Santa and Fundies

[NotALoserLikeYou]

Santa and Satan are anagrams - coincidence? I Think not.

A lot of religious people think Santa, elves, Easter eggs etc are distractions made by the devil in order to keep you away from the real meaning of the holidays (Jesus).

[razingruth]

I may get snarked at for this, but I don't see how an intellectually honest fundies could *not* reject Christmas and Easter as they are holidays of pagan origin that were incorporated into Christianity.

No snark from me. I think you've got a great point. However, I don't think fundies reject the actual holiday- they reject the secondary traditions of the holiday that aren't completely and totally biblically defendable. I mean, they're not rejecting Christmas' timing (even though most people know that the birth of Christ described in the Bible couldn't have been in December). They don't reject the traditions they can find verses to broadly interpret as "evidence" (I'm thinking of the Munck Sisters and their whole "the trunk of the tree represents the manger Christ was born in). I think suggesting that there's intellectual honesty involved is giving them too much credit. Most of them reject the gifts, and Santa, and trees, and lights, because some Christian Fundy leader told them it was excess and not Christ-centered...then, because this lifestyle is all about "who's doing it better than who", they try to outdo each other with piosness and scream "see how holy we are?!" :roll:

[Dysfundamental]

Agree, and the cherry picking while simultaneously denying that they're cherry picking is the worst part to me. The hypocrisy is what rankles me so much about fundiedom.

[Stickers]

A 'dad' is tenth most popular Christmas list request for children

A request for a "mum" reached number 23 on the list.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/chris ... ldren.html

Stuff like this is why I could never go full out on Santa. I like the Santa mythology but I also think his media presence reinforces a lot of unhealthy exceptions. I'd hate to have a kid ask Santa for something impossible and feel letdown when it doesn't happen like it does in the movies. I don't remember believing in Santa really,I did for one year I think... by 5 I was atheist skeptic.

And gosh, I'm such a hipster, because I'd totally put on an ironic birthday party for Jesus cake and all on Xmas if it wouldn't upset the family (it would).

[pixydust]

A 'dad' is tenth most popular Christmas list request for children

A request for a "mum" reached number 23 on the list.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/chris ... ldren.html

Stuff like this is why I could never go full out on Santa. I like the Santa mythology but I also think his media presence reinforces a lot of unhealthy exceptions. I'd hate to have a kid ask Santa for something impossible and feel letdown when it doesn't happen like it does in the movies. I don't remember believing in Santa really,I did for one year I think... by 5 I was atheist skeptic.

And gosh, I'm such a hipster, because I'd totally put on an ironic birthday party for Jesus cake and all on Xmas if it wouldn't upset the family (it would).

Honestly, I think this is a subconscious reason I don't do Santa.... money is tight for us, we sacrifice and I hit sales for Christmas for our kids. How do you explain to kids that Santa can't bring them the expensive ass toy they want, when that is what happens in the commercials? Also, what about situations like I had this A.M.....my 5 year old son in tears because he wanted a LalaLoopsy doll (he never told me that, or I would have bought him one) and his sister got one. I was able to comfort him, tell him I was sorry, that i didn't know (and he will probably get gift cards from extended family and can buy one himself, so all is not lost!), how do you explain Santa not knowing what a kid wants?

Still not knocking Santa.....I think I'm just too practical for it! (but not too practical for my 5yo to believe in fairies, elves, giants, dragons, and magic....)

[ILoveJellybeans]

Its so sad that all some children want for Christmas is parents :(

This forum keeps making me want to have kids.

[jenny_islander]

I think Chaotic Life nailed it. We need rituals and traditions. Considering the implications of those rituals and traditions is important, but obsessively searching for the one true best ritual or tradition just sucks all the fun out.

I have always been interested in origins myself. I got curious about the actual origin of the Christmas tree years ago and did a research paper on it for my church newsletter, going as far as consulting somebody in--darn it I think it was Hungary but I cannot remember--who kindly translated some of his own research material for me, including the script of a mystery play. I lost all of my notes in a computer transfer, but the gist is this: Archaeological and written records of pagan practice mention outdoor trees and indoor festoons of greenery, but not cutting down a whole tree and bringing it indoors; Eastern Catholics in the late Middle Ages had a cycle of mystery plays (think Christmas pageant, but for all ages and taking place year round) that were held on church premises; the theme for Christmas Eve was the Temptation in Eden and the promise of redemption; the prop for the first scene was "a green tree hung with fruit;" at that time and in that place, that pretty much had to be a cut down evergreen with apples from the cellar on it; note that some of the oldest recorded decorations for Xmas trees are fruits and artificial flowers; some busybody in Church administration decided that the play cycle needed to be revised; no more green tree with fruit in the church on Xmas Eve; the first written account of an indoor tree in a home dates to within (IIRC) 50 years of that official change in the mystery play cycle; the Christmas tree spread steadily westward after that date. So, pace Pagan FJers, "Glooo-oooo-oooo-ria,/Christmas trees are Christian."

BUT HERE'S THE THING: There is no commandment to have Christmas trees. There is no commandment not to have Christmas trees. There is no sin in having or not having Christmas trees. There is no need to point out to your kids that the Christmas tree is supposed to be the tree in the Garden of Eden. Whichever tiny tot turned to his/her parents in church and said, "But--but--where's the tree?" almost certainly was not considering the theological implications of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. And his/her parents probably weren't trying to teach a sermon when they put up their own tree in the cottage at home. Does the tree add to your happiness on Christmas Day? Put it up. Is it just some other thing to do during a busy time of year? Don't put it up!

The amount of freedom allowed to us by the Gospel message is enormous. I wish fundamentalists would climb out of those cramped little boxes and come enjoy it.

[JenniferJuniper]

I may get snarked at for this, but I don't see how an intellectually honest fundies could *not* reject Christmas and Easter as they are holidays of pagan origin that were incorporated into Christianity.

Not snarking, just popping in to point out that these words simply do not go together.

[wild little fox]

I may get snarked at for this, but I don't see how an intellectually honest fundies could *not* reject Christmas and Easter as they are holidays of pagan origin that were incorporated into Christianity.

That is my mother's take on things, through the now deceased Worldwide Church of God. She says that because there is not a single commandment or reference to celebrating either Christ's birth or death in the Bible, along with the (ebil) Roman Catholic Church and the pagan influences, that it is not something one should do.

I also do not remember ever taking Communion at WCG. I distinctly remember taking Communion at a baptism at 7th Day Adventist and not knowing what it was and thinking "Oh, cool! A little snack!" :lol:

edited for grammar and sentence structure.