people but the same humanity. You have to do that to make sense of history, and of humanity. And at the same time I can appreciate the physics of what's happening. I consider myself blessed.

It's the prescriptions and proscriptions of religion that trample on humanity. I cry anathema on them.

Happy Holidays, every one.

 

[Tricky]

Jesus is not the reason for the season, you are aware the day christmas is celebrated was already celebrated for other reasons well before Jesus the Christ Child.

Which brings up the obvious question:
WWJDOC - "What would Jesus do on Christmas?"

You think he had a tree? A Yule log? Did anybody ever throw him a surprise birthday party?

 

[kmortis]

Which brings up the obvious question:
WWJDOC - "What would Jesus do on Christmas?"

You think he had a tree? A Yule log? Did anybody ever throw him a surprise birthday party?

Tricky,
After the whole "Fig Tree Incident" they stopped giving him trees. For a son of god, he's got no green thumb.

 

[Tricky]

Tricky,
After the whole "Fig Tree Incident" they stopped giving him trees. For a son of god, he's got no green thumb.

Well duh. That happened only a few weeks before his big hang-up. But surely the withering incident means Jesus doesn't like trees.

 

[ysabella]

Ah, I should clarify - The Christians and the Pagans is actually a song. You can play a clip here.

 

[kmortis]

Well duh. That happened only a few weeks before his big hang-up. But surely the withering incident means Jesus doesn't like trees.

Ok, granted, we only have one explicit data point to that end. But consider the circumstantial evidence.

He was raised by, and (by all acrypophal sources) was himself, a carpenter. This means that he was in the wood-torturing business. Not wood friendly here.

The cross is sometimes refered to as a tree. Why, cause it's not nice to hang on a tree, any more than it's nice to hang on a cross. OBVIOUSLY this is a veiled reference to JC's anti-tree stance.

His enemies (the Pagans and neo-pagans) are sometimes refered to as "tree-huggers" or "tree-worshippers". This shows the definate anti-tree stance of JC's followers. It can only have come from a single source..the Big Man^tm himself.

Also, in the Pagan days, it was traditional to leave the tree standing when you decorated it. It was the Anti-tree Christians who decided to BRUTALLY cut it down and drag it inside where it doesnt' belong. Another piece of circumstancial data of JC & Co.'s anti-tree stance.

I think it's quite clear, upon a closer review, that JC was no friend of the tree. Oh, no. He was quite insistant in withering that poor, defencless fig tree, after spending his youth twisting and banging on it's cousins and relatives.

 

[Tricky]

Ok, granted, we only have one explicit data point to that end. But consider the circumstantial evidence.

He was raised by, and (by all acrypophal sources) was himself, a carpenter. This means that he was in the wood-torturing business. Not wood friendly here.

The cross is sometimes refered to as a tree. Why, cause it's not nice to hang on a tree, any more than it's nice to hang on a cross. OBVIOUSLY this is a veiled reference to JC's anti-tree stance.

His enemies (the Pagans and neo-pagans) are sometimes refered to as "tree-huggers" or "tree-worshippers". This shows the definate anti-tree stance of JC's followers. It can only have come from a single source..the Big Man^tm himself.

Also, in the Pagan days, it was traditional to leave the tree standing when you decorated it. It was the Anti-tree Christians who decided to BRUTALLY cut it down and drag it inside where it doesnt' belong. Another piece of circumstancial data of JC & Co.'s anti-tree stance.

I think it's quite clear, upon a closer review, that JC was no friend of the tree. Oh, no. He was quite insistant in withering that poor, defencless fig tree, after spending his youth twisting and banging on it's cousins and relatives.

Your logic is irrefutable sir. I wonder if by extension you could say that Jesus was anti-environment.

 

[kmortis]

Your logic is irrefutable sir. I wonder if by extension you could say that Jesus was anti-environment.

Well, naturally (excuse the pun). The whole "give unto Ceaser" bit is an obvious code that we're to rape the environment for our own needs. No where does he mention that we're to recycle, maximize our utilization of grey water (in fact most of his interaction with water is that of a greedy consumer, with at least one incident of hime literally TRAMPLING the water), and he implies that repairing cloth isn't a good idea.

Ok, ok, I can hear the shouts now, "but Ken....what about the 'good steward' part?"

Well, that was in the OT, and if JC is to be beileved, he was here to "do away with the old laws", and that includes the injunction to be a good steward. This is why there are more Jewish people in the environmental movement than there are Christians (Source:Baseless Claims Magazine, vol 23, pg 1886).

I hope this helps.