Go to Religion in the Modern World
- Add a comment
- Go to 3 church services later..............
Xeno-x - You have coined an important phrase for religious discussion
"clerical thinking" . . . . is a gem.
That is exactly what it is. No need to cause anyone to think about any alternatives when you can edit as you please. "The inerrant word of God" relies on this "clerical thinking" to keep it palatable enough for a modern world. They've homogenized the truth to suit their various cons. Those religious folks are the smartest crooks in the world . . . .
posted by
gomedome
on December 30, 2006 at 7:15 PM
| link to this | reply
gomey -- and they have a convoluted reasoning for it too
in a Catholic hospital waiting room -- a magazine tried to show the relationship with John the Baptist and tried to demonstrate that Jesus was born on Dec 25 that way -- i am sure many believers believed -- i was lost after about the third paragraph -- couldn;t make heads or tails of it
but that's clerical thinking
posted by
Xeno-x
on December 30, 2006 at 6:31 PM
| link to this | reply
Xeno-x - and it is little wonder that the majority of people know little of
these origins.
In all of the years I was being indoctrinated by the catholics, it was never mentioned once. As far as they were concerned, Jesus was born on December 25th, the Christmas holiday season was invented as a direct tribute to him and they were happy to continue telling this story.
posted by
gomedome
on December 27, 2006 at 10:05 AM
| link to this | reply
yep
i attend no. 2 -- depends on each individual parish -- some are looser than others -- the basic sermon from our 26 yr old female priest was us as individuals going out as representatives, etc.
a previous priest mentioned the circumstances -- i liked that take -- among all the detritus of animals, etc.
but as you say, to not take into consideration the actual origins of the holiday obscures much.
posted by
Xeno-x
on December 27, 2006 at 9:48 AM
| link to this | reply
SoloWriter - wouldn't "hijacked" be a better word? - But I catch your drift
Organized religion is failing more and more people in the modern world for a variety of reasons.
posted by
gomedome
on December 26, 2006 at 6:18 PM
| link to this | reply
Resounding_Sound - welcome to Blogit - - -
I agree we have to let the absurdities slide sometimes but have you ever encountered a Christian priest or minister (of any denomination) that has described the reason the Christmas holiday exists completely?
Have you ever heard something to the effect of: "The holiday season as we know it today can be traced to the Mesopotamian 12-day festival of renewal. With December 22 being the date of the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, it is only natural that a day on or about this date would become important to, and associated with the long awaited messiah. We celebrate the birth of Jesus the Christ child on this day for a number of reasons. The pagans were a hard sell in the early years, much easier to adopt their holiday then to sell them on another one." . . . I could go on but suffice it to say that the version we have heard from the pulpit since these myths were invented, all noticeably have self serving errors of omission.
posted by
gomedome
on December 26, 2006 at 6:14 PM
| link to this | reply
The church won't get any respect from the upcoming generation because they've been kidnapped. We victims are doing our best to make a blunt and rude stink all over the place.
posted by
Jenasis
on December 26, 2006 at 9:20 AM
| link to this | reply
While I certainly agree with the idea of ignorance as to when Jesus was actually born (which you are right, was probably spring time), there is an important detail of existence now that seems to be left out.
With the exception of the Catholic dude who got very, VERY specific (and in error so), they all said this is when we celebrate the birth of Jesus. As silly as it seems to make this distinction, they (except the Catholic priest) did not actually say Jesus was born on this day. This is just when we celebrate when He was born.
Yes, it is absurd to celebrate someone's birthday at least 3 months before it probably actually happened, but sometimes we have to let the absurdity slide.
posted by
Resounding_Sound
on December 26, 2006 at 9:05 AM
| link to this | reply