First off I want to wish all of you a happy Vernal Equinox and/or Easter celebration. I hope that whatever faith you follow and whatever your plans this weekend you have a fun and safe time. Spring is by far my favorite time of year, and the Vernal Equinox is always a big deal in our household. So if your an atheist or don’t have a holiday this weekend enjoy the transition back to Spring.
Every morning we listen to talk radio as we make our commute and this morning I was flipping through stations trying to find one talking about something interesting. One of our local stations was talking about Easter and their plans for the weekend. All in all pretty standard morning radio stuff but it did catch my attention when they started pondering on the odd custom of painting eggs and the connection between Jesus and rabbits.
For those of you who don’t know, there is no connection between these traditional easter symbols and Jesus. The egg and bunny are pagan symbols of fertility and (re)birth and are tied to the original pagan celebration. Easter, like every Christian holiday was appropriated from older pagan beliefs and celebrations. Long before Christianity virtually every civilization on earth celebrated the end of winter and the Vernal Equinox, Easter is simply another ripped off pagan holiday complete with pagan traditions and symbolism.
Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against Christianity or their use of the Pagan holidays, traditions, and beliefs. In fact it works out well for many people who can celebrate Easter and Christmas with their families despite differences in religion. My concern is that a large number of Christians do not know the basic history of their religion. Belief without understanding is not faith, its slavery.
So please take the time to do some research on the pagan history of Christianity. I highly recommend this resource on the pagan origins of Easter from ReligiousTolerance.org and this quick primer on pagan history. Not only will you learn a little more about why Christians do many of the things they do, but it will shed light on the natural peace and beauty of the older pagan religions as well. Please don’t blame me though if you discover that not only Easter but every aspect of the Christian religion all the way down to Jesus can be found in much older religions and mythology.
Thanks and have a great weekend!
Who Would Jesus Vote For?
William
P.S. Even though the ecclesiastical vernal equinox is a set date on March 21st the real astronomical vernal equinox was yesterday. Its also important to note that obviously these are reversed for the southern hemisphere who had their autumnal equinox as they make the transition from Summer to Fall.
We need to re-establish the separation of church and state. This has done a great good in our society and others. Breaking down that separation has brought nothing but trouble.
As far as Ms. Kern goes, intolerance breeds intolerance; hate breeds hate. This may well be a case of reaping what you sew.
I don’t have enough faith to believe in athiests. I don’t believe in them. I believe they really believe in God deep down, but they just don’t want to admit it. Plus, why do militant athiest get so mad at bible-believing christians or people who believe in God, if God is supposedly a figment of our imagination? Dawkins writes books and does public speaking and debates on the subject. He expends alot of energy over discrediting an imaginary nothing. And his life is a waste so far and will amount to vanity if he stays this course. Because long after he is gone from this world, the bible will still be here and the self-exsistent God will be here. And both will thrive. Look at the 80 million underground house church christians in China. Look at middle-east, where people are hungry for the bible and will risk their life to get a bible. And was the Jesus of history really a mere man? Napolean said no. Napolean said he knew men and this Jesus was no mere man.
In the end militant athiests are full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
I am not sure what “militant” atheists you are talking about. Every militant group I know of has religious ties.
I can’t speak for anyone but myself but as an atheist I get sick and tired of being told over and over again that I am a bad person, I have no morals, I’m dooming my children to hell or to be assaulted by pedophiles, and on and on. This makes me angry. It makes me angry that fundamentalist Christianity is destroying America and then blaming it on gays and atheists.
I’m angry that you presume to tell me what I believe in “deep down”. It’s ridiculous really and insanely arrogant for you to state that. I do not believe in a god and I certainly would not ever believe in the god of fundamentalist christians nor would I wish that sort of god on this world.
