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From: robison@eosp1.UUCP (Tobias D. Robison)
Newsgroups: net.religion.jewish
Subject: Re: "New Years"
Message-ID: <1262@eosp1.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 20-Nov-84 12:20:31 EST
Article-I.D.: eosp1.1262
Posted: Tue Nov 20 12:20:31 1984
Date-Received: Wed, 21-Nov-84 01:08:37 EST
References: <1033@hou5e.UUCP>
Reply-To: robison@eosp1.UUCP (Tobias D. Robison)
Organization: Exxon Office Systems, Princeton
Lines: 26
Summary: 

Of all the "secular" holidays on the calendar, I personally think that
New Years is the dangerous one.  The problem with it is that it is
particularly pagan.  I think all people of major religious faiths
should want to steer clear of it.  Insidious emphases of the holiday
include:

- The encouragement to licentiousness, which is probably related to
a sense of renewal of the world (and fear of the end of the world),
standard features of paganism.  All major faiths have ways of
relating the continuous existence of the world to contracts between
people and G-d, and ethical behaviour among people,  with which this
pagan ritual conflicts.

- The sudden emphasis on making (and not really keeping) resolutions.
This is a type of repentance which is trivial in comparison to the
rituals of repentance that Judaism and Christianity (for example)
offer.  It's wrong to give it the emphasis that new years customs
encourage.

To me, the religious dangers of new years are far greater than those of
heavily secularized days like Thanksgiving and Halloween.

	- Toby Robison (not Robinson!)
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