What do you think of them, and do you celebrate? I'm not sure what I think. I used to think holidays like Easter and Christmas and the like, were fine and of God. Now I'm not so sure, knowing their real origins. Actually didn't even go to my dad's last Christmas because of it.

I do not celebrate them because of thier origins. My mother is minister and the debate between her and I is that they conenside with Pagan holidays so that Christians could celebrate certain holidays without pursicution.

I happen to be a catholic (non practicing) but still go to services from time to time
Additionally a pagan enthusiast

While the lady is partially correct she has one issue stated incorrectly which is the holidays were not made to coincide so that the Christians are not procecuted. It was made it that way to make conversion to Christianity easier as the religion was being made as the official religion of the nations

This is very much manifested when and if you study the oldest nations adopting Christianity, e.g. Armenian race approx 301 AD

Yeah I do recall that part of this Robert. It made it more palatable if you will.

I wish my mom were here. As a pastor's kid, I walked away from religion a long time ago.

i just mentioned it i dont do religon or politics and many people on this site know that. I just stumbled on this .
I am a radical reformist and i dont go down well so i dont discuss and i hope i was not sounding bad. I also dont get emotional on those topics. Apologies if any thing said is not acceptable.

they are a pain in the 4rse!!

All the shops are closed, the roads are packed, the cost of holidaying goes up and there is nothing on tv apart from christian bullsh1t!

all in all, exploitative and not in any way pleasant

I don't celebrate them, they were all brought into the Catholic church or "Christendom" from outside sources and renamed like the saints of Santa Ria.

I keep the seventh day as the Sabbath because it's the oldest (notable in every language), that's the closest I get to taking a day off.

The psychology of spending holidays alone when others enjoy fellowship is something to consider. Some handle it rather well and some don't. You can spend them alone, find others that share your convictions, or try alternative methods of dealing with the situation.

1. Understand the roots of the holidays and what make them decidedly pagan or non Christian in nature. Embrace what is right and per your belief goes along with your belief while rejecting what bothers you or is wrong for your belief.

Example: Easter is a fertility rite.
Hares for reproduction and eggs for fertility are simply age old worldwide representations of fertility concepts. There is Fertility of the mind, of the spirit, and fertility of prosperity as well as the obvious reeproduction possibilities.
Christians have come to label this as a observence of the resurection which represents rising once dead, and continuing on after death instead of dying as a soul as well.

2. Explain to your loved ones your true delima so they can work with you and allow you to enjoy their love and fellowship while avoiding any practice or false proclaimations that feel wrong for you.

I don't celebrate holidays because I have watched people worry themselves sick, run themselves ragged, and spend more money than they have, all in the name of a holiday.

I like to use it as a free day off with no obligation to go watch relatives eat food they shouldn't. "The holidays" are a big piece of cultural propaganda.

What about the holy days? Do you keep them? They are prophetic and foreshadow things to come.

Art

Yes, however, I consider it worse than that. Easter is another name for Ashtoreth. She is the goddess of fertility, and keeping this holiday is worshiping a false god. God punished the northern tribes of Israel for her worship in ancient times IK 11:33-35).

Further, every single part of the holiday is a lie. Jesus said that the proof that He was the Messiah was that He would be in the grave three days and three nights (Mat. 12:40). If you go by their Friday crucifixion, Sunday resurrection account, there are 2 nights and one day.

In addition, Jesus was not resurrected Sunday morning. He went in the grave sunset and came out of the grave at sunset. When the women arrived at the grave it was dark and He was already gone (John 20:1).

To add insult to injury, this holiday is one of the most important celebrations to the pagans along with Samhain--halloween, the celebration of the Lord of the dead--Satan. The Pagans and witches know who they worship. The professing Christians do not.

Exo 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

Isn't it amazing that so few question Santa? I mean red suit, comes down the chimney. The fire God became morphed into Saturn, and the vast number of those professing Christ are actually keeping the Saturnalia thinking they are dragging a tree (an idol) into their house for Jesus.

This is a great thread, and I hope more people will follow your courageous example.

Art

I'm not really concerned where the Holidays come from as much as I'm concerned about what they stand for. Christmas is a wonderful time when we contemplate God sending his Son to earth in human form. Origins aside, the Christmas story is one heck of a story and for me, it's Christmas and Easter every day of the year. I can celebrate Jesus' birth, death and resurrection every day when I get up and every hour of my life.

Here's the thing: You and I are sinners, but God made a provision for us through sending us his son, sacrificing him for us and raising him from the dead. If we accept that, confess that, and live in the light of that, God gives us salvation through faith in Jesus Christ his son. That's the meaning of the holidays.

You should know that and if you didn't, now you do. At any rate, that's my take on the whole thing, you can take it or leave it as you wish.

Geo.