I am shocked! I didn’t know you are an athiest, a mom, and a bad person. ha ha wow, such emotion! No, I am sure you are good mom and a good person. You have great passion for what you believe in. I just find it hard to rationally accept athiesm, in light of the fact that we are all born with an intrinsic knowledge of God. Also we all are born with a conscious. Additionally, children have a bent to do wrong. They hit their siblings. They disobey their parents directions. It seems to me that if children were born good, they would obey every command. They would love their brother or sister and not hit them. They would not act with jealousy. Those subtle behaviours in children suggests to me that we are born with an evil bent. And we need our parents to lovingly correct us and parent us. It seems to me the bible is right when it says we are born in sin, or another words we have an tendency to do wrong. Does that make sense? An innate knowledge of God, a conscious, and bent toward wrong-doing, are all evidences of a creator God and his creation. In summary I think the smart money is on the assertion that God IS and that we are born with a sinful nature. Athiesm is irrational.
Sean, this has to be the dumbest, most offensive, and least supported argument I have ever read. I would take the time to respond but I feel it would be wasted on you.
Have a good day.
Sean, you are the reason Christians have a bad name now. Just look at the intolerance you display. That is not what Christianity is about. Dawkins actions, when I’ve seen him, are not the actions of someone out to be mean but are based on honest beliefs that he arrives at, he believes, from pure logic. So he doesn’t believe in God. So what! I know Jesus existed and I believe he was someone special. I try to leave up to the ideals and philosophy I believe he espoused. That does not bring me into conflict with Mr. Dawkins at all. As an American and a Christian, I believe he has every right to state his beliefs in front of any government, no matter how much I disagree with them. His life is not a waste and Jesus would surely disagree with you there. However, a life is wasted hating him for his beliefs.
Just as with Bush, he’s done great harm to the world and our nation yet I won’t bother hating him, he’s simply not worth the effort. He has caused great waste in our world but the best way I can deal with it is to point out how his actions are wrong and destructive and anti-Christian.
Sorry, but snide comments directed angrily at Mr. Dawkins aren’t accomplishing anything, nor do my angry and oft snide remarks directed at Bush (mea culpa). So, turn your anger elsewhere and look to improving our lot by pointing out the inequities that are hurting our society, like intolerance towards athiests.
Well said gmknobl. We have often made the point here that we are not anti-Christianity as a religion. Sadly there are many like SEAN that give the entire religion a reputation for intolerance and bigotry.
You Gotta Be Kidding! Resorting to that wornout rhetoric of labeling someone intolerant who disagrees with you. You just said you, “I believe he has every right to state his beliefs in front of any government, no matter how much I disagree with them” in reference to Dawkins. Where is my respect and tolerance for the disagreements you have with me? You shouldn’t give people that much power in disagreements. People shouldn’t have that much power to so easily offend you. Anyway, tolerance doesn’t mean you have to accept someone else’s dumb ideas and praise them. That doesn’t make anysense. Louis Farrakhn believes that there is a mother ship orbiting the earth. That is a silly notion and yet I tolerate him. I don’t accept his spaceship story but I do accept him as a fellow human being.
I was commenting on the irrationality of athiesm and I was using examples like Dawkins and Hitchens as examles. Because they are extremely outspoken critics of biblical christianity and yet they make the dubious claim that there is no god. One would immediately wonder why so much energy and emotion is being put forth to condemn christianity. For example you hear the argument that christianity is so evil that is has caused wars and violence. Also you hear that it oppresses women. You hear that it is a form of child abuse for parents to teach such things to their kiddos. I strongly disagree with all those propositions. However, what gives me the most pause, is where is the source of all this hate and emotion from their side. I think these guys really hate God deep down; I feel like they have an estranged and disrespectful relationship with their fathers and they are transferring this hate to God the father. What do you think?
“One would immediately wonder why so much energy and emotion is being put forth to condemn christianity.”
I would suspect that people are tired of guys like you forcing their crazy superstitious beliefs on them. Americans are supposed to enjoy freedom of religion yet the radical Christians are on a never ending campaign to turn our democracy into a theocracy.
same can be said about christians you know though and on bible will still be here when dawkins is gone atheism and dawkins books will still be around as well atheism is as old as religion itself someone always has disagreed in a god and you dont know that there are 80 million underground christians in china some could be buddist and atheist like most are you just dont like that christianity is falling
Administrator Note: Sean’s comments on Sally Kern and the replies have been moved to a more appropriate place. You can now find them here at “Bigots Support Sally Kern, Surprised?“.