jlf1961
Posts: 14840
Joined: 6/10/2008
From: Somewhere Texas
Status: offline
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If I may be so bold as to give a minor, yet appropriate history lesson....
Christmas, as celebrated in our culture is on a date that was a high feast day to the god Mithras aka Sol Invictus. The date was set after Constantine persuaded the heads of the christian church to celebrate the birth of Christ on the same day, as a way to unify the belief systems of the Roman Empire.
While it is a popular misconception that Emperor Constantine had converted to christianity after his vision in which he was instructed to fight under the sign of the cross, he actually did not convert until he was on his death bed, many years later.
The Christmas tree was part of a pagan celebration at mid winter in order to bring back summer, adopted by the Catholic Church to make gaining converts in Germany easier.
Of course, during this time, Charlemagne was the Holy Roman Emperor, and his incentive for the Germans to convert was actually much more effective... they could become Christians or be executed. It is historic fact that Charlemagne executed a few thousand Germanic leaders for failing to convert and continuing to practice pagan traditions.
As for the date of Christ's birth...
If you are familiar with temperatures in the middle east, no shepherd would have his flocks out at this time of year, one there is little grazing and two, it gets damn cold at night.
Astronomical records do confirm a "new" star coinciding with the time of Jesus' birth, however it was more prominent in the spring.
Furthermore, the tax, as decreed by Augustus, would only pertain to ROMAN citizens, non Romans were taxed by the local governor, at his whim, his decreed rate (explaining why many Roman governors grew quite wealthy.) So, Joseph and Mary would have been exempt from the tax, and if they were Roman citizens, they would have been taxed in the city they lived, not be forced to go to another city, UNLESS they owned property in that city.
NOW, this would mean, if Joseph and Mary were required to go to Bethlehem, they owned property in the city and would not have needed to seek a room at an Inn. Of course only one of the gospels make any reference to such a journey.
Furthermore, the city of Nazareth did not even exist until 23 CE (which by the way would have made Jesus. It is more plausible that Jesus was known as Jesus the Nazarene, part of a sect of Jews that existed at the time.
Now, that is done with, on to Santa Claus.
Santa Claus has constantly been involved in illegal search and surveillance, invasion of privacy, breaking and entering, smuggling, operating a non licensed aircraft, AND since he works his elves 364 days a year, probably violates human rights in labor practices.
As such, by admiring such an individual we are teaching our kids to do the same thing and it is okay to do so. We, as a people, scream at the government for such practices, boycott goods manufactured in countries where workers are mistreated and underpaid.
We expect every aircraft that is operated in the United States to be inspected, licensed and proven as safe as possible. (ANYONE SEEN AN FAA REPORT ON HIS SLEIGH?)
It is illegal for an individual to tap a phone, set up hidden cameras to observe individuals in their own homes and yet we accept that Santa does this. Think of that the next time you practice some of your kinkiest activities!
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Boy, it sure would be nice if we had some grenades, don't you think?
You cannot control who comes into your life, but you can control which airlock you throw them out of.
Paranoid Paramilitary Gun Loving Conspiracy Theorist AND EQUAL OPPORTUNI
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RE: The Holly and Potty Show - 
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