Christmas Day
Just after midnight, first few minutes of Christmas Day.
Mixed emotions abut the event itself.
For as a believer, I believed it was a pagan festival and nothing to do with true Christianity. So from 8 to 14 did not celebrate Christmas at all. No presents, no tree. No feasting. And to be honest if you want no sense of fun then the Jehovah’s Witnesses were the place to be. The only outing we did I recall was to the British Museum, bible in hand as a Brother would do a bible tour, as we went around the exhibitions. Strange that we never went round the Science Museum or Natural History Museum. But then the bible does not say so much about these things.
As a non believer in adulthood I enjoy the fun of Christmas. The socialising, wishing people well and the idea that at this time you bury the hatchet (not in each other). For me it is fun, enjoyable – it is a pleasant fiction.
On the other hand though some parts I find really disturbing. The Christian faith is celebrating that a child, clothed in human flesh, will grow up to be crucified. That is the purpose of his birth, the reason for his life – he has no other destiny. This agonising death will through the economy of salvation save all of us from a transgression we took no part in, and could do nothing about – original sin. Somehow we should be grateful for this and celebrate a life that literally is a sacrificial lamb of god.
The nativity play makes me want an alternate end. One where no massacre of infants takes place. Where no child need grow up with the such expectations of the world on their shoulders – it is their life and we are responsible for our own short comings, and cannot place moral responsibility on others to carry our burden.
Stripped of the myth, The Daily Mail recently accused Dawkins et al of taking away the meaning of Christmas and demeaning the power of belief in achieving good deeds. Yet surely you do not need to believe in the massacre of infants to be against child infantry? Surely you can appreciate empathy of another’s suffering without accepting the holy sacrifice? Recognise that being fair to others does not require a holy spirit to so move you?
To reject faith is not to reject virtue. The idea that belief in faith reinforces virtue is one that needs to be called into question. The evidence is that people that profess faith and do good deeds do so because they recognise the value of doing the deed – and may well feel good about doing it too. Some may claim not to have the strength to do so without their faith – but that is perhaps because the ability of the mind to create a model that helps in these matters is not as well understood to the believer as it is to a psychologist.
Or maybe it is – but they cannot think of other mental formations that could achieve the same trick – perhaps better, perhaps not. Maybe they have to think that it really is supernatural instead of something they just feel.
However you enjoy this day, may it be a good one. But just because I do not think the son of god was born to us does not mean the idea of sacrifice, unity, love, peace and good will is lost on me. More then ever do I appreciate a good time – even one based on a delusion.
Merry Christmas!
It is really a delusion to celebrate Christmas on a 25 of December. With this deceit, you become a partaker based on your post. What is the true meaning of Christmas? Learning that child is born to be a Saviour of the Church of God, we should realise that we need to find the truth about this in relation to our own salvation. But if you begin to realise that there is a Saviour out of the deceitful news and information brought about by false teachers, even false prophets and apostles, I can understand your point. Knowing that there is a Saviour and God, gives as the responsibility to seek it and separate the truth from facts. Because anyone can give us the verse in the bible, but not anyone can read to us the prophecy that we both should listen to, take into our hearts and follow.
Please visit http://www.esoriano.wordpress.com
elmantheman
December 25, 2007 at 3:26 am
As you can imagine, my experience leads me to be careful of false prophets. I care about what is true, and do not use the word lightly. To separate truth from facts? The definition for truth is a fact that has been verified.
To that end religion has been everywhere a natural phenomenon. The claims made depend more on verification in the after life. Not prepared to give them the benefit of the doubt about that when they get so much wrong about the world we live in.
homoeconomicusnet
December 25, 2007 at 5:05 pm
Your answer just prove something, you know nothing on the truth and facts of the bible that we are now experiencing.
You defined the truth, and I will just return the question to you. Why should I then believe on your definition?
If you in your heart believe that there is a truth in the Holy Scripture, the Bible of Christians, and our Living God, well then, we will help you know the defintion of religion and the truth.
Please visit http://www.esoriano.wordpress.com
Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all this things shall be added unto you.
elmantheman
December 25, 2007 at 5:21 pm
The definition I use is what is understood as an acceptable rendering of the word truth. It’s claims can be verified or it can be proved to be false – otherwise you will never know if it is right.
