Once again it's time to raise this great debate, as we hear from our pious Christian leaders that "Jesus is the Reason for the Season." Interestingly, over the past year and a half since the release of "ZEITGEIST," in objecting to the comparison of the sun gods with Jesus based on the winter-solstice birthday of December 25th, Christian fundamentalist critics have been very vocal that Jesus is NOT the reason for the season, proving our point in the first place.
Most of us in Christian lands who were raised Christian, as I was, were never told about the winter solstice, which begins at midnight on December 21st, i.e., the morning of the 22nd, and ends at midnight on December 24th or "Christmas Eve," which is essentially the same thing as the morning of December 25th. Without getting too complicated or technical, for three days during that period in the northern hemisphere the sun appears to "stand still" on a sundial, as its shadow moves neither north nor south. Hence, the word "solstice" means sun stands still. On the 25th of December, the sun appears to be moving north again, representing the birth of the sun!
Since very ancient times in many cultures around the globe, the sun's birth at the winter solstice has been celebrated with great festivities. This celebration of the sun's return after the darkest days of the year occurred especially in the regions farther away from the equator, such as Northern Europe, where Yuletide festivals are understandably quite pronounced.
"Christmas" as the birth of Jesus Christ was not officially adopted until the edict of Julius I in the fifth century, usurping this Pagan holiday so effectively that even in this day and age millions of people are unaware of the facts of the winter solstice and its celebration dating back thousands of years.
Moreover, despite the fracas from the fundamentalists over the comparison of Jesus with other sun gods based on the winter-solstice birth, sincere Christians such as Rev. Dr. Billy Graham remain completely oblivious to this debate.
For more information on this subject, check out my article:
The Christmas Hoax: Jesus is NOT the "Reason for the Season"
Be sure to watch my videos there too!
Sunday, December 07, 2008
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