Agreed! It's a time to reflect on what God has done for humanity. I love the holidays.

Starting with Thanksgiving & go right into the New Year. It's the MOST wonderful time...of the year! :) I love Christmas too. Easter too...in the spring.

Actually we Christians can & should also celebrate all the Jewish holidays as well. Those holidays belong to us too.

I don't like holidays unless I am working a regular job because it means I get the day off... or else I get double time for working.

Working for myself I don't like holidays either because of the silly way people celebrate in this country. They cook up a bunch of food and eat themselves into a stupor.

Or they cook up a bunch of eggs, paint them and hide them in trees and bushes.

Or they cut down trees and decorated them and go into debt buying presents to wrap up and give to each other and they lie to their children about Santa Claus.

Or they drag out their grills and have a barbecue while fighting off the flies and ants.

I just don't like holidays. I don't like other people telling me when to celebrate.

JB

I agree.I never knew there were other people who feel the same way. When I say I don't do holidays, people look at me strangely.

Now Art, in some ways we agree and in others we disagree...

First, I am a subscriber to the theory that I am ok and you are ok. This means that those who are able to accept the reality of a holiday while having their own personal views about them are ok with me.

Yes, Easter is specifically a PAGAN holiday. Of this there is documented proof and the way the church has handled it is silly in an attempt to make conversions easy. Now symbology exists without being owned by any religion. When we say pagan in the modern world when labeling an ancient custom we refer to it in it's original sense. Regardless of modern conception Pagan meant country folk. This is the way the farmers, people in small villages and remote communities celebrated a spring festival. If you want to get into mayday, beltane (or beltain), spring fes, ect that is a different matter. Easter itself is about life, rebirth, and the cycle of life. It is a celebration of prosperity and fertility. If viewed correctly it has absolutely nothing to do with religion, but has to do with intent, and wishes for oneself, the ones one loves, or the community. I could care less whether a Christian chooses to boycot the holiday or embrace it, so long as they realistically understand it's origins rather than hide their hand in the sand. This is far from being a religious point, this has to do with my wish for people to accept history rather than make it up.

Many (perhaps most) of the catholic saints are pagan gods in disguise and this was done for the easy conversion from paganism to Christianity. The Catholic church has propogated this since it's beginnings. Each time someone prays to a saint they are praying to someone other than god, and per the christian belief system praying to a false god and by other beliefs praying to a pagan god, whereas to a Catholic they are speaking to a saint asking for help in delivering their prayers to god. The way one views an action, and the intent in one's heart can indeed change the nature of the act.

Now halloween or All hallows eve...Some say satanic or devil worship, while others say it is a celebration of spirit. Please refrain from confusing Samhain as a festival and Halloween or All Hallows Eve. (translated as All (set aside to be made holy) eve. Now how this transformation took place I am going to skip because for accurate claims I would have to look it up again. Now The practices observed on Halloween as we know it in modern times have to do with neither god or the devil, but relate to spirits, or the souls of the dead. It is a time when the spirits were said to be active. Demons were a feared thing in an ancient remote world without lighting. So people would dress in costumes meant to scare the evil spirits away and carry (turnips I think) that were hollowed out and have candles. Treats as bribery for children to keep them from pulling tricks is representative of day of the dead customs (I believe but didn't look it up) in which plates of food may be put out for deceased relatives. In some parts of the world it was considered that if one did not make these offerings the spirits might pull tricks on the living on this day. Now this is all general concept anyone that wants to understand it all fully look it up and understand it themselves.

Although I agree that the Christians have wrongly borrowed the word Samhain as a name for the Devil this is theft of a word confusing it with OLD SAM which is a completely different concept. SAMHAIN is the name of an ancient Celtic festival that does indeed have "pagan" roots but in this context pagan simply means ancient and pre-christian culture. This has nothing to do with Christianity, or it's devil. This was a harvest festival and regardless of any christian's view of ancient customs or non hebrew culture claiming that SAMHAIN is the Devil or DEVIL worship is quite simply a cultural attack against celtic heritage. Many of the customs practiced at this festival varried very little from the commandments of the OLD PRE CRHISTIAN commandments of god including sacrifice.

Some modern Wiccans do celebrate samhain and although they may recognize different gods, rituals, or practices this still has nothing to do with the Christian Devil which is a former angel of God named Lucifer. Many of the Wiccans that attend Samhain in the modern world would consider sacrificing a cow on a bonfire rather than throwing it on the BBQ after being properly slaughtered and cooking it like anyone else just as barbaric as you would.

Calling SAMHAIN in it's ancient form satanic, or devil worship is cultural slandar against an entire culture and entire herritage, in fact a huge part of the population that has complete or partial celtic herritage.

Love and Light,
Joseph

Ah, them Celts. They just wanted some good excuses to drink beer. And just wait till they beat those Lakers!