Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: crowe@sci.ccny.cuny.edu (Daniel Crowe) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Christmas Message-ID: Date: 24 Aug 89 06:30:31 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: City College Of New York Lines: 35 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu [This note is a response to a posting by kriz@skat.usc.edu (Dennis Kriz). He posted a letter he was thinking of writing to the President, protesting the non-religious/cultural nature of Christmas celeberations. He asked for the government to remove it from the calendar of national holidays, and not to do any Christmas-related functions or displays. --clh] Two comments: 1) Christmas is not and never was a true Christian holy day. Christmas was originally a pagan festival commemorating the birth or rebirth of a sun god, Mithra in Persia, Helios in Greece, etc. It became a part of the "Christian" calendar during the first few centuries after the death of Jesus because the Gentile converts refused to refrain from observing the festival. Therefore the leaders of the church decided to try to shift the focus of the festival. The attempt has never been completely successful. The festival has always contained pagan influences, because it has always been a pagan festival. 2) Christmas is a federal holiday because the vast majority of Americans do not wish to work on December 25 so that they can participate in the festivities. Your efforts might be better spent if you try to convince others that Christmas is not a Christian holiday, thereby letting it revert to a completely pagan event. -- Daniel (God is my judge) * "Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to physics graduate student * speak and slow to become angry, for man's City College of New York * anger does not bring about the righteous crowe@sci.ccny.cuny.edu * life that God desires." (James 1:19-20)