The following is something I wrote to an atheist friend of mine who dislikes Christmas because of it's horrible origins and (I assume) it's religious significance to Christians.
"Today we have many practices, customs, stories, and holidays that are in a far gentler form than their original. It's a tribute to many millenniums of civilizing, an evolution of morality. In their current form they are harmless or mostly harmless as the case may be. Should we not tell certain "cleansed" fairy tails because of their horrible origins (although, I admit, some old stories are so horrible that they are unclensable)? Should the writers of the Barbie movies not have "cleansed" these tails further and made the heroine more intelligent and in control of her circumstances? What about further adjustments to fairy tales that reflect our changing morals in the decades to come? Christmas in it's current secular rendition is fun, so is Halloween for that matter. What is irksome are those who lay sole claim to Christmas as a form of religious dominance. As a way to dominate all other beliefs or lack of beliefs when, ironically, they have to rewrite history in order to make this claim. Though saying Merry Christmas might be a bit off for me since my apostasy, I think I can muster Merry ChristMyth. May ChristMyth time be a time when the myth is realized and no longer used to dominate and abuse other people. It can be a season of peace, tolerance.....and fun.
"Today we have many practices, customs, stories, and holidays that are in a far gentler form than their original. It's a tribute to many millenniums of civilizing, an evolution of morality. In their current form they are harmless or mostly harmless as the case may be. Should we not tell certain "cleansed" fairy tails because of their horrible origins (although, I admit, some old stories are so horrible that they are unclensable)? Should the writers of the Barbie movies not have "cleansed" these tails further and made the heroine more intelligent and in control of her circumstances? What about further adjustments to fairy tales that reflect our changing morals in the decades to come? Christmas in it's current secular rendition is fun, so is Halloween for that matter. What is irksome are those who lay sole claim to Christmas as a form of religious dominance. As a way to dominate all other beliefs or lack of beliefs when, ironically, they have to rewrite history in order to make this claim. Though saying Merry Christmas might be a bit off for me since my apostasy, I think I can muster Merry ChristMyth. May ChristMyth time be a time when the myth is realized and no longer used to dominate and abuse other people. It can be a season of peace, tolerance.....and fun.
I have studied the Bible and the theology behind Christianity for many years. I have been to many churches. I have walked the depth and the breadth of the religion and, as a result of this, I have a lot of bullshit to scrape off the bottom of my shoes. ~Ziploc Surprise