Now religion tries to make the definition of faith as a “truth” that somehow has more significance than one based on facts. To that end claims made by religion – for example that Jesus is the son of god and only by accepting him as such will you enjoy the after life or survive Armageddon.
Thankfully to live a moral life is not dependent on believing this; the ability to recognise the consequences of your actions before you enact them, the ability of humans to live together in relative harmony, to create rules and follow them and create incentives to do so. Society exists not on the basis of revelation, or a few people taking another’s word for it that they just happen to know the way but cannot prove it.
By all means give your life meaning, that motivates you to do things which would be recognised as being good by the compassionate in society. But when it comes to believing in a god and saying you know how he wants us to live – leave me out of it, because the history of our species when people have acted on that assumption with authority and power is one not to be proud of.
I do not need a human interpretation of an ancient text to give me comfort or meaning by superstition and recourse to super naturalism – nor to fill my life with joy. Nor do I fear death or diminished in my pursuit of happiness and leading a good life.
Seek ye how to weigh up the evidence of claims, and to reason what is good, and go forth and be happy.
homoeconomicusnet
December 26, 2007 at 10:43 am
You know deep within your heart that your talk is senseless, philosphy without religion and God, as it is, is vain and insane. I hope you accept this. Philosophy as a science is incomplete and it has it share of conflict, as proven and shown from the different rationalisation, belief and ideology of different philosophers. You yourself has given definitions and assumptions based on philosphers you won’t even know, or is it based on the knowledge of your own formulation?
You said, “The definition I use is what is understood as an acceptable rendering of the word truth. It’s claims can be verified or it can be proved to be false – otherwise you will never know if it is right.”
How can you say even your last statement from the above is unbiblical? Where did you learn it? You also said, “Seek ye how to weigh up the evidence of claims, and to reason what is good, and go forth and be happy.”
Don’t you know that these statement that you just said, the bible says too?
Ecclesiastes 7:
27 “Look,” says the Teacher, “this is what I have discovered:
“Adding one thing to another to discover the scheme of things-
28 while I was still searching
but not finding—
I found one upright man among a thousand,
but not one upright woman among them all.
29 This only have I found:
God made mankind upright,
but men have gone in search of many schemes.”
You are just searching for many schemes, aren’t you? But all you did was just in vain because never from this philosphers says that they learn it from God. Or they are all just a god to themselves?
But the True God has His ways, I hope you learn from the Scriptures too. I pray to remain an unworthy servant. Still, to God be the glory forever and ever.
You can visit http://www.esoriano.wordpress.com and learn the truth, not vain philosphies.
elmantheman
December 27, 2007 at 3:25 pm
Philosophical claims and scientific theory are not the same thing. As any course on the philosophy of science will tell you.
“I don’t know” is one of the most honest things someone can say – the lack of a complete theory of everything for me is not a weakness. I would rather the inquiry and the search for evidence to support hypothesises continues. Any scientist that said “I feel that the big bang happened this way” or “I had it revealed t in a waking dream” would be rightly viewed with a degree of skepticism.
As to my heart, it is the way of trying to understand the world, and cosmos we live in. I am not prepared to take anything for granted. The question is really what gives me confidence in answering such questions. I would rather look at the evidence and scrutinize the findings than rely on my gut feeling.
As to the bible it is a collection of writings written by men that s essential reading to understand Western culture. The rendering in the English language (Tyndale is for me a noble hero here in his aims to make it accessible) can achieve poetic highs.
As a way of life, how the universe is, what the good life is all about – well there are other books you know. Ones that usually do not claim you will die if you do not embrace the meaning of the text – which goes beyond vanity.
Much as I enjoy being told what I really think deep down, and that I am spurring the message of the Lord and his message, please consider that approach does not really do it for me.
I may as well say we are all atheists about other people’s gods. Some of us go one god further. Our reason for rejecting other people’s gods are the same for why you reject them – we just apply it to yours too.
homoeconomicusnet
December 28, 2007 at 11:05 am
Give me a god that you know and I’ll give you the one that you never knew – “the Living God of Israel” that I know and believed in.
elmantheman
December 29, 2007 at 2:58 pm